Lake Ouachita Road Trip (Oct 3/4)

[heavyjeffd]

I was fine at Aquarena in my 3MM, was not cold at all for full tank dives, so as long as it's not like, below 60, I'll probably be okay with gloves. That and Charlie offered a hooded vest to wear over myh wetsuit, I'm sure I'll be fine with that.

 

[scubatexastony]

as long as it's not like, below 60, I'll probably be okay with gloves. Charlie offered a hooded vest to wear over my wetsuit, I'm sure I'll be fine with that.

I'm guessing it'll be about the same as Broken Bow.

It'll be low 60s /upper 50s @ 40-50 ft. Near 70 at the surface to 25-30 ft where the thermo starts. Expect upper 40's /low 50s if you go deep (100+)

If the hooded vest fits, it's best to wear it under your suit, I dive with one, and a farmer john 3 over 3, it's comfy on the deep dives. With that set up, I have 9 mil on the core. My hands did get cold with 3mm gloves though.

~tony

 

[heavyjeffd]

Ah, thanks tony, will do.

 

[scubashawn123]

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.

My house is fine. Email me at shawntv@austin.rr.com for the actual address.

Should I fix breakfast for everyone on the way out, or just a cup of JAVA

 

[scubashawn123]

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.

Hi,

Did you hear water temp above and below the thermocline?

 

[texdiveguy]

Is the idea to dive both Sat./Sun. from the rented pontoon. Get there Friday eve/dive some Sat/leave for home Sun. ??????

 

[texdiveguy]

Hi,

Did you hear water temp above and below the thermocline?

This is a chilly lake year around. I would sugg. 7mil gear or dry suits for any recreational depths for comfort. If a diver is at the top of the first thermo then maybe a 5mil set-up. This is just my recall of the water temp., been a few years and I get chilly fast. Being cold while diving is not your friend. Still working on details here.

 

[richerso]

Alright, let's see if I can help you guys out. I was out at Oauchita with techgirl last weekend. Here's my report from memory:

Major thermocline at 30-32 ft depth. Temp above thermo was somewhere in the low 70s F range. Temperature at 60ft was 57F (from memory).

Visibility above the thermo was generally 10-20 ft. with visible particulate matter floating. Visibility between 30 ft and 45 ft was variable. Visibility below 45 - 50 ft, opened up to an incredible gin clear. Below 50 ft, there was no visible particulate matter in the water. My dive light just shined on and on into the darkness. There was nothing in the water to give me a light reflection. Visibility??? I don't know. What do you call that? Infinite? While diving deep, I was never farther than about 10 ft of the walls but shining the light out into darkness revealed gin clear water.

My deepest dive was 88ft. Spent most of my time between 30 and 50 ft. Spent some time above 30 ft. I wore my usual lake dive exposure suit. I have a 3mil farmer john. Add a 3mil shorty, one 5 mil hood and one set of 5 mil gloves. I was very comfortable at all times. No problems.

By my data:
Checkerboard #48 34d 36m 25s
93d 14m 45s

Crawdad Island #Unknown
located due south of #49 and #50; due east of #1
34d 36m 05s
93d 12m 15s

Unable to identify Zebra rock at this time; but I did dive there on Saturday.

I can confirm the existence of Scuba and Archery center in Hot Springs (15 minutes from dam). They are located just on the west side of hot springs as you leave town for the dam. I don't know their hours of operation.

 

[scubatexastony]

check your PMs

~tony

 

[k-valve]

That is my plan exactly. I'd like to rent the boat Saturday sometime and keep it for 24 hours. We could do some night diving if we wanted to and maybe make a dive Sunday morning. Honestly though, I'm up for anything. I do have to be home Sunday. Work calls and I just got back from the UK so they won't be happy campers if I miss Monday. ;-)

Is the idea to dive both Sat./Sun. from the rented pontoon. Get there Friday eve/dive some Sat/leave for home Sun. ??????