Club Planned trip

[AmyinWV]

Greetings Avid Divers,

Well, we had our meeting of the Southern West Virginia Dive Club. I will cover topics in another post. This is to let anyone interested know that we have planned one dive so far for Tuesday June 15th at Summersville Lake, Summersville, WV. Known as the "Little Bahamas of the East". And for those of you who have never seen it, it is absolutely beautiful :amazed:

We are doing a Tuesday because the lake viz gets pretty bad on the weekends when all the skiiers and tubers start zipping around the lake. It can get a bit dangerous too when they zip too close to you to see what you are doing. Not everyone knows the rules about distance and a dive flag. We have more than one diver in our group that have had idiots on waverunners jumping or doing buoey races around their flags.

It is currently planned as a shore dive (that may change later, we'll see). We will be meeting at the winter boat ramp at 9am. The morning viz is best. If it might be easier for you to come early from a distance, there is a ton of places to stay in the immediate area. you can check them out at this link http://www.visitwv.com/search.cfm (check Nicholas County, then check Lodging/camping)(you don't actually have to fill out the info) the descriptions should tell you how close to the lake they are.

Here is the link to some general information http://www.lrh.usace.army.mil/projects/lakes/sum/ It is the ArmyCorp of Engineers, whom manages the lake. They are really great guys too if you need to call up there for any other information. There is also a dive shop in the marina that fills tanks. Don't forget your yearly inspections!!

Hope to see some of you there!!

 

[AmyinWV]

Had a chance to dive Summersville lake Sunday, thought you might like to hear about it. We did a shore dive from the winter boat ramp (no boats allowed now). There were several locals swimming, but it wasn't bad. The viz was really good for the lake, about 20 feet. Surface temp of the water was 77* but the thermoclines were still quite chilly. Around 58* at 45 feet. I do advise wearing a hood, it really made a difference on our second dive.

The only problem we really ran into was when a boat pulled right up to shore to pick some guy up, right in the middle of the swimmers and everything. After they were aboard, the boat did not leave, it hung around in the cove. Eventually it was about 50 feet from a dive flag (some of our group went back to look for my knife on a third dive) and I had to start shouting and waving my arms at them to get away. I really wish they required all boaters to test on flag meanings, since the average boater has no idea what a dive flag is or the safety requirements involved.

This is a prime example of why I usually only dive on weekdays!

 

[rmediver2002]

Gosh what great pictures....

I used to do some climbing at summersville 93-99 and stay at the dam campground but never did bring the dive gear with me... I wish I had now...

Great to se the rocks again, what is the diving like down there? Seem like there would be so many different formations, are there any mines underwater?

Stay safe!!

Jeff

 

[AmyinWV]

Hey Jeff,

The diving there is about as good as fresh water gets. I have some other really great pictures of a little waterfall, in my favorite dive spot, that comes off the rocks after a rain. It's just beautiful.

There is some really incredible rock formations to swim around and through. There is also a swim-through called "bubbles cave". I am told it is a horseshoe shaped cave, only big enough for divers single file, and it is a one tank dive that takes the whole tank/about 30 minutes. It's straight swimming and you can't turn around. So basically once you start, there is no stopping, and you had better hope you don't run into any problems. Me personally, well I haven't worked up the guts to do it just yet. Although I have found other little caves and openings in the rocks.

The town of Gad is at the bottom of the lake, but there really isn't much left of it. Maybe some stone home foundations at best, and I've been told a tractor or two. The problem there is the lake is soooo deep in the middle where the town sat. Our fish/depth finder hit 400' going across the middle before.

Do you mean coal mines? I don't think so. Atleast not there.

I am supposed to dive there again tomorrow (Monday). I will update on temps and conditions. As long as this crumby rain storm holds off.

Dive Happy!
Amy

P.S. I have an old Land Rover for sale, $450. It is one of the big ones, looks like a safari vehicle, FJ-55. Just incase you want another project.