Letter from Paul H. Lord

Divers Enjoy Easy Buoy Retrieval

The SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station’s Volunteer Dive Team rolled out on Saturday morning, December 16, for what is normally a bracing dive—occasionally a challenging dive—to remove the last two no-wake zone buoys from Otsego Lake.

Conditions this year were contrastingly benign. There was no wind, no snow, no ice and no fog. Instead, we attended to the removal and installation of spar buoys with no wind, in sunshine, and in water uncharacteristically 43 degrees warm. That temperature still caused one free-flowing regulator, but we had enough divers on hand to complete the work.

Master diver Lee Ferrara was joined by rescue diver Kari Minissale, advanced open water diver Brandon Guerrero and tender Wayne Bunn at Springfield Landing. The work at Lakefront was completed by open water diver Derek Shea, tender Christos Galanopoulos and myself. Thank you to the community and the Otsego Lake Association for your support of our work in 2023.

Paul H. Lord
Pierstown