Lake Bryan, in Bryan, TX, is a hotbed of recreational watersport activity. So, when asked by friends if I'd take part in an afternoon of S&R diving to try to find the rudder of a sailboat that took a flip, I agreed (if only to finally explore a nearby body of water and get wet). For those interested in the location, http://bvmba.txcyber.com/bryan.htm has a decent description of how to get to the lake.
The spot the boat flipped was on the far west side of the lake, and park officials had the dam road closed when we arrived, so we ended up taking OSR to a point where it came near the park road, and drove over a sagging wire fence. As we were leaving, hours later, we got a visit from some guys from BTU, the local power company. They indicated they would very happily give us the combination to the gate in the future, and to please not drive over their fence
Around 9:45, we made our first entrance. The water temperature was nice, approximately 80 degrees on average. We dragged out a dive flag, and made our first descent to check out what the diving conditions and especially what possible bottom features existed. The visibility for this dive was, at best, an inch (later in the day, parts would clear to give you a good 3 inch view). We were in 3 2-man teams, spread fairly widely, and universally the conditions were "20' and mud". Daylight (green-brown water) ended at 10' to total darkness.
We regrouped and spent the next several hours sounding out depths (we were assured the minimum depth for the rudder to be lost was 28', so we wanted an area at least around 25'). Eventually, we went far from the original designated search area to find water deep enough. One team had sat out the search-pattern dives after lunch (one with a clearing problem, the other not feeling up to the exertion), and while searching one team (out of 2 at that point) had to stop due to cramping legs and a recurring pinch. That left me and a buddy named Zach toughing it out until I managed to catch a bouy we'd run line between during a search run, and dragging it along. At that point the four of us in the water decided that, short a much better search area and maybe some boat support, the dive was a wash.
So, to the main point of this message (which is mostly for the archives, in the hopes that some intrepid explorer can be saved some hassle in the future). Lake Bryan is a fairly safe body of water (if you carry a dive flag. Boats and PWC abound the lake on weekends, and diving without a flag would be the height of foolishness), but from a diving perspective singularly uninteresting. The visibility never got above 3 inches (believe me, it was nice not having to hold my bottom timer to one side of my mask while shining light throught the other), and even in a dry spell the current is such that I don't think it'd get above a foot.
Actually, I can think of a perfect use for the lake (in regards to diving) - line training. You don't have to "simulate" lights-out diving at depth, it IS lights-out diving.
I hope our experiences are found to be useful by someone in the future, and I hope y'all get a chuckle over me finally finding a dive site worse than Lost Lake
jeff
The spot the boat flipped was on the far west side of the lake, and park officials had the dam road closed when we arrived, so we ended up taking OSR to a point where it came near the park road, and drove over a sagging wire fence. As we were leaving, hours later, we got a visit from some guys from BTU, the local power company. They indicated they would very happily give us the combination to the gate in the future, and to please not drive over their fence
Around 9:45, we made our first entrance. The water temperature was nice, approximately 80 degrees on average. We dragged out a dive flag, and made our first descent to check out what the diving conditions and especially what possible bottom features existed. The visibility for this dive was, at best, an inch (later in the day, parts would clear to give you a good 3 inch view). We were in 3 2-man teams, spread fairly widely, and universally the conditions were "20' and mud". Daylight (green-brown water) ended at 10' to total darkness.
We regrouped and spent the next several hours sounding out depths (we were assured the minimum depth for the rudder to be lost was 28', so we wanted an area at least around 25'). Eventually, we went far from the original designated search area to find water deep enough. One team had sat out the search-pattern dives after lunch (one with a clearing problem, the other not feeling up to the exertion), and while searching one team (out of 2 at that point) had to stop due to cramping legs and a recurring pinch. That left me and a buddy named Zach toughing it out until I managed to catch a bouy we'd run line between during a search run, and dragging it along. At that point the four of us in the water decided that, short a much better search area and maybe some boat support, the dive was a wash.
So, to the main point of this message (which is mostly for the archives, in the hopes that some intrepid explorer can be saved some hassle in the future). Lake Bryan is a fairly safe body of water (if you carry a dive flag. Boats and PWC abound the lake on weekends, and diving without a flag would be the height of foolishness), but from a diving perspective singularly uninteresting. The visibility never got above 3 inches (believe me, it was nice not having to hold my bottom timer to one side of my mask while shining light throught the other), and even in a dry spell the current is such that I don't think it'd get above a foot.
Actually, I can think of a perfect use for the lake (in regards to diving) - line training. You don't have to "simulate" lights-out diving at depth, it IS lights-out diving.
I hope our experiences are found to be useful by someone in the future, and I hope y'all get a chuckle over me finally finding a dive site worse than Lost Lake
jeff
