Surface Tension Melts Away

The mercury hit 94 degrees in Chattanooga on Sunday. In Rome, Georgia the high was 99. Huntsville went to 100.
Everyone was looking for ways to beat the heat Sunday afternoon. I was fortunate enough to do so by tagging along with members of the CUDA club for a dive in the Tennessee River. And conditions were primo. The water was a warm 80 degrees. The Chickamauga dam was not generating electricity at the time so the current was non-existent, and the visibility was very good by river standards.
My dive buddy John and I dropped down to the bottom and spent the next 83 minutes wandering in a relaxed manner. Anyone who hasn't been to the bottom of the river might be surprised at what's down there. It's not a slimy mud bottom that I expected the first time I dove the river. The bottom is made up of rocks and millions of shells of all sizes. We saw part of an old shipwreck which I'm told is one of two sunken riverboats near downtown. And this time around we saw a lot of fish. Catfish, bluegill, stripers, sheepshead or drum, and a lot of bass. Very friendly bass I might add. They seem to be a very curious species. While other fish were hastily heading away from the masked aliens who were huffing bubbles, the bass wanted to get a close up look. Stopping in front, they will stare you in the eyes and really check you out. As if to say to the other bass, "Hey, look at this one. Look at the yellow markings around the eyes. He's a big one isn't he?"
When the water is warm like this you also notice a place or two where a spring is adding water to the river. Suddenly you feel the chilly water in a narrow space. Normally I might not notice but this dive was done in swim trunks and a t-shirt.
When we returned to Rennaissance Park everyone agreed we picked a great day to go below the gentle waves of the river. It's amazing how much surface tension gets left on shore to melt away on an August afternoon.