Dive Condition Reports

[Bill Parker]

Lake Murray (Water outlet tower area)

July 7, 2013

Temps my computer recorded:

1st dive: 59f @ 83ft
80f @ 22ft
2nd dive: 64F @ 48ft

Vis was extremely variable. From 0-40 feet it was 5-10
feet but the clear skies and strong sunshine made it
very easy was to see around. 40-60 ft deep was around
20 feet of vis. Below 60 feet it was less than 5 feet
and a real chore to keep track of your buddies.
Generally if you didn't like the vis just keep moving
up, down, or sideways until you find an area where it
was pleasant. Life was abundant and active. Anything
alive below 30 feet was both rare and ran away from me
with haste. 95% of the marine life was 30 feet or
shallower. In the 40-60 feet range there was little
life but lots of creepy and eerie landscape. That
depth range was really interesting. Pictures could
never do it justice you have to be there to experience
the bizarreness of it. I observed several places where
zebra mussels would be expected but instead clean
rock. Something is eating those things fast.
Definitely a cool place to dive I want to go back.

[video=youtube_share;gbUvz9tavLQ]http://youtu.be/gbUvz9tavLQ[/video]

 

[chrpai]

Lake Travis - Mansfield Dam
Saturday July 13, 2013 8:30AM

Scubaboard member pocky21 pm'd me saying that he was passing through Austin from AZ on his way to FL and that he would like to get a dive in Lake Travis.

Well of course I would!

We settled on Mansfield dam at 8:00am. We did our final confirmation at 7:30am and I called an audible suggesting that we meet at Rudy's BBQ for some yummy breakfast tacos. Eat chow, chilled and relaxed and then headed over to the dive site at 8:30.

He was packing an LP104 and I was in my LP95. I had my new Hog Tech 2 fins along with my new ScubaPro heavy duty boots. Oh what a dream those were.... but that'll be for another thread.

Surface temps were 84f. The thermocline was around 35' and was 72f. Visibility beneath the thermocline was 15' - 20'. (My new buddy thought it was 10'-15'.) We followed the wall all the way to the dam and then dropped down to the boat that's currently in 75' of water. Getting chilly (65f) it was time to turn around. We came back up to 35'-40' and followed the wall back. Up to 18' for 5 minutes as we passed the exit point and then to 10' to swing back towards the exit and check out the sunken barges/boats. After another 5 minutes or so we surfaced. Total dive time was 76 minutes.

The hike up the hill wasn't too bad. Loaded up and headed over the Iguana Grill for some tex-mex and drinks while admiring the views of Lake Travis.

Just a sample of Central Texas living after hours of driving through West Texas. Thanks for the dive.

 

[Earl Grey]

7/20/2013
Blue Lagoon, Huntsville, TX

Air temp approx 84F

Water temp 84F at ~ 20ft.
Viz was ~ 15 feet
Conditions were nice and had a couple of leisurely dives during "CHUM Olympics" practicing navigation, buoyancy, etc. Lovely this time of year to enjoy local diving in rash guards/swimsuits.

 

[paulw]

Wednesday 7-24-13

Lake Travis, Windy Point (Public)

Divers – paulw

Air Temp -97

Water Temp - 85 at surface, 70 at 45', 67 at 80'

Max Depth - 80'

Vis - 3'

Dive Time - 58 min

The vis was just not to be found on this dive, every now and then it opened up to maybe 5' and then it was back to nothing but muck. Crappy vis but still it was not a bad dive!

 

[francousteau]

Went out to CSSP, Saturday 7/27, for a couple 1+ hr dives to check out some new electronics in preparation for my trek back to dive the wrecks off of NJ next month. The place was packed & I even got there relatively early (for me) at about 9:30am. I drove down the left side and ended up at the pontoon dock near the plane. Lots of people doing rescue or search & recovery. I geared up, jumped in and headed for the plane. Barely saw it, with all the muck kicked up from all the classes. Did a swim through (too hot for me there) and dropped to 32' (74°) and then to 40' (temps @ 72°...3mm fullsuit + 3mm vest + hood + gloves) and swam generally south. Viz at 40' was about dark green (5' or so). Didn't want to go deeper cause 72° was about my limit (cold is one thing...cold & wet...entirely something else!). My reciprocal was @ 30' and a comfy 74°. Oh... at 29', I got to where I thought the plane should be, with all the big boulders and couldn't find the plane ... I found it but it's now in 24' of water. Who moved it??? Water level is really dropping at the quarry!

 

[Earl Grey]

7/27/2013
Gulf of Mexico

Star Reef - Air temp 83F. Water temp 86F at the surface, 84F down to about 90 feet and 82F at 101 feet.
Viz was variable and was best around 60-75 feet, about 20-30' viz. Deeper than 75 feet it got murky and was about 10'.
Surface current strong but tapered off around 60-65 feet.
Saw barracuda, a pair of sharpnose puffers, triggers, snapper, blennies, queen angel and a couple remora.

GA-A40-A aka "40 Mile Rig" - Moved out a little further hoping for better conditions and we got it. Brilliant blue water out at the rig. Air temp 85F. Water temp similar with 86F at the surface and 84F down to 90 feet.
Viz was 60-80' through most of the water column but got murkier below 85 feet.
Surface current slacked off a bit but was pulling pretty good around 30-40 feet.
Saw three large barracuda, a pair of spotfin butterflyfish, cobia, snapper, grouper, spades, trigger, and blennies.

A good day of diving.

 

[LiveBait]

8/03/2013
Mammoth Lake

Air temp at 8 am 80s. Water temp. at the surface was 88 slightly cooler below 24' I want to say 84 but don't remember exactly. Visibility was anywhere form 5-15'. We did a scooter run around the lake best vis was about 20'. It was a good dive but, we had heard the vis was better 20' or more. I guess we just missed the window.

 

[Sushi Boy]

Mammoth Lake, 17 Aug
viz - 10-15'
85 degrees

 

[paulw]

Saturday 8-17-13 7AM

Lake Travis, Mansfield Dam

Divers – paulw - Danny Bryce

Water Temp - 86 at surface, 70 at 45', 67 at 70'

We had two great dives with the vis really good most of the time. There were lost of small fish moving around and the larger fish used our lights to hunt.
[video=youtube_share;aA8bfxuWNyo]http://youtu.be/aA8bfxuWNyo[/video]

 

[oldschool]

Saturday, 08/24
Stillhouse Hollow

Dive #1 - 81f @ 29' max
12' to 15' vis.
1 hr 8 min dive time.
Set compass heading from shore below the pavillian to the bouy southwest of the pavillion. Nailed it. Mostly open and flat with a few tree trunks along the way. On return, went to northern most wreck in the scuba park and then back to shore near pavillion.

Dive #2 - 81f at 29' max
12' to 15' vis
1 hr 4 min dive time
Began dive from east shore of penensula (marina side). Dropped down to 29' and followed slope around the penensula until I picked up the wall of the trench. dropped down into trench and followed it until I came to the guide lines leading to the platform. Headed back toward southern tip of penensula. Stopped and did some smb drills. Finished the dive shallow (above 12' ft) following the slope back to the entry point. Lots of aquatic life including several large catfish and a large school of white bass that seemed as interested in me as I was in them. Found a "Schlitz" pull top can, pair of sunglasses, and a decent dive mask.