Millbrook / Lake Rawlings

**bfindley** · 04-15-2008, 13:01

So when do folks start diving Millbrook Quarry and/or Lake Rawlings?

**BobbyWombat** · 04-15-2008, 15:00

It's getting close to that time. There may be some heartier souls out there, but my diving season in VA doesn't start until the water gets a bit warmer. The website newsletter is reporting surface temps of 48 degrees....brrr. Not warm enough for me until I save up the coin for a drysuit.

I'll definitely be looking for folks interested in meeting out at Rawlings this summer. Probably starting in June. The lake stays warm enough through November usually for me to keep going out there.

**fishballer** · 04-15-2008, 15:08

i think milbrook opened up a few weeks ago.

it's still cold as heck, but i was actually thinking of getting wet (and frozen, since i don't have a drysuit) this saturday.

wanna go?

**Crimediver** · 04-15-2008, 17:14

I have not dove either places in the past couple of years. I enjoy Rawlings as it is a pretty clear quarry. How is the viz in Millbrook since the zebra mussels were killed off? I last dove Millbrook while they were still thriving.

**emcbride81** · 04-15-2008, 19:13

Originally Posted by Crimediver

I have not dove either places in the past couple of years. I enjoy Rawlings as it is a pretty clear quarry. How is the viz in Millbrook since the zebra mussels were killed off? I last dove Millbrook while they were still thriving.

Vis sucks above 40 feet...below that you are looking at about 20 feet at best. The vis difference at the thermocline is amazing...you go rfrom 5 feet to 20. I never dove it when the mussels were there, but from the pics I have seen of it the vis has dropped significantly.

Surface temps will not be warm till June/July...the bottom never gets above 50 from my experience. In September I was there and at 80 ft it was 46 degrees.

**Crimediver** · 04-15-2008, 21:06

I helped do the survey for the VA Dept of Game & Fish when we mapped the quarry to determine the volume of water in it so they could determine how to poison the mussels. Seemed to me we had about 60 foot of viz. That was several years ago. I suspected the viz would drop dramatically once the mussels were eliminated. I dove in February I think and it was MDC (Mighty Damn Cold).

**bfindley** · 04-16-2008, 10:47

I did my OW at Millbrook in 04. The vis was really good. I did my AOW there in 06 and OMG! I think it was maybe 10 feet that day. Then to do a night dive for the class in that! Not much fun.