Avonthediver
Contributor
I have been going out since the start of the year with a buddy and solo trying to find the "Lost Ruthie Mae Wreck" and weather conditions have not been the best if you can believe it or not!
After a search of our target area we hit the wreck with help from one of the Benton County Dive member's ..Thanks Rick without his help we would still be hunting! Our search area was off camp site's number 9 & 10 facing Lost Bridge Marina. the wreck as it where is a now flat barge with all of it's sides off in the silt. Viz with all of the wind was only 6-10 ft at best, water temp was 43 degrees with an outside air for the day at 17 degrees!
So after an exploration of the site our 7mm suit's could take no more and we punched out after 30 min!
My return to the Ruthie Mae would be a few weeks later and conditions would not be any better but I did get some better photo's.
This site sits at only 28ft now but the lake is about 10 or 12ft low so during normal pool this wreck is a little deeper and its a good swim off shore so during the summer months be careful due to boat traffic. This was a bad ass dive not really the dive itself but the snow that was on the ground!
Today I went out just to play with my drysuit that I got back from repair and see what the lake was like. I started out the bluff's at the Dam to see what viz would be like. First off we have a big winter storm coming in so we have a high wind and very overcast day. Vis below was 6ft at best even down to 50ft, the water had a current that you could feel due to the wind top side. water tem was 43 degrees, outside air was at a high of 44 degrees. this was an ok dive I was hoping for better.
I moved on to my second dive site for the day, the East bank across from the Dam site bluffs. The wind was causing such a rush in wave action it was hard to put on my fins and it made me get underwater as fast as I could get!
This go around I wanted a few photo's of the wreck's to add to my collection. viz was the same and the surge from the wind was worse! You can't see it but the blue pinwheel in this photo was turning good at 20ft down! 
This cove normally has poor viz anyway so it's no shock that it was 6ft.
I moved up and out to the wreck's and tranning platform at 16ft and I would move up and down with surge it makes it hard to take any good photo's this way lol!
These last two you can see the algae moving away from the boat and platform.
also zip tied to the platform is a now reminder of a past dive shop and the time they must have taken into bringing this site to life.
So over all not a bad day downunder but I'm still looking forward to summer and better weather so till then stay warm and happy diving!
After a search of our target area we hit the wreck with help from one of the Benton County Dive member's ..Thanks Rick without his help we would still be hunting! Our search area was off camp site's number 9 & 10 facing Lost Bridge Marina. the wreck as it where is a now flat barge with all of it's sides off in the silt. Viz with all of the wind was only 6-10 ft at best, water temp was 43 degrees with an outside air for the day at 17 degrees!
So after an exploration of the site our 7mm suit's could take no more and we punched out after 30 min!My return to the Ruthie Mae would be a few weeks later and conditions would not be any better but I did get some better photo's.
This site sits at only 28ft now but the lake is about 10 or 12ft low so during normal pool this wreck is a little deeper and its a good swim off shore so during the summer months be careful due to boat traffic. This was a bad ass dive not really the dive itself but the snow that was on the ground! Today I went out just to play with my drysuit that I got back from repair and see what the lake was like. I started out the bluff's at the Dam to see what viz would be like. First off we have a big winter storm coming in so we have a high wind and very overcast day. Vis below was 6ft at best even down to 50ft, the water had a current that you could feel due to the wind top side. water tem was 43 degrees, outside air was at a high of 44 degrees. this was an ok dive I was hoping for better.
I moved on to my second dive site for the day, the East bank across from the Dam site bluffs. The wind was causing such a rush in wave action it was hard to put on my fins and it made me get underwater as fast as I could get!
This go around I wanted a few photo's of the wreck's to add to my collection. viz was the same and the surge from the wind was worse! You can't see it but the blue pinwheel in this photo was turning good at 20ft down! This cove normally has poor viz anyway so it's no shock that it was 6ft.I moved up and out to the wreck's and tranning platform at 16ft and I would move up and down with surge it makes it hard to take any good photo's this way lol!
These last two you can see the algae moving away from the boat and platform. also zip tied to the platform is a now reminder of a past dive shop and the time they must have taken into bringing this site to life.
So over all not a bad day downunder but I'm still looking forward to summer and better weather so till then stay warm and happy diving!
