Madison (Rock Divers) Quarry Report (and TV News report of an unconscious diver)

[mike_s]

Was able to get in a couple dives at Rock Divers (a.k.a. the Madison Quarry) this Saturdasy (July 9th).

Outside air temp was 90f-92f. Water surface temp was around 80f, bottom temp around 67f-69f depending on depth and location. Thermo-cline starting around 25 feet. Typically by this time of year I would say the water temp (especially the bottom) is a little warmer by a few degrees, but I think the "cool" spring we had
might have slowed the warming of the water.

Vis varried around the quarry but was typically around 10 to 15 feet. A few spots were a little better and a few were a little worse.

Overall, it was a pretty good day of diving for us.


A fellow diver who couldn't go called after I got home to see if everyone was
OK after he saw a news report of a "unconscious diver" at the quarry on
the 5pm local TV news. I watched for it on the 10pm news but they
didn't report on it since Hurricane Dennis is the "big story" on TV right
now (even though we are 350 miles from the gulf.)

Did anyone else see reports of a unconscious diver and know what happened?

-mike

 

[maggs_the]

Was able to get in a couple dives at Rock Divers (a.k.a. the Madison Quarry) this Saturdasy (July 9th).

Outside air temp was 90f-92f. Water surface temp was around 80f, bottom temp around 67f-69f depending on depth and location. Thermo-cline starting around 25 feet. Typically by this time of year I would say the water temp (especially the bottom) is a little warmer by a few degrees, but I think the "cool" spring we had
might have slowed the warming of the water.

Vis varried around the quarry but was typically around 10 to 15 feet. A few spots were a little better and a few were a little worse.

Overall, it was a pretty good day of diving for us.


A fellow diver who couldn't go called after I got home to see if everyone was
OK after he saw a news report of a "unconscious diver" at the quarry on
the 5pm local TV news. I watched for it on the 10pm news but they
didn't report on it since Hurricane Dennis is the "big story" on TV right
now (even though we are 350 miles from the gulf.)

Did anyone else see reports of a unconscious diver and know what happened?

-mike

Hey, i was there saturday too! we didnt hear anything about that but we left at about 2:30pm. i wonder if it was one of the students?? there were quite a few classes there.

that was my first trip there and we had a good day. It was our first time and nobody really schooled us on the proper platforms, so we geared up on the only open platform. turned out it was the designated swimming platform. but there were no swimmers other than some kids who were fascinated by us until we were coming up from our last dive. when we surfaced, we found out that some adult swimmers had complained so Rock Divers management came down to tell us and a few other surfacing divers that we were out of line diving off that platform. If you figure they're getting $17 a head from divers and $5 a head from swimmers, maybe the swimmers are out there more regularly cause i can't imagine why else they would do that.
I didnt see it myself, but one of the other divers spotted beer (Bud Light to be specific) in the swimmer's coolers and was asking us if that was allowed. it was too bad that at the end of the day, we left with a sour taste.
the quarry was smaller than i expected, but it was easy to navigate and when the silt wasnt stirred, the viz was probably 20 feet at a depth of 15 ft (we counted the boards we could see on the training platform while we did our 3 min safety stop.. ut oh.. we probably shouldnt have been on the platform either, eh?).
got a 2000 pound air fill on one tank and had a blown o-ring on the rental tank. it was not a miserable experience and we did enjoy ourselves but i think that was mostly cause we just had it in us to have a nice time and not let things spoil it.
likely, we'll go to Pelham or Mermet Springs next time. same distance and they cater more to just divers i think.

 

[mike_s]

Hey, i was there saturday too! we didnt hear anything about that but we left at about 2:30pm. i wonder if it was one of the students?? there were quite a few classes there.

Well, I found out at work this morning that a dive student had a heart attack
sometime later that afternoon. I don't know any other details.

that was my first trip there and we had a good day. It was our first time and nobody really schooled us on the proper platforms, so we geared up on the only open platform. turned out it was the designated swimming platform. but there were no swimmers other than some kids who were fascinated by us until we were coming up from our last dive. when we surfaced, we found out that some adult swimmers had complained so Rock Divers management came down to tell us and a few other surfacing divers that we were out of line diving off that platform. If you figure they're getting $17 a head from divers and $5 a head from swimmers, maybe the swimmers are out there more regularly cause i can't imagine why else they would do that.
I didnt see it myself, but one of the other divers spotted beer (Bud Light to be specific) in the swimmer's coolers and was asking us if that was allowed. it was too bad that at the end of the day, we left with a sour taste.

Typically I don't think they have a lot of swimmers there. I noticed the swim
platform had a good crowd on this past saturday, but I too didn't know
that it was designated as a "swim platform". I thought it was just one
they pulled over to the side or was being used for maintenance, etc.
I wouldn't get too worried about management telling you not to use it.
I prob would have told them that they need to put some signs up
and that you shouldn't be expected to follow "rules" that they don't
make people aware of.

I will say that management there defiantely needs to work on their
"people/customer skills", but I'm usually only in the office topside
long enough to drop off my entrance form, so I don't let them bother me.

the quarry was smaller than i expected, but it was easy to navigate and when the silt wasnt stirred, the viz was probably 20 feet at a depth of 15 ft (we counted the boards we could see on the training platform while we did our 3 min safety stop.. ut oh.. we probably shouldnt have been on the platform either, eh?).
got a 2000 pound air fill on one tank and had a blown o-ring on the rental tank. it was not a miserable experience and we did enjoy ourselves but i think that was mostly cause we just had it in us to have a nice time and not let things spoil it.
likely, we'll go to Pelham or Mermet Springs next time. same distance and they cater more to just divers i think.

Don't let their management's stupidity run you off. It's still a good place to dive.

I avoid the tank and fill problem there by not renting tanks from them.
Most other people I know do the same thing.
They've had some compressor problems in the past several times where
lubicrating oil has leaked into the lines. Their compressor and fill station
is also outside in the heat and humidity which can't be good for it.
This past weekend their Nitrox filling ability broke. I think they ran
out of Nitrox/oxygen or their Nitrox compressor broke.

We get our air fills at a dive shop down the Interstate that has
one of the best compressor/filter setups around and I've never gotten
a bad fill from them. When you go back, PM me and I'll give you
directions to their shop and you can pick up your tanks there....

Let me know next time you're heading our way and maybe I can
meet you out there for a dive. BTW... this quarry gets nice and
warm come August with 70f plus bottom temps.

-mike

 

[maggs_the]

Well, I found out at work this morning that a dive student had a heart attack
sometime later that afternoon. I don't know any other details.




Typically I don't think they have a lot of swimmers there. I noticed the swim
platform had a good crowd on this past saturday, but I too didn't know
that it was designated as a "swim platform". I thought it was just one
they pulled over to the side or was being used for maintenance, etc.
I wouldn't get too worried about management telling you not to use it.
I prob would have told them that they need to put some signs up
and that you shouldn't be expected to follow "rules" that they don't
make people aware of.

I will say that management there defiantely needs to work on their
"people/customer skills", but I'm usually only in the office topside
long enough to drop off my entrance form, so I don't let them bother me.



Don't let their management's stupidity run you off. It's still a good place to dive.

I avoid the tank and fill problem there by not renting tanks from them.
Most other people I know do the same thing.
They've had some compressor problems in the past several times where
lubicrating oil has leaked into the lines. Their compressor and fill station
is also outside in the heat and humidity which can't be good for it.
This past weekend their Nitrox filling ability broke. I think they ran
out of Nitrox/oxygen or their Nitrox compressor broke.

We get our air fills at a dive shop down the Interstate that has
one of the best compressor/filter setups around and I've never gotten
a bad fill from them. When you go back, PM me and I'll give you
directions to their shop and you can pick up your tanks there....

Let me know next time you're heading our way and maybe I can
meet you out there for a dive. BTW... this quarry gets nice and
warm come August with 70f plus bottom temps.

-mike

first, thanks! and i'll take you up on that offer. i do want to hit Mermet Springs tho cause i've never been there before, but next time we head to Madison, i'll PM ya and get that info and see if you're available for a few dives.

second.. HOW DO YOU DO THAT COOL THING WHERE YOU QUOTE IN SECTIONS?!? i have hard enough time when i try to manually cut out some of the lengthy postings and reply to just pieces.. but to piece it together like you did?? wow

 

[mike_s]

first, thanks! and i'll take you up on that offer. i do want to hit Mermet Springs tho cause i've never been there before, but next time we head to Madison, i'll PM ya and get that info and see if you're available for a few dives.

second.. HOW DO YOU DO THAT COOL THING WHERE YOU QUOTE IN SECTIONS?!? i have hard enough time when i try to manually cut out some of the lengthy postings and reply to just pieces.. but to piece it together like you did?? wow

If you hit the REPLY button, you'll notice that it puts the words "[q-u-o-t-e]"
and "[/q-u-o-t-e]" at the beginning and end of each section. You can do it
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the text you want to "quote" off. (BTW..... remove the dashes (-) from the
words [q-u-o-t-e] and [/q-u-o-t-e]. I had ot put the - in the word in
order to get it to show up on the screen. Otherwise it tries to "quote"
the text.)

You can do it also by highlighting the text and then clicking on the
"Wrap [QUOTE} tags around selected text" Icon at the top of the
reply screen. It's the one on the far right of the B(old) I(talics) U(nderline)
line of icons.

 

[dinky_diver]

Mike,
Some guys from the LDS here went down to Madison last week and said they enjoyed the trip. I'm thinking of travelling down from Knoxville, TN maybe in a couple of weeks. What days are the best to go? My wife does not dive but likes to snorkel. How tuff is it to find a dive buddy there? Any snorkelling or swimming things to see?
Thanks for any info.

Don't let their management's stupidity run you off. It's still a good place to dive.

We get our air fills at a dive shop down the Interstate that has
one of the best compressor/filter setups around and I've never gotten
a bad fill from them. When you go back, PM me and I'll give you
directions to their shop and you can pick up your tanks there....


-mike

 

[mike_s]

Mike,
Some guys from the LDS here went down to Madison last week and said they enjoyed the trip. I'm thinking of travelling down from Knoxville, TN maybe in a couple of weeks. What days are the best to go? My wife does not dive but likes to snorkel. How tuff is it to find a dive buddy there? Any snorkelling or swimming things to see?
Thanks for any info.

You won't have any trouble finding a buddy. There are two main "docks" the divers dive off of on the front side of the quarry and one on the back. You can always find plenty of people there to buddy up with and most people there are exremely friendly. You can drive your vehicle down and park it right on the edge of the quarry also, so no hauling gear down long walkways. You could actually jump from the back of a pickup truck directly into the quarry with your gear on if needed.

Saturdays' are always good days. I've never seen a day out there where it was "too crowded" either on the parking lot or the in the water. Max depth is around 50 feet, but you'll spend 95% of your time at 35 to 45 feet, so plenty of bottom time. There are always people and spouses out there swimming. They can snorkle, but the vis being only 10 to 20 feet will keep them from seeing much ont he bottom from the surface. If you wife comes, I'd suggest a "sun tent" to shade her as the sun can get pretty hot bouncing off the quarry walls.

Since you're from out of town, the Rock Divers website has hotel reccomendations. There is a Holiday Inn and Hampton and perhaps a Radison in Madison right near the quarry and a Marriott and a few other places within 5-10 miles. Plenty of resturants and shopping malls if she doesn't want to stay at the quarry all day. Also the US Space & Rocket Center has a great museum in Huntsville and the Marriott is on the Space Center property and I think offers package deals. If you haven't been to the Space Center, it's a great thing to do on the day you don't dive.


Links:
Rock Divers http://www.rockdivers.com/
Madison Hotels List http://www.madisonalchamber.com/directory/dir.cgi?searchby=catagory&catagory=Hotels
Space & Rocket Center http://www.spacecamp.com/

Hope that all helps.

-MIke

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Glad you got the dive in.

I tried convincing my buddy to go, but we would have been quite a bit later in the afternoon. I didn't get to Tuscaloosa until 3:30AM Sat morning so I wasn't gonna wake up early enough to drive out to Huntsville for any AM dives

Its never good to hear that anyone had problems UW, sounds like it was from natural causes and not SCUBA related thankfully.

I'm hoping to get up there within the next month possibly *shrugs*

 

[danak]

I can't tell you how many times we've scheduled dives during RD's posted open times only to be told that they were closing for one reason or another. It's very frustrating. And don't get me started on the Customer Service....or the swimmers.

 

[mike_s]

I can't tell you how many times we've scheduled dives during RD's posted open times only to be told that they were closing for one reason or another. It's very frustrating. And don't get me started on the Customer Service....or the swimmers.

Yeah. They are bad about their closing times or closing early w/o warning.
There was a "nasty writeup" by a reader in Dive Training Magazine about this
back earlier this year (in response to a feature article about Rock Divers).

They moved an "old dock" over to one side for use as a "swim dock". For the people who are only swimming, they mostly stay over there (sorta). I've noticed though that some "family members" swim from the docks where the divers are though, which I guess it's because thats where they are parked. A simple solution to this would be to put in more dock space.

As for customer service, I know what you mean. I was there a couple weeks ago and the manager was walking around on the docks looking around trying to find things to complain about. He yelled "I need everyone attention, you can't have soft-drinks out on the docks" complaining to the divers there. When in reality the drink can came up off the bottom where one of the divers picked it up because it was trash.