Lake Ouachita Road Trip (Oct 3/4)

[heavyjeffd]

Well hopefully the profile will agree with my wetsuit, I only own a 3mm.

Granted I'm not very cold natured (I regularly dive in 75F water with only a 1mm hybrid/lycra shorty on for 90 minutes at a time and I am not cold).

 

[k-valve]

One set of dbl 95s and another set of dbl 108s. I've actually gotten rid of a couple of sets as I'm anticipating taking the plunge to rebreather soon.

For deco, I'm going to carry one Al80 with 100% and another Al80 with 50%. I figure I'll use them if there is potential for a technical dive otherwise they'll be topside.

Syd is wavering back and forth on going. I think it's going to depend on whether or not she is able to settle a case that is due to go to trial on that Friday. She thinks is will settle, so we'll see. If she goes we'll probably stay with her friends in Hot Springs...sorry guys, the creature comforts at their place are just too damn good to pass on. LOL! The good news is we'll have a boat tender and the life of the party with us as Syd is a helluva lot of fun. Plus she's from that part of Arkansas and knows her way around. For those of you riding with me she's just a little drink of water and won't even take up much space in the truck. :-D

Many thanks to BrianKinley2004, chucksaul, and Capt Scotty for the dive shop info. Hot Springs is a MUCH better option!

 

[k-valve]

Does anyone know what island number Crawdad Island is? I'd like to figure it out on the map and the only one I can find has the islands numbered rather than named.

Not too much good info on Google Earth either. I did find that Zebra Island is #49...at least I hope that is the case.

I'm also hoping to find a better map somewhere before we arrive. If not, I'm sure the marinas can supply one for us.

 

[k-valve]

I just reserved a 25' Party Barge from Brady Mtn Resort, which is at the end of the lake we'll be diving. The costs are: $145/half day; $190/full day; $275/24 hours. That's about $70 each so far for the boat, plus gas which we won't be using much of I don't think. The more people who sign up the less the cost of the boat to each person, so come on y'all take the big step and commit!!! LOL!

 

[heavyjeffd]

Your buddies in Hot Springs have a floor I can sleep on?

Haha, camping is fine honestly, I don't care. Just don't forget to pick me up on the way home.

 

[k-valve]

Ha! No worries...I'll want the help paying for gas! Seriously, we're all gonna have to figure out the gear loading thing. Maybe we can all meet at Shawn's house since it's on the way.

 

[scubatexastony]

Does anyone know what island number Crawdad Island is? I'd like to figure it out on the map and the only one I can find has the islands numbered rather than named.

Not too much good info on Google Earth either. I did find that Zebra Island is #49...at least I hope that is the case.

I'm also hoping to find a better map somewhere before we arrive. If not, I'm sure the marinas can supply one for us.

Have you checked this out?
Dive Sites in Arkansas click on Ouachita map in the upper right corner. Crawdad is L03 I copied the maps and GPS datum, but had the put in the links as they wouldn't copy and paste to the map. Seems ol' Darrell has dove every mile of that Lake!

~tony

 

[Broken Finstrap]

I was there this past weekend during Labor Day and the visibility was really good. The guy at the Brady Mountain dive shop said visibility was just starting to get really good. That was their last weekend for being open. Some places we dove had at least 10 to 15 feet of vis down to 30 feet, before it was kicked up by lots of divers, but below the thermocline, it really opened up. Some deep divers reported 30 to 40 feet plus or as far as their light would shine. The first thermocline was around 30 to 35 feet. I was diving with a big group from Dallas and we rented a big pontoon boat for 2 days from the "Spillway" shop.

 

[heavyjeffd]

Nice!

What were the temps like, techgirl?

I'm purely a rec diver at this point, so I plan on keeping well safe within those limits. My only concern is getting too cold.

 

[k-valve]

Have you checked this out?
Dive Sites in Arkansas click on Ouachita map in the upper right corner. Crawdad is L03 I copied the maps and GPS datum, but had the put in the links as they wouldn't copy and paste to the map. Seems ol' Darrell has dove every mile of that Lake!

~tony

That is a great link, Tony, thanks!!! Loads of info about different dive sites on the Lake.

I did find a water temp on one of the fishing sites. It said the temp was 71 degrees. Unfortunately, it didn't mention at what depth that temperature was taken.