Underwater cites in the south....

[offroaddiver]

Just got back from loch low minn and praticed on the culverts and the boyancy control shapes. Just another step in the right direction.

 

[offroaddiver]

Everyone I'm currently hitting the books for college and had to put diving on the back burner for a while. However I am goin to the Butler museum over fall break and I'm goin to look at photos and try and figure out which buildings are still standing. So far from what I've learned the only building still standing is the old jail which is an old one cell cement and stone building. All I can do right now is train my body so that my SAC. I'm saving up for the gear I'll need and the training as well.

 

[jholley309]

Hmmm, this sounds like a good reason to accelerate my AOW plans somewhat!

I lived in Franklin, NC years ago, so I'm naturally intrigued by both the Watauga Lake and Fontana possibilities.

Reckon we might be able to generate some interest here for a mini-expedition? I'm also curious about the possibility of approaching the local historical and/or archeological societies as potential partners; I know there's been a concerted effort across the state line in recent years to try and preserve historical sites that once were neglected (and in some cases, eradicated: take a trip over to Cataloochee, near Maggie Valley, sometime to see a good example of both cases). I'm reasonably sure photographs would certainly have some value to historians; best to consult them beforehand before disturbing any artifacts, in case the archeologists would want to study them further.

Whadaya think?

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Fascinating thread. If you decide to do any exploratory dives in NC, let me know and I'll try to join you.

I've done a bit of lake diving and will echo Kracken's comments about siltouts. Just use good bouyancy control and go slow, and you should be fine. Don't expect great viz, though.

You might want to check out Lake Jocassee, in SC. There are supposedly some submerged structures there, and one of the threads has an underwater map. (I've saved it to my PC but couldn't find it this morning. I'll keep looking, though.) I think Off the Wall Dive Charters dives there pretty regularly, so you might want to check out their site.

BTW, you might want to do a little research into the subject of "interpretive archeology" - that's the discipline of learning to read foundation lines to recreate a picture of lost buildings/cities. It's not too hard with a little practice. Learning about the building styles in the area/time period will make it much easier to understand the things you find underwater. You also might find it useful to go to some places where buildings of the same period used to be (ghost towns, etc.). It's much easier to visualize things underwater when you have a strong image of them in your head from the surface.

Finally, if you ever want to dive together in Lake Norman, near Charlotte, let me know. I dive there pretty often, and it might be good practice for the type of diving you want to do. Just getting used to moving around in a high silt, low viz environment with lots of trees and debris might make your dives safer. You're welcome to dive with me any time.

Just a few suggestions. Best of luck in your endeavor,
-Grier

 

[Jocasseegirl]

Fascinating thread. If you decide to do any exploratory dives in NC, let me know and I'll try to join you.

I've done a bit of lake diving and will echo Kracken's comments about siltouts. Just use good bouyancy control and go slow, and you should be fine. Don't expect great viz, though.

You might want to check out Lake Jocassee, in SC. There are supposedly some submerged structures there, and one of the threads has an underwater map. (I've saved it to my PC but couldn't find it this morning. I'll keep looking, though.) I think Off the Wall Dive Charters dives there pretty regularly, so you might want to check out their site.

BTW, you might want to do a little research into the subject of "interpretive archeology" - that's the discipline of learning to read foundation lines to recreate a picture of lost buildings/cities. It's not too hard with a little practice. Learning about the building styles in the area/time period will make it much easier to understand the things you find underwater. You also might find it useful to go to some places where buildings of the same period used to be (ghost towns, etc.). It's much easier to visualize things underwater when you have a strong image of them in your head from the surface.

Finally, if you ever want to dive together in Lake Norman, near Charlotte, let me know. I dive there pretty often, and it might be good practice for the type of diving you want to do. Just getting used to moving around in a high silt, low viz environment with lots of trees and debris might make your dives safer. You're welcome to dive with me any time.

Just a few suggestions. Best of luck in your endeavor,
-Grier

Here is a map of the diver's ramp at Jocassee. Off the Wall Diving is the best, as far as I'm concerned. Please e-mail me with any questions about Jocassee. If I don't know the answer, I probably know who does. Let me know if I didn't upload the file correctly. Thanks! Debbie

 

[GrierHPharmD]

That's the one that I was thinking of. Thanks for uploading it.

Now that we've got our resident Jocassee expert on board, maybe you can clarify what sort of structures are down there. I've never dived there, but I'd really like to some time soon.

By the way, Debbie, I love the Jocassee links in your Sig. I'll have to pick up a copy of your book soon. Obviously we have a kindred spirit here.

And OffRoadDiver, one other resource that you might be interested in is the SC Underwater Archeology program. Once a year or so, the state offers a training program in underwater archeology. I think most of the work is done on the Cooper River in Charleston, which has land sites as well as shipwrecks. Look up the Underwater Heritage Trail, and follow the links there if you're interested. Basically, they take your name and periodically send emails as to the timing of the next course. It's pretty sporadic.

-Grier

 

[Jocasseegirl]

That's the one that I was thinking of. Thanks for uploading it.

Now that we've got our resident Jocassee expert on board, maybe you can clarify what sort of structures are down there. I've never dived there, but I'd really like to some time soon.

By the way, Debbie, I love the Jocassee links in your Sig. I'll have to pick up a copy of your book soon. Obviously we have a kindred spirit here.

-Grier

Thanks for the kind words! Although I have not personally dived to everything in Jocassee, I'm real good friends with Bill Routh of Off the Wall Diving, and he HAS dived to just about everything. He just got his tri-mix cert and still has some more deep sites to see.

Other than the items sunken off the divers ramp (a couple of airplane wings, a dentist's chair, skeleton on a gurney, airplane propellor, etc.), over by "the Wall" there is the Chinese Junk (which just about everyone knows about), a trail of flamingos, a basketball goal, motorcycle, motor boat, etc. For those tri-mix certified, you could visit Camp Jocassee for Girls and the steel bridge that crossed Whitewater River and was the only entrance into the Valley. Keeping in mind that the bottom time on a 300-320 foot dive is only about 20 minutes, there is still much exploration to be done at the girls camp. The bridge and the stone pillars to the camp have been found. There are cement-block cabins still there, I'm sure. Down the road from the girls camp is Attakulla Lodge, a 3 story hotel standing completely intact in exactly 300 feet. This was my family's homestead, so I guess I am the Attakulla expert. Divers been down about 6 times to date - but it will take years to investigate thoroughly. Most of the trees below about 100 feet were left, so there are forests to swim through. Then there's Mt. Carmel Cemetery in about 138 feet. Most of the graves were moved before flooding, but there are some that chose not to have their relatives moved. There are some headstones and grave markers still there, too. Check out www.offthewalldiving.com for more completel\ details of what's left. If anyone is interested in seeing what the Valley looked like before it was flooded, please check out my book (link below). I may not be a Jocassee expert, but I'm certainly Jocassee obsessed :07:

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

My facination with underwater buildings was inspired by trips to upper east TN and going to Watauga Lake and reading "The town of Butler,TN and cemeteries were located and some of the building lie under 100 feet of water" To non-divers this sounds like a sad and depressing statement. Actually it sounds like a challenge for me to get into technical deep diving in order to see this town and cast light on it once again.

Technical? 100 feet?

 

[offroaddiver]

Technical.....high altitude and 100 feet with penetration...

 

[PerroneFord]

Technical in that if you are going to spend appreciable time at 100ft, you should be in redundant gear, and you should be planning deco.

Man, I am all about shipwrecks, but I gotta tell ya. This sounds very very interesting. I had heard about some submerged cities up in the St Lawrence River area and thought it might be cool to check that out as well. It'll be some time before I'd be comfortable doing this kind of dive with you, but who knows. Maybe by the time you finish school, we could put together a pretty good team and spend a week doing some mapping of this place. I Know I'd be interested.

I am going to take some coursework over the next year in underwater mapping (mostly for shipwreck surveying) but I think some of it would cross over.

Fascinating.