We did the first official Hodagg dive of the season at Kowaliga this past Saturday. Me, Bersie, Scud, Framer, Crosstie, and Tracy met early and enjoyed an outstanding day of diving. All of us but Tracy had dry suits
We found the water clear, cool and inviting. Temperature at the surface is about 72 degrees with the first noticeable thermocline at 19 feet where it dropped to 68. The serious thermocline came about 24 feet where I could actually see ripples as the colder water mixed. This one dropped abruptly to 62 degrees. It was right at the depth where you want to dive and see stuff. Around 35 feet the thermometer showed 59 and at forty feet I saw 58 degrees.
Visibility, on the other hand, was reasonably good. It probably averaged 12 feet but at times opened up much farther. The roadbed is 25 feet wide and once I was on one side of the structure and I could see a diver well enough to recognize who it was from a measured 25 feet away.
On the first dive I tried to follow the group but when they sidetracked to the trees first I lost them and went out the left (west) side of the rubble. My hands got cold to the point that they ached and I ascended above the thermocline and waited for the group at the south end of the concrete. I more or less stayed on top as I followed the group. I found an old propane bottle and tried to open the valve but it was already open. Then I looked at thousands of bass and crappie fingerlings that were hanging in and out of the rubble.
Bersie turned the group after thirty minutes and I zigzagged across the bottom looking for stuff. The same old trash that was there last year hadn’t moved. I went to the trees and headed west to the old boats. The largest is coming apart and is not in very good shape now. If you see them please don’t touch them because they have become very fragile.
Tracy followed me past the boats and we headed for the exit. We found a minnow trap tangled in the line and decided that, since it was abandoned, we would remove it from the water. Abandoned traps and nets are known worldwide as death devices for animals that become ensnared. There is a thick layer of algae from about 20 feet to 25 feet and the babies abound darting in and out of the natural cover and food source.
As we stood in waist deep water talking we noticed a pair of Canadian Geese with about ten goslings swimming in formation. Their reflections stretched toward us on the smooth surface. It was one of those “a million dollars for a camera” encounters.
On the second dive we went out the right side of the rubble. My hands didn’t get cold this time and I was really comfortable just cruising along and looking. I went all the way to the rocky knob and across the bridge to the trees. I found an aluminum boiler and a few minutes a frying pan. I looked long and hard for jellyfish but didn’t see any. As I was going back along the right side I turned to the west into deeper water. I found a ledge at 40 feet that looked like an old roadbed. After following it for a little ways I turned back toward the bridge and the water at 30 feet didn’t feel so bad now.
As I approached the bridge I noticed a small dimple in the silt and found an almost perfect 1953 Dr Pepper bottle. This is the one with the four on the bottom of the circle. Elated over my find I turned back west and followed the fiber optic cable to the exit point.
We enjoyed lunch on the deck at Sinclair’s. I think all of us ordered the fried grouper with half and half fries and onion rings. We solved the world’s problems as we sat and listened to waves gently lapping on the rocks.
We found the water clear, cool and inviting. Temperature at the surface is about 72 degrees with the first noticeable thermocline at 19 feet where it dropped to 68. The serious thermocline came about 24 feet where I could actually see ripples as the colder water mixed. This one dropped abruptly to 62 degrees. It was right at the depth where you want to dive and see stuff. Around 35 feet the thermometer showed 59 and at forty feet I saw 58 degrees.
Visibility, on the other hand, was reasonably good. It probably averaged 12 feet but at times opened up much farther. The roadbed is 25 feet wide and once I was on one side of the structure and I could see a diver well enough to recognize who it was from a measured 25 feet away.
On the first dive I tried to follow the group but when they sidetracked to the trees first I lost them and went out the left (west) side of the rubble. My hands got cold to the point that they ached and I ascended above the thermocline and waited for the group at the south end of the concrete. I more or less stayed on top as I followed the group. I found an old propane bottle and tried to open the valve but it was already open. Then I looked at thousands of bass and crappie fingerlings that were hanging in and out of the rubble.
Bersie turned the group after thirty minutes and I zigzagged across the bottom looking for stuff. The same old trash that was there last year hadn’t moved. I went to the trees and headed west to the old boats. The largest is coming apart and is not in very good shape now. If you see them please don’t touch them because they have become very fragile.
Tracy followed me past the boats and we headed for the exit. We found a minnow trap tangled in the line and decided that, since it was abandoned, we would remove it from the water. Abandoned traps and nets are known worldwide as death devices for animals that become ensnared. There is a thick layer of algae from about 20 feet to 25 feet and the babies abound darting in and out of the natural cover and food source.
As we stood in waist deep water talking we noticed a pair of Canadian Geese with about ten goslings swimming in formation. Their reflections stretched toward us on the smooth surface. It was one of those “a million dollars for a camera” encounters.
On the second dive we went out the right side of the rubble. My hands didn’t get cold this time and I was really comfortable just cruising along and looking. I went all the way to the rocky knob and across the bridge to the trees. I found an aluminum boiler and a few minutes a frying pan. I looked long and hard for jellyfish but didn’t see any. As I was going back along the right side I turned to the west into deeper water. I found a ledge at 40 feet that looked like an old roadbed. After following it for a little ways I turned back toward the bridge and the water at 30 feet didn’t feel so bad now.
As I approached the bridge I noticed a small dimple in the silt and found an almost perfect 1953 Dr Pepper bottle. This is the one with the four on the bottom of the circle. Elated over my find I turned back west and followed the fiber optic cable to the exit point.
We enjoyed lunch on the deck at Sinclair’s. I think all of us ordered the fried grouper with half and half fries and onion rings. We solved the world’s problems as we sat and listened to waves gently lapping on the rocks.
