Lake Pleasant Conditions II

[Reef Man]

You said it.... We dove just east of the ramp.... Got down to 92ft....on the first dive and then down to 85 on the second.... Water is warming...and vis wasn't terrible but not as good as last week.... 10-15 was about all we could get.... we saw a lot of blue gill and several nice bass along the rocks.... it was worth the trip for sure!!!

 

[andresrumis]

Dove DT Last night with Cindy, Lots of fish hanging around, did not get too deep, along the road wall around 20' where all the fish action was. Temp 66F, not too bad.
Nice night dive!!
Andres

 

[Diver2]

Hello all!
And special thanks to Cindy.

Cindy it was great having you with us on the Scubateer Boat!
We had a blast having everyone aboard, it was a pleasure working with everyone!

We would like to apologize for this weekend May 17th Saturday..
A little mis communication, when we reservate our customers for a boat dive, we ask that you meet at the 10 lane ramp for pick up..

Our boat will be at the dock in the water waiting your arrival, the boat has the name on it so you can't miss it..

The 10 lane ramp is located in the main entrance of Lake Pleasant,as you pay the attendant, continue straight towards the lake, the first road you come to,make a right and continue to follow it around to the 10 lane ramp...

Look for us on the left dock as you are looking into the lake..
Please remeber the boat will always be ready at the dock,waiting your arrival..


Again we do apologize for those who missed the boat, and hope to do again soon!

Cindy thanks again for the kind words, and we hope to see you as well..
PS: Night Dives are available at the reef, please call for more info...

To all of the Scuba folks, dive safe and have a wonderful summer!

The Scubateers!

 

[SCUBAholicEd]

Well, business as usual at the lake?????

Kris and Mindy had a class down the point from us and I saw a boater come right up to their flag OVER the top of the class. Mindy came up and had to explain to him what the flag was. He then said that he would MOTOR away. Mindy had to again explain that he needed to drift or paddle away.

My son and I had a jet skier drive right OVER our marker bouy.

Leaving the lake, my son and I spoke to the employees at the gate. I sugested that they add the diver down flag and an explaination on their hand outs. Their reaction was, "well boaters are suposed to know the rules". In other words, yah, yah, yah, what ever?!?!?!?!
The last I knew there is no license to drive a boat. 90% of all drivers have had no training or instruction on boat handleing or what the meaning of markers and bouys are.

My other suggestion would be to have several signs made up, white, with the red/white striped diver down flag on it [HUGE] with an explanation and how a boater is to act around it.

Enforcement would be a noval idea!

The ONLY salution to the problm is education AT the lake. Signs are the best salution, in my opinion. At the enterance, boat ramps, marinas. A fund raiser for $$$ to make and post the signs can be done if need be.

Here is AZ law on it:
Diver-Down Flag - Arizona Boating License Laws and Safety Guide

What is every ones opinions and suggestions to this growing problem????
Any one know who to pass this on to for some action at the lake please do so!

 

[fkostyun]

I would love some enforcement also - a couple of good "enforcement" weekends, and you can almost guarantee that every will be well aware of what that flag means.

Most of my other ideas are rather destructive, such as pieces of monofilament tied to styrofoam.........

Maybe there's some way of creating some sort of a waterproof type of printout that we could all have in the dive flags to hand out.

 

[fkostyun]

Well, I'm definatly ready to hit the water again - what are people doing for diving next weekend?

I am also up for a night dive.

 

[Dive-aholic]

When I lived there, my wife and I were pretty regular callers to the lake patrol about boaters/jet skiers not following the rules. Unfortunately, they never got there in time.

I think the best thing to do is contact park management. Ask them if they would approve signs be posted at various popular locations (the gate, DT, 10 lane, the marina, etc) that stated the statute. Get an estimate on how much it would cost to make those signs. Once you get approval, in writing, go to all the dive shops in town and get them to make a donation to cover the cost of the signs. Then arrange a volunteer weekend with park management and all the local divers to install the signs.

Good luck!

 

[scubajcf]

I was out Diving with the Ed's this weekend. Saw what happened to Kris and Mindy. This is the email in which you can send your safety concerns to: lakepleasant@mail.maricopa.gov

My email was three pages long. Here are a few excerpts:

I think the following actions need to be undertaken as soon as possible:

1. A dedicated area for divers needs to established and roped off from Jet Skis and Boats.,
2. A brochure needs to be developed and handed to boaters and jetskis educating them about dive flag and dive below markers. You could add 1 dollar to the boat fees to pay for this.
3. The lake patrol needs to start patroling known dive areas and ticketing people for endangering divers.

These are EASY fixes to help protects the lives of hundreds of divers who frequent the lakes every week, It would be negilgent to ignore this growing safety issue.

If you agree with these, email the address above with your solution.

Maybe if enough people bring this concern to their attention, someone will actually listen.


jcf

 

[AbyssalPlains]

Dove off the 10-lane ramp yesterday with a couple of friends. Luckily, we didn't have any run-ins with boats. Did two dives, heading dead north until we hit the sandy ravine at about 60 feet. We continued until about 90 feet, then turned around. Viz was about 10 feet above thermocline and 12-15 at depth. Bottom temps around 55. The only fish we saw were close to shore, though. Not sure which kind. A very good day of diving after all. Thank you, Reefman, for all your helpful advice on that site!

 

[Reef Man]

Glad you had a great day!!! We went out Saturday and dove that area again...we also had a great time....glad I could help!!!