Clark Hill/Lake Thurmond 10/13/07

[diveprof]

Eight of us met at East Dam at 8:30a this morning for our first real "fall" weather dives including one diver from Savannah and one from Warner Robbins. It was 46 degrees as we suited up for our first dive. Vis was about like last weekend 6-10' down to about 48' (better on the plane and rocks at these depths), from about 48' to 55' was a nasty layer with only 3-4' vis, then upwards of 20' 55' - 85'. We began our dive along the rocks of the dam, descending down to the airplane. From there we headed down to the missle at 72' today and turned towards the 80' wall. We dove the entire 80' wall, then ascended to thru the forest to the 67' ledge. We turned south and swam along the North Wall to the big stump (nice cat under it today). From there we ascended to the fallen pine, past the pipeline, assorted stumps to the 15' ledge and hydrilla. After an extended swimming safety stop we made our exit. Dive time 1:06 , max dedpth 80'.
Dive two began with a descent to the 3 big rocks, then past the pool filters to the 40' ledge and down to the angel statue, and through the trench. We then turned south along the 63' ledge and then down to the 80' wall. The wall was great today on both dives. We spent a lions share of our dive in the 55-80' range to take advantage of the good vis. Leaving the wall, we headed to the missle, up to the 3 big rocks (another large cat) and then onward to the plane. After spending a bit on the plane we headed west along the bouyancy course to the ski boat. We then headed upwar to 15' for a safety stop swim back to shore along the rocks (two of us spent a little extra time on the plane on the way back and then completed another safety stop). Dive time was 1:06 with max depth of 79'. A great day of diving with 78 degree surface temps at the end of the dives and bright sunshine. The lake was nice today. Enjoyed meeting the divers from Warner Robbins and Savannah. Y'all come join us again. Tomorrow we dive the river. Life is good.....

 

[Wick00]

Thanks for having me up for a couple excellent dives...I'm definitely going to be coming back. I'll even try to bring a couple others next time

 

[willardj]

Thanks again Andy. I had a great time. Tell everyone Thanks for putting up with me. It was nice to meet all the nice people up there. The only thing that sucked was carring them dang tanks back up the hill. After 2h13m(total) under water then carring them back up hill. Wow. That's ok though I need the exercise. Thanks for the extra time down on the plane. It was neat to see all the stuff ya'll have there. You guy's and gal's are doing a good job putting that all together.

Next time I get up there we have to get over and do the river. Now hearing everyong talk about it it's a must do now. I'll to have to bring the wife up next time. I think she would have had a great time.. I'll keep in touch for the next time. Thanks again!!

I ended up with
78' for 67min. 1st dive
80' for 66min. 2nd dive

 

[diveprof]

Wick00 and Willardj,
It was great having both of you join us for the day. Give a shout anytime that y'all can make it back this way. Willardj, I am sure that carrying doubles up to the parking lot after all that diving was a bit of a work out. I'm not sure which is worse right now, the treck with doubles across the sand due to the lower lake level or the hill climb. Just think of it as builidng character. Fortunately, it is a fairly short trek and not too much of a hill. Folks dive doubles with us from time to time (including this one friend of mine who probably weighs 120 pounds soaking wet who lugs double LP 119's up the hill). Me on the other hand, I keep hoping for one of those short HP steel 80s that can be pumped to 5000psi (and a compressor that will pump it). We can dream can't we

The river is also a great dive whether it be in the fall line section near the N. Augusta Boat Ramp (large boulders underwater) or the downtown 5th street to the old marina drift (shipwreck, remains of old cotton docks, etc.). You'll have to come back and join us for some dives there too. Well, I'm off to the river...

 

[diveprof]

Just a quick report on the river dive from N. Augusta Boat Ramp today. Our plan was to dive across to the GA side, head north, dig in the u/w remains of the old trash pile, turn at 1000 psi and head back to the SC side and drift back to complete our dive. Looking into the water from the boat dock, I was thinking yes!! a great dive day seeing the bottom 15' below. We began our swim across the river in 10-15' vis. I noticed on the swim across the vis dropped considerably. 35 yards from the GA shore it dropped to 1-2'. Needless to say, we quickly became separated (all dive plans are great until they make contact with the water). Well, after a minute or two , we surfaced and decided to abandon our original dive plan. Regrouping, we decided to swim out to midriver and continue the dive on the SC side - a great plan. Reaching mid river and dropping the vis improved to 10-15' as we approached the SC side. We salvaged what would have been a lousy dive and turned it into a great dive. I am not sure what was the source of the decreased vis on the GA side (river about 100 yards wide here). On the surface you could see a mud plume coming down river on the GA side about 1/3 from the shore to 1/3 of the way out to the middle. The SC side was great. Lots of marine life today. The bottom is boulders and slabs of rock. Sunfish, catfish and carp. Saw two freshwater eels, several smaller cats, a huge carp that kept stirring up the bottom, bass and various sunfish. We swam upstream (weak current today) past boulders, slabs of rock (this is the fall line area of the river), logs, limbs, etc. in 10-15' vis. The bottom here is mostly solid rock with a thin slit covering in spots. Making our turn at about 1000 psi, we drifted downstream to the entry point. A little over an hour (1:09) and depth varying from 12-16' or so. Yeah, I was in my small 80 HP today. Comfort is a good thing...

 

[willardj]

Sound's like it started out like crap but ended pretty good. Also sound's like the fish where out today. Next time I get up there we'll have to do the river.