Northwest Dive Club

So has anyone done any diving in Lake Sammamish?

It seems like there ought to be something diveable there, and published max depth for the lake is 113ffw. I like diving Lake Washington (I'm weird, I know) but it seems like most of the stuff that's worth looking at is beyond recreational limits. As the cost of tech diving is WAY beyond my means at the moment, I thought maybe there's something cool to see in some of the other larger lakes in the area.

I'm thinking this might be worth a dive -

http://www.lakesamm.com/history/landslide.asp

Anybody done this one?

Jake

I've dived in Lake Sammamish. Very silty bottom but the vis wasn't too bad. LOTS of boat traffic in the summer, but if you dive late in the afternoon/early evening the traffic dies WAAAY down.

I also just HAPPEN to know someone who has family living on the lake with a dock where his boat is parked. His boat is a ski-boat and doesn't have a depth sounder, gps, or anything esle to help locate targets, but he DOES know where the sunken forest is - could drop anchor, tie off a reel and go exploring. Then when finished, I happen to know where the grill and the cold beer is back on the dock.

And I know approximately where one hydro's propeller is. He'd like it back. Been too lazy and busy to bother looking for it, plus, the silt is pretty darn thick.

Sounder wrote:I've dived in Lake Sammamish. Very silty bottom but the vis wasn't too bad. LOTS of boat traffic in the summer, but if you dive late in the afternoon/early evening the traffic dies WAAAY down.

I also just HAPPEN to know someone who has family living on the lake with a dock where his boat is parked. His boat is a ski-boat and doesn't have a depth sounder, gps, or anything esle to help locate targets, but he DOES know where the sunken forest is - could drop anchor, tie off a reel and go exploring. Then when finished, I happen to know where the grill and the cold beer is back on the dock.

I happen to have access to a porrtable GPS..... My boat also has a depth sounder, but your way sounds like it could be accomplished in an evening. (I hate trailering through rush hour traffic.) Let me know if you;d like to make an attempt at the sunken forest.

Diver_C, that may be an intersting project. What's it weigh?

Diver_C wrote:And I know approximately where one hydro's propeller is. He'd like it back. Been too lazy and busy to bother looking for it, plus, the silt is pretty darn thick.

The silt is pretty thick, but it'd be fun to try. How badly does he want it back?

We don't need a sounder for the forest - just need someone to watch the bow so I don't hit a tree just under the water's surface. For other stuff we might need it. Somewhere in the area of where my wife grew up there is suppose to be a VW bug in relatively shallow water too.

When I dove there I was recovering a buoy for the neighbor - his kids climbed up on the no-wake buoy and sunk it. With an approximate compass heading, a lift bag, and a little luck, we nailed it and it's proudly floating again.

Who know's what's down there? - I'm sure there's some interesting stuff but without side-scan, it'd be quite hit or miss.

I'd guess the prop weighs 5 pounds. It's stainless steel, and sharp! Let me know if you guys decide to do that, and hopefully I will have nothing going on that evening, and can motor on down the lake to wherever.

Diver_C wrote:I'd guess the prop weighs 5 pounds. It's stainless steel, and sharp! Let me know if you guys decide to do that, and hopefully I will have nothing going on that evening, and can motor on down the lake to wherever.

How approximate is your location on the prop?

I'd forgotted you're on the lake too - we've got 2 BOATS on the lake!! Sweeeeeet.

Hmmm, I've been meaning to try using a lift bag. that sounds like it would be light enough not to hurt me if i screwed up. If either of you want to give the a go during a weekday evening let me know.

Nwbrewer wrote:Hmmm, I've been meaning to try using a lift bag. that sounds like it would be light enough not to hurt me if i screwed up. If either of you want to give the a go during a weekday evening let me know.

We should jump in somewhere and so some practice with a lift bag first - it's not hard, but tricky enough that it warrants a little "how to" and practice.

It's one of the skills GD teaches in AOW. One issue is if you've got a bag that isn't sealed/baffled, you can't inflate it and "let 'er rip" because when it gets to the surface, it deflates and then your item comes crashing back down. The key is putting just enough air in the bag to get it buoyant, then swimming it up while purging the bag as it expands during ascent. Holding a safety stop with the bag is another trick... but it's damn-good practice for bouyancy. If you can maintain your own bouyancy at a stop, along with maintaining a liftbag, you've got a solid grip on buoyancy. This is also a skill GD teaches in AOW.

Sounds good to me, let me know when you're up for it. t's 5 lbs or so, my little SMB is about 4. I was figured tie it off, blow it all the way up, and it'd still be a touch negative. Just carry it up, if it's only 1lb negative it shouldn't be a big deal right? We didn't do SandR in AOW, that's one of the skills I wish we'd covered.

Nwbrewer wrote:Sounds good to me, let me know when you're up for it. t's 5 lbs or so, my little SMB is about 4. I was figured tie it off, blow it all the way up, and it'd still be a touch negative. Just carry it up, if it's only 1lb negative it shouldn't be a big deal right? We didn't do SandR in AOW, that's one of the skills I wish we'd covered.

I've got a bag we can use... better to have it neutral to hold stops so you can let go of it and not have it be tied-into your buoyancy. I think it sounds like fun.

The prop is by the State Park. I was thinking of just picking it up, and carrying it to the surface, but if you guys want to play with bags, okay. If we find it, just don't want to lose it. Have no idea where the forest is. I have the last weekend of June available, otherwise, weekdays after work.

Diver_C wrote:The prop is by the State Park. I was thinking of just picking it up, and carrying it to the surface, but if you guys want to play with bags, okay. If we find it, just don't want to lose it. Have no idea where the forest is. I have the last weekend of June available, otherwise, weekdays after work.

The forest is on the I-90 side of the lake about 1 mile your direction from our place. It's just southeast of the Green-whatever point where they launch the fireworks. You've never seen the trees sticking out of the water?! It's not a place to take a boat very fast - it's on many of the maps. Fortunately, there ISN'T much boat traffic there DUE to the trees and snags so it's a great place to dive!!

I'm in - June is booked but July is looking great... heck, it'd be wetsuit weather by then!!

Diver_C if you're up for an afternoon dive I could shoot down and meet you. Let me know.

I can shoot my bag

Sunken forest . . . Hmm, sounds like an ideal place for practicing line running!

Nwbrewer wrote:Diver_C if you're up for an afternoon dive I could shoot down and meet you. Let me know.

It'll probably have to be the week of the 16th. Haven't picked up boat from getting its drive serviced, and next week it's getting a new cover.

This should be fun! Who knows, maybe after next weekend's boat racing, there will be more stuff in the lake to find...

Excellent! We did the sunken forest in Lake Washington sunday. Very creepy with the lack of ambient light. Could this be enough to get Lynne Back in the Lake? I posted video in the trip reports section.

Diver_C, I could make that work, let me know.