Diving in the icy Detroit River presents challenges and simple pleasures.

Call it sweet redemption — selling that Prohibition-era whiskey bottle for $15 at our annual garage sale. While a fair price for that particular bottle, one wouldn’t think it was much to get excited about. Heck, it’s barely enough for a couple of air fills.

So why was I so exited that warm spring day? Because when I hauled that bottle — and a dozen others — from the bottom of a near-freezing Detroit River the previous December, my lovely wife looked at me and said, “You’re crazy. Nobody is going to want that junk.” Not only did that whiskey bottle sell, it was the first item sold. Sweet redemption.

It gets cold in Michigan during the winter. Really cold. And most sane people hang up their fins some time in early October. Few people around these parts dive year-round. Fewer still dive the rivers during the winter months, hunting for bottles and other discarded items. But winter is when the rivers are free from the thousands of pleasure boats that normally ply these waters, making it safe — at least from boaters.

Detroit was a bootlegger’s dream during Prohibition. The Detroit River wasa major thoroughfare for smugglers, and rumrunning quickly became the second largest industry in Michigan, after the auto industry. Seventy-five percent of the liquor supplied to the United States during Prohibition came from Canada, transported across the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair or the St. Clair River.

And many of those bottles still lie on the bottom, having been chucked into the water either by law enforcement during a bust or, more commonly, by residents who openly ignored the law. While it’s illegal to take artifacts from shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, discarded trash from yesteryear is legal to take, so long as it’s not sitting on or near a shipwreck.

Small groups of divers meet regularly during the winter to don a drysuit, pick up a crowbar in one hand, lobster bag in the other, and hop in, hoping to find something cool. Where are the popular spots? How does the casual diver with a passing interest give it a try? Well, that’s where it gets interesting. Getting a bottle diver to give up their secret dive location is akin to getting a fisherman to give up the location of their honey hole. It ain’t easy, so it helps to know someone.

Diving for bottles and other treasures can be about as difficult as it gets. You need some serious dive credentials. First, there is the cold. There is no escaping it. Air temperatures can be in the teens or 20s, with water temps just above freezing. Keep your gear serviced and up to date. Regulators can free-flow easily in these temperatures, so make sure yours is rated for ice diving. And be prepared for the rest of your gear, bolt snaps and zippers to freeze post-dive when they hit air temperatures.

Then there is the current. That’s where a small crowbar comes into play. It makes an excellent tool for dragging yourself across the bottom. Overweighting is necessary to help sink in the fast-moving water. Sink to the bottom as fast as you can and try to stay there. I prefer to descend and pull my way up the river so I can drift back to my starting point. Diving in shallow water means you can pop your head up and take a look around to see where you are. Dives are usually conducted in less than 10 or 15 feet of water, but along with the current, which can be considerable at times, 5 feet of viz is considered excellent. It can be lonely at the bottom, so you’d better be a confident diver comfortable in crappy conditions.

There are plenty of dive shops in Michigan that offer the River Diver, or an equivalent, specialty course. A few of those shops dive the rivers in winter. Find someone with some experience and ask for help. It’s also a good idea to keep someone on shore to help divers get in and out of gear, watch for trouble and help haul treasures to the surface.

So why do it? For starters, it gives us divers something to do in the winter. Michiganders, and our friends from across the river in Ontario, Canada, are a hardy lot. We like winter. And for me, it’s not very time consuming compared to my summer diving, which necessitates a charter boat located several hours away. I can don my drysuit in the comfort of my home and travel to my favorite dive sites in a few minutes. After the dive, I hop back in my car, still suited up, and head back home to undress in the relative warmth of my garage. I’m gone less than the amount of time it takes to play a round of golf. This gives me more time with my young family, and at this time of year, I don’t have to worry about getting run over by a pleasure boat.

But mainly it’s the thrill of finding something cool — a 100-year-old spoon, a Champagne bottle from the 1800s, tin toys, anchors, you name it. Vintage beer, soda pop and dairy bottles are also relatively easy to find because Detroit was home to numerous soda pop and beer companies. If someone once sat on the bank of the river or seat of a boat and had a drink, chances are the bottle is still at the bottom of the river. In June 2012, a diver found a message in a bottle in the St. Clair River. “Having a good time at Tashmoo,” the message reads in cursive. Tashmoo was a popular amusement park at Harsens Island. It was dated 1915.

I’ll likely never find something that cool, and it’s OK. I’m happy selling a few bottles for air-fill money at our annual garage sale — and proving to my wife that I’m not completely crazy after all.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

Here are some dry diving tips for your icy adventures.

Layer Up
The suit may keep you dry, but undergarments keep you warm. Layering is a great way to increase your insulation. Wicking materials are a good choice for your inner layer, and garments that maintain their insulating properties when wet help in the event of a leak.

Weight Gain
Drysuits require more weight to counteract the positive buoyancy of the gas in the suit. You can distribute lead between a weight belt and a weight-integrated BC to make the load less cumbersome.

Seal the Deal
Dusting your suit’s seals with talcum powder can make it easier to don on and off. It also reduces wear and tear on these vital parts.

Keep It Clean
Rinsing the outside of your drysuit is common sense, but don’t forget to clean the interior as well.
— Robby Myers