Trip Report August 21, 2010 - Starnes Island, Cypress Creek Wall, Oasis Wall, and Wreck Alley
Today was a success in finding unusual treasure and recovering lost items while enjoying visibility over 15' below the thermocline. It is uncommon for me to dive during the charter but Ellen took the helm so I could get in a dive. As previously posted, today was Ellen's final day in Austin before she departs for Tampa, Florida to pursue a degree in Marine Biology.
The day opened with a dive at Starnes Island, where I buddied with Michael to see what treasure I might find. The visibility was incredible, well beyond what I expected. I will no longer doubt the divers report of 20' or more below the thermocline. The group found everything from a $10 bill to evening wear, nerf gun, earrings, sunglasses, and a orange stone heart. The finds should have been a good indicator of what the day will produce. We moved the boat to Cypress Creek Wall where the finds kept coming. Within minutes of descending, the divers sent up a fishing rod and boat anchor. This was just the beginning. The most unique find of the day was the bottle of whiskey that many divers have spoken about seeing but until now remained at depth. The bottle was 7/8 full and upon smelling and tasting, was clearly unaffected being below the surface. In addition to the whiskey, another full can of Mike's Harder Lemonade was retrieved. Money, alcohol, and evening wear - could it get any better.
Well, it did. Tom's Dive and Swim came out for a Fun Dive and selected Oasis Wall to explore. I informed the divers that this site usually produces anchors, the occasional pair of shades, full beers/sodas, and once a $20 bill was recovered. The divers were put in near the location of the lost mask from Wednesday with the hope that maybe they would recover the mask. Our San Antonio dive guests, Kevin and Wendy, not only found the missing mask but also a brass bell dropped by a boater July 22, 2009.
It is hard to decide which diver receives the find of the day. Is it the bottle of whiskey, brass bell, instructors mask with prescription lenses, $10 bill, or multiple pairs of high dollar shades? What do you think?
Temps:
Surface to 30' - 87*
30' - 40' - 80*
40' - 60' - dropping to 70*
60' - 70' - 69*
Visibility:
Surface to Thermocline at 50' - 5' - 10'
Below Thermocline - over 15'
Photos from the dive can be seen at:
August 21, 2010 | Lake Travis Scuba Trip Report