Smmcdonald
United States
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Nº188
Date: 2022-09-25 - 13:02
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Max Depth: 11.5m Duration: 52mins
Dive Location
- Temp: Surf 27°C Bottom 23°C
- Dive type : Recreational
- Visibility: Average Water: Fresh
Specific gear used
- Weights: 0 kg
Dive reviews
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Recent Divers in Rawlings, VA
Dive Shop & Buddies
Dive buddies:
Tracy Newton,
James Shawver,
Jennifer McDonald
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Dive Profile
- 1. Air
- 12L Steel 244 → 92 bar
- Average depth: 3.8m
Data provided by EOL.org
Species Identified
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James, Tracy, Jen and I have discussed the idea of diving at Lake Phoenix for some time. I dived there when it was still under the old ownership and called "Lake Rawlings" for DUI DOG Days in 2014 (dive numbers 16 and 17), but not since. Neither James, Tracy nor Jen have dived the site. From numerous reports and my limited experience, Lake Phoenix is generally clearer than Fantasy Lake, albeit a few degrees cooler. These are the exact conditions we encountered today, with clear skies and topside temperatures in the 80's. We were in for nearly ideal conditions: I say "nearly" because the lake was very crowded when we started our first dive.
The check-in was a bit of a process: their waiver is only available online, but they have no internet access onsite. So, we drove a bit to find a good signal and filled out the forms. I also had not set up the SSI app on my new phone and could not remember the password. I called Gypsy Divers and asked them to send me a screenshot of my AOW card, which Christina did right away. With this in hand, we returned to the shop and paid our entrance fees of $31 each. We drove to the put-in and unloaded our gear onto benches that were built with a back and strap for your tanks, similar to those found on many dive boats. Other than the benches, I didn't notice any changes since I last visited the site.
We studied the map a bit and decided to start with the main attraction, a Blackhawk helicopter, before making our way back to the other side of the quarry, staying on a shelf that measured between 10 and 40 feet underwater. The thermocline hit at around 36 feet, near the bottom of the helicopter, where I stayed just long enough for my computer to register the temperature (72-degrees) before climbing out of the cold. The rest of the hour was spent finning a loop along the edge of the shelf and back along the wall toward the pier. We passed several boats, cars and other features before coming across a 58-foot-long bus. The entire bus could be seen from one end to the other, but no detail beyond 30 or 35 feet. I noted the water was more blue than at Fantasy Lake which typically has a green-ish brown tint. The color and clarity is most likely due to the mussels that are found throughout the quarry.
On our way back, we came across two large mazes of pipes draped with orange netting. One of these provided a long swim-through with a couple of turns before exiting by spinning 180-degrees while ascending 5 or 6 feet to swim through an opening. The obstacle gave me a chance to try out some finning techniques with my new Super Nova fins, including helicopter kicks at the turns and exit.
Near the end of the dive, I swapped fins with James who uses SeaWing Novas. I had tried SeaWings previously, but recalled not liking them as they tended to float (a lot) and were stiff. This time I came away with a different opinion: they floated but not terribly so, and they weren't nearly stiff as I remember. I'm more certain than before that what I initially tried were the "Gorilla" SeaWing Novas, which are much more rigid.