Athens Scuba Park Report

[TxHockeyGuy]

I was in a rescue class out there today (Sunday July 15, we were supposed to originally be out at CSSP) and wanted to report on the conditions. I haven't downloaded my computer data yet but the surface temp was 87F. There was a thermo but I don't remember the depth and it wasn't significant. I wore no wetsuit and had no problem staying on the bottom in comfort. The visibility however was a different story. The best vis we had all day to was only 5'. In areas that were stirred up it was about 2'. It made for an interesting rescue class and you had to stay so close to your buddy you could be diving off of each others primary. This was my first trip out to Athens and it's quite different from CSSP. There are absolutely no fish in the park, at least I saw none. There however is a ton of stuff on the bottom put in for divers to look at. I also got the opportunity to see Calvin's (the owner) ROV he built. It is very cool. When the vis settles down I think this would make for an interesting dive, definitely a change from diving CSSP.

 

[ScubaTexan]

There are no fish in ASP. There haven't been in over 10 years.

Welcome to the Rescue Club...

 

[ZzzKing]

And wash your gear off VERY WELL. It's not quite as bad as salt water out there but it's not nice clean spring fed either.

 

[Joe-Diver]

My best dives at Athens have been Friday night (camping) and Saturday morning early. After that, and especially by Sunday.....

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

And wash your gear off VERY WELL. It's not quite as bad as salt water out there but it's not nice clean spring fed either.

I had planned on doing a normal rinse, which I have admittedly not done yet, but will do a more thorough rinse. Kind of makes sense, if there's nothing living down there that water can't be too terribly great.

 

[texdiveguy]

My best times at Athens was when I was heading the heck out of the park!!!

 

[Timeliner]

And wash your gear off VERY WELL. It's not quite as bad as salt water out there but it's not nice clean spring fed either.

Can you say Alum in the water ? I knew ya could

Alum ~ in a saturated solution with water, is used in the Jewelry business for quickly rusting broken steel drill bits that break off in a repair or fabrication out a piece of gold jewelry. It is also used as an astringent to kill grems.
Grand Ma used it to make her pickles stiff.
Grand Pa used to get turned on when she made pickles so I suppose it has many other uses

It can also be used to precipitate particulates to clarify water and it works for that but it does mess up your gear and "may" make you bottle blond guys and gals a bit green.

sorta like the pickles...

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

Can you say Alum in the water ? I knew ya could

Alum ~ in a saturated solution with water, is used in the Jewelry business for quickly rusting broken steel drill bits that break off in a repair or fabrication out a piece of gold jewelry. It is also used as an astringent to kill grems.
Grand Ma used it to make her pickles stiff.
Grand Pa used to get turned on when she made pickles so I suppose it has many other uses

It can also be used to precipitate particulates to clarify water and it works for that but it does mess up your gear and "may" make you bottle blond guys and gals a bit green.

sorta like the pickles...

I can never tell if he is joking or not, so I'll just go wash my gear real good right now. I'm actually thinking of diving in the apartment swimming pool, chlorine has to be better for the gear than that stuff.

 

[Timeliner]

I can never tell if he is joking or not, so I'll just go wash my gear real good right now. I'm actually thinking of diving in the apartment swimming pool, chlorine has to be better for the gear than that stuff.

I'm in a rare form today...

Rinse your gear well !!!

Dis-locate your console from the rubber , pull back all the rubber anti-stress tubes...

Rinse dry and re-rinse inside your BCD ( if you take on water )
hose it all out real good in other words.....

Alum is funny stuff .. not terrible but it should be completely cleaned off as it is harmfull to some materials. Athens is in an old brick clay quarry and is naturally Alkaline so that plays a part too. Again, not terrible but it can cause problems if you don't rinse things.

Now I can go back to being a joker !

 

[darkraingod]

He's not joking at all about the chemicals in the water. They're what keep the fish out and the water green/blue. I did some training there several weeks ago. One girl in the group was a platinum blonde, and by the end of the day her hair was neon green.