This evening, 3 senior divers went in to assess Lock 23 for me… with the following news.

Water temp 13C/56F. They wore 7mm wetsuits and were a bit chilled at the end (they’re all pretty big guys).

Total dive time 45 minutes – relatively speedy.

Current strong, but not as bad as expected. Depth at road 13 feet (was 10 feet for much of last season)… so maintaining 32 feet during the approach drift brought them to the middle Rapide Plat Lock as planned.

Conditions within the locks were pretty normal… no doubt because of the greater depth. Not much turbulence at the upstream weir (where the lock gate would have originally been).

Visibility about 10 feet. Not bad.

The exit swim showed the most change from the norm. Current was strong, whereas in normal conditions it’s almost absent. Therefore the common NE heading would have brought them in considerably beyond the beach. They maintained a NW heading from the end of the cribs to reach the beach.

All in all, they were favourably impressed with the conditions. We all expected worse.

So… on to a great dive season!

Sydney