"treasure" hunting-marinas

[texdiveguy]

We have a local lake with generally poor vis......but it does have a large private marina that it not busy with boat traffic during the week days. What are some of the precations outside the obv. of boat traffic//overhead head bangers//poor vis...???? I was wanting to team with a dive buddy for some feel-grab treasure hunting for misl. stuff knocked from the boats/docks or dropped by the owners. This is a public lake but the marina I public water is privatelly owned--legal considerations??

 

[Gary D.]

We have a local lake with generally poor vis......but it does have a large private marina that it not busy with boat traffic during the week days. What are some of the precations outside the obv. of boat traffic//overhead head bangers//poor vis...???? I was wanting to team with a dive buddy for some feel-grab treasure hunting for misl. stuff knocked from the boats/docks or dropped by the owners. This is a public lake but the marina I public water is privatelly owned--legal considerations??

Marina’s have their own unique set of hazards and that is why a lot of them restrict diving within their boundaries.

There is the obvious like lings hanging everywhere anchor cables, overhead environment, sharp stuff on the bottom can cut bad, batteries, fish line and hooks, plate glass you can’t see and so on.

What a lot of people don’t think of is power lines. If you have some vis look for what looks like a fire ring from a campsite on the bottom. The might be small but if you see one stay away, you have a leaking cable. Dead fish near a wire is another reason to stay away. Tingling feeling over your body is not a good thing so back out the way you came.

If the vis is bad and you don’t know what you’re doing around these hazards stay out. Those innocent little trinkets you’re after could be worse than grabbing a PO’ed GW by the tail.

Most marinas lease the water from a state or federal agency for X amount of years. In most cases they have control over the lake bottom and the water column between. So they can legally keep you out. It best to go ask first either way.

Gary D.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I wouldn't advise it. There's tons of crap down there, parts, hooks, wires gobs of wires, engines, oil, knives, pilings with sharp items on them, people dropping anchors, bottom-dwelling creatures, power lines, and of course, giant dock-dwelling man-eating squids.

As for the power lines, these will most definitley light up your day if you mess with them or if they are messed up. Docks often have all kinds of plumbing and wiring running underneath the walkway out, which then spiders out on all of the crosswalks. The staples holding these up rust. The cables fall down, and more often than not it's not great wiring to begin with. This could be real entanglement and electrocution hazard.

Some marinas (usually when they're on islands) have big power lines coming in on the bottom. These will usually be a few inches across, and be pretty stiff, sometimes spiralling up and back down. In blackwater, it's easy to grab one or go under one and get stuck or worse.

If you do choose to do it, ask, and be very very careful.

 

[texdiveguy]

Gary,,,,,that is what makes this board so useful.....you brought up some points I had not considered,,,,,, may have to reconsider the plans. The legal sit. and electric lines are enough to make you consider....thanks man.

 

[alemaozinho]

We have a local lake with generally poor vis......but it does have a large private marina that it not busy with boat traffic during the week days. What are some of the precations outside the obv. of boat traffic//overhead head bangers//poor vis...???? I was wanting to team with a dive buddy for some feel-grab treasure hunting for misl. stuff knocked from the boats/docks or dropped by the owners. This is a public lake but the marina I public water is privatelly owned--legal considerations??

you,ll have to find out the local laws regulations first and when in the water beware of entanglement and running props..........

 

[pipedope]

Sometimes a marina will let you do a clean up if you haul away all of the stuff you find down there and handle any toxic waste yourself. The primary toxic waste is lead acid batteries.

If you do dive, you want to have a lookout on the surface who can signal you one way to come up NOW, or another way to stick to the bottom. This is in case something happens that is not in the plan.

Be aware that you might find some things you don't want to see, you also might find something really cool.

The water is likely to be icky. That is a technical term for water containing things you normally wouldn't want to dive in.

 

[texdiveguy]

I think after reading all these comments I am abandoning my plans.....not ready for all that fun right now--lol!!!

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Probably a good choice.

Speaking of recovering things, after the hurricane my grandpa's boat is missing....most likely sunk right off the dock. Sigh. Bad for him, good for me, though!!! Wreck dive! (If we can find it)