Winter diving in the South

[diveprof]

Thought it would be nice to share dive reports from those who do the cold dive stuff down south. I would like to hear dive reports from others diving freshwater in GA, SC, and AL this time of year. A group of us in Augusta, GA area dive year round in Lake Thurmond and the Savannah River. This is a desription of two of the local sites from my post on the thread "Lakes is Georgia worth diving.. a list" which will be followed by today's dive report:
1. Lake Thurmond (Clark Hill Lake to most long time Augustans)
Best sites are both East and West Dam along the rocks. The S.C. side (East Dam) has an airplane at 35' (follow the rock dam out at 20' to find the rope line leading to the plane). The remnants of the old diversion dam used during construction made for an interesting deeper dive (75'- 90'). Depths of up to 125' are a short swim from the plane. Vis varies depending on rain from 6' to 15'+. Water temp this past weekend was 52 degrees with vis about 10 -15'.
2. Savannah River - A nice 1 -1 1/2 hour drift dive from the 5th street marina to the old marina/boathouse downstream. Depths are 20' max. Vis can be great a times 15' -20' during periods of low rain. A lot of history on this dive with a shipwreck (bow, deck planking, boilers and other stuff) just below the first bridge support for the 5th street bridge, the remnants of the old Hamburg docks (cotton docks) that run the length of the dive 1/3 of the way out into the river from the SC side (lots of fish here around the pilings and rocks), and the old Hamburg bridge remains (about 1/2 the way down the GA side). The river is 52 degrees currently and get to about 72 degrees in the summer.

This is a report of the dive today at Lake Thurmond:
The weather worked out just right. The rain stopped before we arrived and there was actually some blue sky before we left. The lake was flat. Air temp of 60 was nice. Today's dive was 104' for 58 minutes. Water temp was 50-52 degrees and the vis was 10+ feet. We dove the 3 big rocks at 54', then to the drop tank (a fuel drop tank from a plane - looks like a torpedo) at 81', then to the wall of the diversion dam at 75' - 90'. We were a little more adventuresome today at dove the entire 100' wall just about to the cove. There were lots of large stumps with all the roots exposed after the wall. We then dove the 75' wall to the big stump, then headed shallow to the fallen tree and pipeline. We dropped down to the angel statue (did not need a light at this spot which is 54' deep), dove the 40' ledge past the swimming pool filters to the "treasure chest" on the 15' dropoff. Did an extended safety stop to drop the nitrogen load on the rocks of the dam (we were just a minute or two shy of deco on the deeper part of this dive - also did the deep stops in the dive profile). Lots of small fry on the 3 big rocks. The fish at depth were laying on the bottom, fairly inactive. Anyway, a good day of diving.

I'd like to hear reports from others.

 

[JKSteger]

Thanks for the dive report. I'm trying to get out to Lanier or somewhere this comming weekend and you can be sure that I will post a report. Sounds like I should make the drive over to Lake Thurmond and dive with you guys one weekend.

Jeremy

 

[diveprof]

Come join us sometime (just send a e-mail and I'll let you know our schedule).
I would like to hear a desciption of what's available at Lake Lanier.

 

[diveprof]

A Dive report for Clark Hill Lake (Lake Thurmond)Today:

Upon arrival at the site today (East Dam) the 4 of us found a cloudy sky. Holding my instructor card to the sky, the clouds did part quickly (along with a bit of wind) Today's dive was to 92' for 52 minutes. The vis was 10-12' and water temp was 52 degrees. Seas, yes seas in a lake, were 2' with white caps. We were diving steel 80s today (100's tomorrow). We began our dive by swimming out along the rocks of the Dam (SC side). We dropped down to the airplane at 35' (rope from 20' leading to the plane). After checking out the plane (bass, bass, bass!), we dropped down to the fuel drop tank at 81' (locally referred to as the missle - look for the crawdad that makes this his home). Then we headed north to the Diversion Dam wall at 80-95'. We enjoyed the good vis on the wall. Upon reaching the dive flag on the log on the wall, we headed shallow towards the 3 big rocks at 54'. We angled up towards the 40' ledge where vis was up to 15' (large rocks and lots of small fish). We dropped down to the angel statue in the rock grotto at 54' and then returned to the 40' ledge, drifting upward towards the 15' dropoff (ledge). We continued south towards the dam. We finished up with a safety stop on the rocks of the dam and made our exit.

 

[diveprof]

Another great winter dive in the South! We dove the east dam of Clark Hill (AKA Lake Thurmond) today. Today we dove for 49 minutes to 80' max. Vis was 12-15'and water temp was 49-50 degrees. The four of us began our dive by dropping down to the 20' dropoff. From there we went to the 40' ledge/rocks (schools of small fish) and on to the angel statue at 54' (the angel statue is situated on a large rock - approx 10' X 9' at 54' - no lights needed at this depth today). From there we headed deeper to the "trench"(former access road built during construction of the dam) where there were medium size striper in a fairly active state seeking out smaller fish and out into the "forest" (standing remains of small trees at 70' - kind of neat swimming among the treetops in the twilight no lights needed at this depth). We then angled over to the wall (former diversion dam with 15-20' of relief) at 80'. We were able to dive the wall today w/o lights - like walking around on a full moon night. From there we went to the 3 big rocks at 54' and upward to the 20' drop off to finish the dive with an extended safety stop. We had planned to hit the missle (AKA airplane drop tank - looks like a torpedo - at 82' ) and the airplane at 35', but 2 of 4 were in 80's so we headed to the shallows earlier today. Tomorrow we dive our steel 100-120s. We are diving in 7mm wetsuits with hoods and gloves. We jokingly refer to our dive group which varies in size from 4-8 as the W.A.R. ("We Ain't Right") Divers based on comments from those observing our efforts in the cold.
Let's hear from others enjoying winter diving in the South!!

 

[JKSteger]

Great report. W.A.R. Divers has a good ring to it. That's pretty much how us Loonie Birds came about. We must be loonie to dive wet in winter and in 40 degree water!

Keep 'em comming.

Jeremy

 

[diveprof]

With a light drizzle, I was not expecting much out of today's dive. Yet it was one of the better ones of the year so far. The secret of winter diving is that algae and bacteria do not grow well in cold water (well... most varieties). This means cold water diving = better vis in general. Today, we had 15' of vis which surprised me given the overcast conditions. Today's dive was to 106' for 50 minutes in 80's. Water temp is holding at 49 to 50 degrees. We angled down to the 40' ledge - great vis! We usually just see a few of the large rocks at a time, today you could see the entire ledge (width, not length)when swimming in the middle of it. The big rock with the small rock on top was covered in small fish. We dove the 40' ledge and headed towards the angel statue. Just before the statue was a ball of hydrilla that had died and drifted to depth - again lots of small fish. The statue and rock (entire rock) @54' were visible from several feet away. Leaving the statue, we headed for the trench. The both sides trench were visible (an old access road heading downward with 5' "walls" to each side). By the way... no light needed and some fish in the trench. Exiting the trench, we headed deeper to 106' then turned South and upward to the 80' wall. We dove the wall (15' of relief with large rocks strewn about) with no light. We kind of like the "full moon-like" illumination. Again, vis was very good. It was great seeing the entire vertical span of the wall w/o lights. From the wall we went to the missle (airplane fuel drop tank), then up to the inflatable shark. I attempted to re-inflate the shark. I was able to get some air in it, but with heavy gloves I had a time of trying to get the stopper to the valve back in and probably lost more air than I put in... Oh well. From there we went to the 3 big rocks @54' (again great vis and small fish). From the 3 big rocks , we headed back North and upward to the 2 pool filters and then on to the 40' ledge again. We did a portion of the 40' ledge, then angled south upward past the single pool filter at 26'. Another large "ball" of dead hydrilla loaded with fish was there. We then ascended to 15' and swam the bowl (a dropoff that goes from 15' to 30' at a 70 degree angle) back around to the dam rocks and exited after completing our safety stop. A great dive. Tomorrow (Sunday) with sunshine expected, we dive at 1pm. I feel sorry for those couch potatoes that sit around watching TV on a rainy day. Maybe ignorance is bliss. They do not know what they are missing...

 

[diveprof]

Another great dive today. Vis was 10-12' (down just slightly from yesterday), Rudy, Keith and I dove today. Dive was to 85' for 50 minutes. Water temp is holding at 49-50 degrees. Today was sunny with a little wind. We began our dive along the 15' drop off to the ball of hydrilla that we saw towards the end of yesterday's dive at 24'. The small fish were still there. However, today had a 10-12 pound bass hanging out (probably feeding on the small fish). We hung out for a minute watching him - he was in no hurry to leave. We then dropped down to the 40' ledge. Vis was fairly good there. The angel statue at 54' was quite clear and no lights were needed. We angled down to the trench and on the wall at 82'. Again the wall was very clear and no lights were needed. The dive flag on the log on the wall was quite visible. We dove most of the 80' wall and then headed by the pool filter to the missile (airplane fuel drop tank) at 82'. We started our ascent to the shark and no parking sign to the three big rocks at 54'. Vis was quite good. From there we went to the plane(35'). There were several large bass on the plane today. We went off the wing and down towards the barrel. From the barrel we headed up to our safety stop on the rocks of the dam at 15'. After a 6 minute safety stop swimming along the rocks we made our exit.
We have been hoping to do the river soon, but with yesteday's rain, it is not very clear. Driving over the Hwy 28 bridge, you could see the brown mud flowing out of Betty's branch into the river.
Next dives are Saturday (March 4) at 10a at the Lake (SC side of the Dam) and 1pm on Sunday( also the Lake).

 

[JKSteger]

Great reports.
I was over your way Sat. and Sun. but was at the Battle of Aiken in SC. Next time I'm out that way I will have to try and get a dive in.

Jeremy

 

[diveprof]

We generally have folks diving the lake just about every weekend. The river is also a good dive when conditions permit- how often can you find a nice shipwreck in 18' of water (rumor has it that it was a boat smuggling liquor during Prohibition sunk by a rival). PM me when you are coming this way and I share our dive schedule.