Chanb77's Weblog

July 19th, 2008 ~

Our friend, Francois, came down for the weekend, and we headed off to the mighty Ktown, for a charter with Saila and Lisa, who were also up visiting from the U.S. We had a few other friends that were there for a morning charter at NTD as well. We hopped aboard the Seadeucer, with Captain Harold, and headed out on the lake. James Y. joined us as well, as we had room for another friend. There are a couple of us that do sometimes get seasick (*cough*), and we had hoped to go to a couple of the closer wrecks, instead of going out as far as the Sheboygan or the Katie Eccles. The lake usually picks up in the afternoon, so it’s not usually possible to go out that far anyway.

We made it out to what we call “The Graveyard,” and the lake didn’t seem bad at all. Everyone looked to me with pleading eyes, asking if we could push on to the Katie Eccles. I felt pretty good, so it was a go! I hadn’t done this wreck before, and know that it’s one of the good ones!

The Katie Eccles is a wooden schooner, sitting in about 105′ of water. The bowsprit is stunning and intact. There are also a few items on the wreck, that have been placed for everyone to see… An intact lantern, and an anchor off the wreck, among a few other items.

I got in the water first, as my tummy told me I needed to… I don’t think the others wanted to see what I had for breakfast. James jumped in with me, and we tried to wait for the others, but.. well.. I needed to get under, so we descended. The vis was a bit milky on the way down, but opened up below the thermocline, which was at about 70′. What a gorgeous freakin’ wreck! Since I no longer have an UW camera to use, here are a couple of pictures from Tom Wilson’s site (www.scubaq.ca).

James and I checked out a couple of the holds, the bowsprit, and the anchor alongside of the wreck (there is a line that goes to it). We also waved to Steve and Francois, and Saila and Lisa too. Steve and I shook hands as we passed each other…lol… There are also jars of preserves still on the wreck ~ Our guesses were Tomatoes, Onions, and Peaches! 🙂

James and I ascended, and had “great dive” smiles on our faces.

Bottom Time ~ 39 mins.

Max. Depth ~ 102′

Water Temp. ~ 61/55 (below thermocline)

Vis. ~ 50′

We went over to the Glendora for our second dive, and I don’t recall having done this one before either. Another fantastic dive. There isn’t a whole lot to the exterior of this wreck, but it’s still a really cool one to dive. It is a wooden freighter, and about 214′ long. It is possible to swim almost the entire length of the ship, inside the holds.

James and I descended before the others again, as my tummy was turning a bit, and I needed to get down. We did a couple of turns around the wreck, visiting the intact prop, and where I found a prize that someone had dropped (yes, I’ve posted it, so someone can claim it). 🙂 We swam through the holds and played with the gobies. I had a couple come right up to my face, and there was one that seemed to be playing hide and seek with James… hiding below a beam. We swam around some more, waved at everyone as we passed.. and… of course, we were playing around with the prize that I had found!

We started our ascent, got back on the boat, and headed back in to NTD. It was an absolute perfect day out on the lake, and fortunate that we were able to make the trip to the Katie Eccles… I think this one is in my top 5 now. 🙂 It was even more fortunate for me, that I didn’t feed any fish!

Here are a couple of pics from Tom W.’s site…

Bottom Time ~ 43 mins.

Max. Depth ~ 75′

Water Temp. ~ 60

Vis. ~ 40′

When we got back in to shore, we unloaded and headed off to dinner with .. well.. a whole lotta people. 🙂 It was our friend Jay’s birthday too.

We then drove to Brockville, where we got an overpriced room, and went to sleep.

July 20th, 2008 ~

Steve, Francois, and I woke up to meet some more friends at Centeen Park, for another scooter adventure. One of our friends called, saying they weren’t going to make it, and another one called to say he was there… but.. he.. um.. forgot his fins… doh! So.. it was myself, Steve, Jay, and Francois. We entered the “pool,” and headed out for the channel. A small freighter went by at one point, as we scootered along below. Not too long afterwards, a giant earth shattering, people eating monster passed overtop as well. Holy smokes, I think it completely shook the earth. We went across to the periwinkle shells, saw the old urns and milk jugs, some coiled up cable, and on this trip, I even saw a horse skull. This dive has to be one of my favourite things to do. There is so much history under this waterway, and just some incredible artifacts to drift amongst. There are also pieces of wreckage, that were probably part of a ship at one time.

We drifted downstream of the Gaskin, and made our way back to it for a couple of turns, then back to shore. We played around in the shallows for a bit as well, giving our scooters well-deserved praise. As Jay said… “That was a kick ass dive.”

Bottom Time ~ 181 mins.

Vis. ~ Crappy on the Gaskin ~ Great in the channel

Frankie, walking his gear up…

Steve and I after the dive…

Jay, Marla, Corson, and Lloyd…

Happy Birthday, Jay! :o)