Keowee dive report 3/31/07

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

What a great day of diving! The weather was great and the warm warm! We had 10 people on the boat from www.scubaboard.com and www.singledivers.com It was so nice to be back in the water again.

We met at 9:00am at the War Path Landing for Lake Keowee in Salem, SC. After a short boat ride we arrived at the hot hole where the secondary cooling water from the Oconnee Nuclear plant releases the cooling water into the lake.

This was my first time in open water in my new gear and first time in current. I really had a great time. We saw a large school of shad. The sun was hitting their bodies and made them look like sparks in the shy. Jocasseegirl and I hovered for few minutes to watch the show. There were tons of them. They moved in unison with such beauty and then as quickly as we came upon them, in a few minutes they darted off into the murk. We also saw a few bass and some nice plant life. I didn’t want the day to end. But alas the air and time ran out for all of us.

After we off loaded the boat, four of us went to Tony’s in Pickens for a nice Italian meal. Hot food always tastes so good after a day of diving! It was great to be served a meal and talk about the days dive with some old and new friends.

We are planning another dive together at Lake Jocassee on April 28th at the ramp. This next time the grill master himself reefraff2 will be in good form again taking our dinner requests. I love diving the ramp in the summer. It is so nice to be able to leisurely stroll up, set up our chairs and canopy, ease into the water and then ease back up on shore, have a meal together and then after taking in the scenery, ease back into the water to do it all again. We did a lot of 2 to 4 tank dives there last summer. It was nice to have air fills so close by and to just dive until you were ready to head home.

Anyone who would like to join us on the 28th of April is welcome to come along. There will be plenty to room in the shade and in the water! I will post the details in a week or so on what the plan is. If you want to come, shoot me a PM or watch this forum.

 

[Jocasseegirl]

I had a great time, especially when we were enveloped by literally hundreds of tiny silver-blue shad. THAT was beautiful! It looked like sunlight flickering in the water. I found a great piece of driftwood shaped just like a boot, which I used to play golf with some tiny little nerf-like balls on the bottom. OTW Diver said they are used to scrub out some part of the nuclear plant. Overall we had a great time, although Leah and I didn't stick with the rest of the group and probably missed some of the drift dive adventure. I'd go again. :blinking: And yes, I learned the valuable lesson of not wearing your mask on your forehead while on the boat. I know not to do that :no in the water - didn't think it mattered on the boat - but I was corrected! :shakehead

 

[sandmanz32]

what time did you guys leave the lake? i was out there with bermuda triangle at around 2-5. it was a blast. we went saturday and sunday. saturday the weather was great, sunday was a lil rainy but the dive was still great, no one was on the water....no one! we were literally the only guys there on sunday! not afraid to dive in the rain are we? lol! jk vis sucked but over all it was great. we blasted through that same school of shad both days. even though i lost my hood still had an awesome time.......time to invest in a hooded vest lol!

 

[tonka97]

Great reports! Thanks!

Any photos to share??

 

[sandmanz32]

me and my buddy took a few but havent got them up yet.....he has the cam!

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

Sandman232, we were unloading the boat as you guys were leaving to go out. I talked to Randy as you guys were pulling out and mentioned the shad and asked him if he had been over to Jocassee to check on the Bones Family near the ramp. We are planning to do a ramp dive on April 28th at Jocassee. You are welcome to come along and join us. I will post details in a week or so. We would love to have you. We have a lot of fun hanging out and diving together.

 

[sandmanz32]

yea, thatd be great! i should be available to dive by the end of the month.

 

[MaconBubbles]

Yes, it was a great time! The best part about it was meeting a bunch of great people from SC and GA. This was my first lake dive and I had a great time in the water. I look forward to diving with you all again. I was a little apprehensive at first because this was a new place for me and I didn't know anyone. Everyone went out of their way to make me feel welcome and comfortable. A special thanks to Leah and Bill for helping me find my way. Thanks to Reefraff for being my buddy! I will do this again for sure and I really look forward to seeing the Bones family. Hope to see you soon! Dee

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

Dee, it was great to have you!! I hope you will come again. I had a really great time too! I can't wait to dive in again.

Last summer after I got certified, I had a hard time finding buddies. So I decided to just form a group and start doing a Dive of the Month at Jocassee or Keowee. Anyone is welcome to come. The goal is of course to help me find buddies and make new friends and to help others do the same. I hope as the summer goes on that more people will join us. Everytime we have met up we have had a collection of people from various dive shops, several states, recreational, tech divers, dir diver and surface dwellers. I think a good time is had by all when we get together. I am so excited about this dive season.

I look forward to seeing the gang again on April 28th--and hope to meet a few new faces!

 

[Reefraff2]

What a great day it was. The weather and water were both warm, good people and great diving. Riding the currents was a blast, as you see the rocks flying by. Seen pleanty of fish, and a few turtles, and lots of NURF balls. All in all a fun dive, and a nice dinner at Tony's afterwards. Looking forward to starting up at Jocassee soon.