2000 Dive Team Newsletter Summaries
| MONTH | HIGHLIGHTS |
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| January 2000 | Making a video of metal detector operation. |
| February 2000 | Weight and buoyancy testing. |
| March 2000 | A long and difficult deep-water search. |
| April 2000 | Spring Training continues. |
| May 2000 | The lake gets busy early this year; preparation for Memorial Day. |
| June 2000 | A difficult swiftwater search. |
| July-August 2000 | Low water, high temperature, and several recovery operations. |
| September-October 2000 | A recovery operation on one of the hottest September days ever recorded. |
| November 2000 | Finally Rain! |
| December 2000 | Election of Officers for 2001 |
January 2000
TRAINING
The January training dive was on Saturday January 8 in the large ARL test tank. Several Team members worked on video and still photography of the new Garrett metal detector. Others started familiarization with new personal equipment and full face masks.
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| Twelve divers and surface personnel met at ARL's large test tank. Water temperature was an invigorating 59 degrees. Steve took videos as Tim demonstrated the metal detector. For the first demonstration the detector was rigged with the console attached to a short shaft. | |||
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OPERATIONS
There were no operations in December 1999.
February 2000
OPERATIONS
There have been no operations so far in 2000. With the predicted high temperatures and low water levels for the rest of the year, this may change quickly.PUBLIC SAFETY DIVERS COMPETITION
The Team will not be competing in this year's Public Safety Divers Competition. Too many of our senior divers and surface support personnel (including about half of last year's competition team) are scheduled to be out of town March 13 and 14. Wait until next year...
March 2000
NEXT MEETING and TRAINING
The April meeting will be held in conjunction with the April Training Dive on (no fooling) April 1.The April training dive will be Saturday April 1 at 10:00 am at the Lake Travis Test Station. We will review all of the patterns and signals to get ready for the season opener in May.
At the March training dive we worked on weight adjustment.
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Divers assemble their gear and go over the day's assignment:
wearing a nearly empty tank at the surface, set your weight to be slightly positive
on a full inhale and slightly negative on full exhale. Dean shows about where the
water level should be. | |||
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| Several divers had to make adjustments on new or recently modified equipment. | |||
OPERATIONS
March 18, 2000 - Shortly before 4 pm on Saturday March 18 the Dive Team was called to Windy Point park to search for a missing diver. The subject was reported missing in deep water around the old pecan groves. Search teams encountered very difficult diving conditions in the primary search area, with near zero visibility on a steep slope densely covered with old trees and underbrush. Divers spent several days searching from 60 to 130 feet deep. Deep search teams found the dense trees and near zero visibility extending past 130 feet in the search area.The subject was finally located on March 30.
April 2000
APRIL TRAINING
The April 22, 2000 Training Dive was a simulated recovery operation following an assault in a boat. Divers had to locate the victim and then conduct an evidence search and recovery operation for the weapon.DELL FOUNDATION GRANT
The Dell Foundation has given the Dive Team a generous grant to support its operations. Team members and Dell empolyees Mark, Rick, Wayne, and Jason worked on the application for support of emloyees in community service organizations, and their hard work paid off.NEW WEB SITE DOMAIN NAME
The Dive Team has a new domain name and web site address: http://tcdt.org. (http://www.tcdt.org will also work.) The new site should be faster and more reliable, and we will be adding new services in the next few months.OPERATIONS
March 18, 2000 - The operation that began on March 18 at Windy Point Park was finally completed when the subject was located on March 30. Most of the search was carried out in 90 to 130 feet of water with zero visibility among dense trees in the old pecan groves. The subject was located in approximately 120 feet of water. These pictures are from Monday March 20 when teams first extended the search area to water 130 feet deep.
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Divers begin the day by reviewing witnesses' statements and search conditions encountered
on the previous two days.
Due to the high wind and dense trees in the search area, divers decided to mark the deep side
of the primary search area with a buoy on a heavy rail anchor.
Lewis and Dennis discuss where to position the buoy as Tim checks the ugly but functional anchor.
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Dean, Mike, and Paul T. rig the decompression stop reserve tank while Paul E. directs
team members on board Lake Patrol 20 into position to set the marker buoy.
Dive Team members who had run three very deep patterns debrief with LCRA divers
preparing to run sweeps along the uphill side of the search area. |
May 2000
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
The Sheriff's Office is converting to full crews of paid personnel on patrol boats. The Dive Team has been training Sheriff's officers in using full face masks and in search and recovery diving. They can deploy fast small area searches from TCSO and LCRA boat crews, with the Dive Team in reserve for large scale recovery operations.OPERATIONS
On Sunday May 7 a swimmer was reported missing at Hippie Hollow park at about 6:30 pm. The Dive Team was dispatched at 6:51 pm. The subject was recovered by officers at the park at approximately 7:15 pm.
June 2000
TRAINING
The June training dive was on Sunday June 11.OPERATIONS
On Saturday June 17 at about 7:30 pm a child was reported missing in the Colorado River near Caldwell Lane. The Dive Team was dispatched to the incident at 8:46 pm. Witnesses reported that the child was last seen in swift water in the main channel. Divers encountered fast moving water up to 9 feet deep with visibility about 6 inches. Divers conducted a drift search for about 100 yards downstream from the PLS and three circle patterns around the PLS and downstream. Search operations were suspended at about 1:00 am due to rapidly rising water.Search operations resumed at 9:00 am on Sunday June 18. Dive Team members were joined by divers from the Sheriff's Office underwater recovery team. SETCO Volunteer Fire Department and area residents provided onshore and boat support. Travis County Search and Rescue sent personnel and a water search dog, and Austin EMS set up a rehab center. Travis County Fire Control members searched the north shoreline.
Divers enlarged the drift search area and searched through a large number of snags, strainers, and other obstructions for about a mile downstream from the PLS. Boats and Starflight made several passes downstream searching the shoreline while walking and wading searchers worked through overhanging vegetation. Search operations continued in temperatures over 90° and near 100% humidity until about 5:30 pm.
The subject was recovered on Monday June 19 approximately 8 to 10 miles downstream from the search area.
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On Sunday June 25 at about 6:30 pm a swimmer was reported missing at Jones Brothers Park in Jonestown. The Dive Team was not called to this operation. Divers from the Sheriff's Office located the subject at about 8:00 pm.
HISTORY
There is at least one volunteer public service dive team older than the Travis County team. Check out the Ventura County (California) SAR Dive Team.
July-August 2000
TRAINING
The July training dive and (early) August meeting was on Saturday July 22 at LCRA Mansfield Dam Park. Team members familiarized themselves with the new SCUBA diving area on the basin side near the dam.OPERATION AND NON-OPERATIONS
On Saturday July 1 shortly after 1:00 pm the Sheriff's office received a report that a recreational diver had found possible human remains near the Mansfield Dam Park swim area. Officials at the scene decided to investigate certain unusual aspects of the reported discovery - an intact human skeleton hanging from a tree by a rope underwater - before committing a full search and recovery operation. Divers from the Sheriff's office and the Dive Team investigated and found what appeared to be old props from a Halloween "Haunted House" dive.On Sunday August 20 at approximately 7:20 pm a swimmer was reported missing near the sandbar off Windy Point Park. Divers from the Sheriff's office and LCRA recovered the subject in 15 feet of water at approximately 9:22 pm using some equipment from the Dive Team Trailer.
On Sunday August 27 starting at approximately 5:53 pm the Sheriff's office began receiving reports of missing swimmers near Briarcliff Marina and near Graveyard Point. By 6:30 pm it had been determined that callers had misidentified Hurst Harbor as Briarcliff and all operations were relocated at Graveyard Point. Divers from TCSO and LCRA had not located the subject Sunday night and suspended their search until Monday morning.
The Dive Team was called to assist in the search on Monday August 28. The search area was downstream from Armadillo Cove along Graveyard Point. Divers from the Dive Team, TCSO, and LCRA covered four long line sweeps across the area. Visibility was poor, ranging from zero to occasionally 2 feet. The subject had not been located by 4:00 pm. Surface search operations were scheduled to resume on Tuesday morning, and the subject was recovered on Tuesday.
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September-October 2000
TRAINING
There was no separate Dive Team training dive in September due to the long operational dives in late August and early September. Several Team members got experience working in mixed-agency search teams on August 28 and September 4 operations.The Travis County Sheriff's Underwater Recovery Team has training dives scheduled for Friday, September 22 at 9:00 am and Friday, October 20 at 9:00 am.
OPERATIONS
On Monday September 4 (Labor Day) at approximately 10:25 am a swimmer was reported missing near the mouth of the swimming cove at Mansfield Dam Park. TCSO officials at the scene called for TCSO divers at 10:50 am, and the Dive Team was called at 12:25 pm. The subject was located at approximately 4:00 pm in 75 feet of water.
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| Divers and support personnel from the Dive Team, the Sheriff's Office, LCRA, Travis County Parks, Austin EMS, and Hudson Bend Fire Department worked through late afternoon on what was then the hottest day ever recorded in September in central Texas. |
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| The search area was the mouth of the swimming cove at Mansfield Dam Park, just above the main river channel. The reported PLS is between the small black and orange buoy and the third orange no-boat buoy in the picture at left. A search team of divers from the Dive Team, TCSO, and LCRA first swept a 180° area upslope from the search anchor. The search team gets their final instructions in the picture at right. | |
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| While the first search team worked their pattern a second team with deep diving experience and equipment prepared to sweep the area downslope from the search anchor. The downslope side of the search area drops quickly to the old main channel. Members of the first search team debriefed the deep search team on bottom terrain and visibility. | |
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| The deep search team located the subject in 75 feet of water approximately 60 feet from the search anchor. The location marker is the small yellow Pelican just inside the two rightmost orange no-boat buoys in the picture at left. Three divers have surfaced and two others are bringing the subject to the surface. At right an LCRA boat moves in to complete the recovery. | |
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On Saturday September 9 shortly before 4:00 pm Burnet County received reports of a drowning at a marina in the Spicewood area. Divers from Pedernales Emergency Services recovered the subject.
November 2000
Rain!
Heavy rains during late October and early November 2000 are quickly raising the level of Lake Travis. By Sunday November 12 the lake was over 676 and rising.Public Service Divers Conference and Competition
The fifth annual Public Service Divers Conference and Competition will be held at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos March 11-13, 2001.For a preview see the Dive Team in action in the 1999 Public Service Divers Competition.
December 2000
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