Town Under Water

30 06 2009

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2008 ~

We decided to head to Cornwall, for a mid-week splash in the river. On the way down, the sky was looking a little dark, and we could actually see the downpour from far away.

We also saw a deer running through a field, with a little shorty, trailing along behind her, in the long grass. I don’t think I’ve seen a fawn before.

Once arriving in Cornwall, there was evidence of the downpour, but the sun was shining, and there was even a rainbow…

We pulled into Guindon Park, geared up…

… and put the scooters on the shore…

Just before we entered the water, there was a fisherman, quite pleased with a rather large catch off of the dock.

We dropped down, and headed out. The visibility wasn’t that great at all, which isn’t a big surprise this time of year, nor is it surprising that the current was ripping. We came across a bunch of old building foundations, a sidewalk, and hit Old Highway 2.

Even though the visibility isn’t the greatest here, I never really get tired of exploring through the Lost Villages. I have yet to make it to the Paper Factory basement, but that is in the plans for the very near future! It will be a bit nicer once the water warms up a bit more. We did come across the line to it though, and cleaned off bits of it.

We headed back in to shore, and had some fun along the way. We saw some pretty big carp that didn’t seem too bothered by the fact that we were there.

Bottom Time ~ 31 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 33′
Water Temp. ~ 55
Vis. ~ 10′ with particulate in the water


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Diving In 2009!

Brule Road Quarry

19 06 2009

Sunday, May 31st, 2009 ~

It had been last August since I had last been in the water with my friend, Andy, and he was game for a dive in Kingston! Andy made the trip up from the US side, to meet me at Dive Tech, where we harassed the local Candy Man for a while, then headed to Kingston, to meet up with the folks at Northern Tech Diver.

The charters weren’t going out that afternoon, as the weather had turned quite a bit, and the lake was too choppy for the boats. A bunch of us decided to head up to the Brule Road Quarry for some skills and thrills. Dan had a fundies course going on there as well, so we made sure to stay out of his way. Most of the gang taking the course were friends of mine, and it was nice to say hello.

Two “Dive Gear Transportation Units…”

Andy, geared up…

We headed over to the wonderful beach entrance, did our predive checks, and dropped down.

The quarry has a maximum depth of about 28′, and has a couple of small boats in it, a car, some shopping carts, and many beer bottles, from the campers.

When we descended, we made our way over the rocks, and as we made our way out, we steered clear of the lift bag, being used to mark the square pattern, being used by the Fundies course.

We did a nice, leisurely tour of the quarry, stopping to put beer bottles in the shopping cart (picking them up off of the ground, and adding them to the others), took a tour of the boats, and even checked out the car.

I decided this would be a good time to demonstrate the valve drill, so signaled Andy to watch. We had discussed this on the surface, so it was not a surprise. Andy also demonstrated that he could reach his valves and will be practicing the valve drill as well.

We did see a fish or two… We weren’t sure if it was the same fish or not, but if it was in a different place, perhaps we can count it as two?

We did the entire circuit of the quarry, then made our way back in, and discussed the dive on the surface, before getting out.

Bottom Time ~ 44 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 28′
Water Temp. ~ 63
Visibility ~ 25′

Gearing down, Andy noticed that I had GI Joes in the van, and that, of course, triggered some silliness..

We headed back to NTD, and loitered a bit, while the fundies class finished their exam. We got a shot of Mike, with his fancy dive bag…

…and a hood…

Boats from Kingston Dive Charters, with James’ little boat…

Vicky Marie…

The class finally finished, and I got a pic of them smiling…

I even snagged a picture of Marc, who was up visiting, giving Dan a hand…

Myself, Andy, Dan, and Marc went out for a bite to eat, shared some great conversation and a bunch of laughs, then all went our separate ways back home.

Andy, it was great going for a splash with you, and I look forward to corrupting you… I mean.. diving with you some more!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Diving In 2009!

Soggy Dive…

15 06 2009

Sunday, May 24th, 2009 ~

We made arrangements to meet Kevin, Jeremy, Oren, and Sean, for a scooter adventure,  out of Centeen Park. On the drive down, we saw quite a few older cars that we gawked at along the way.

Here is one that I got a shot of, heading down the 416…

We were the first to arrive, and were greeted by a rather large tour boat, moored up to the far side of the park…

Here’s a slightly closer look…

I also got a shot of the Historical plaque, which shows some slight differences to the park since 1927…

Once everyone arrived, we got all of our gear together, and got ready to dive! Erin and Kevin A. also came by to say hello!

Oren, bringing his scooter down…

Sean, setting up…

Kevin and Jeremy’s Gear…

Ahh… Bless him… Thank you, Steve.

Kevin’s turn…

…and Jeremy…

We geared up, and in we went. Our quest today, was to find an old truck, laying in about 100′, across the channel. We did our predive checks, discussed our plan, and off we went. Oren was heading the adventure today, and we followed his lead.

Here is a shot of us just before descending, taken by Kevin Abe…

As we started out, I started to feel water in my drysuit. I wasn’t sure exactly where it was coming in, but I could feel a chilly spurt of cold water, every time I pressed my drysuit inflation. The water was a bit warmer, so it wasn’t a dive ender at this point.

We reached the channel, and drifted across, keeping our eyes peeled for the prized old truck. We played amongst the white bed of periwinkle shells until we came upon a rock wall. We had reached one of the islands. We decided to turn back, as we had to go against the current on the way back. We circled the little island, hit a couple of back eddys, and started the journey back to Centeen Park. We saw many large fish, including a few carp, pike, and even a gar pike.

At one point, we found an area with many tree roots and branches, which looked like something out of a Harry Potter movie. We weaved in and out of them, and saw even more fish amongst the trees.

When we arrived back to shore, we all surfaced with smiles and debriefed our adventure.

Although we didn’t find the truck, we still had a blast, and it was great to gather with everyone again.

Bottom Time ~ 86 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 112′
Water Temp. ~ 53
Vis. ~ Varied between 15′ – 40′ (better visibility in the channel)

After removing my drysuit, I actually had to pour water our of my feet… I’d say it was a bit of a soggy dive…

My wet socks and booties…

A little boat that cruised by…

..and, of course, the self portrait…

As we packed up, I noticed a little dragon fly, sitting on the sidewalk…

We did our circle checks, and headed out for a bite to eat. When we came out, we noticed a dragon fly on our grill. I really hope it wasn’t the one from the sidewalk…

Despite the fate of the dragon fly, we still managed to have more fun, laughter, and diving goodness on a Sunday afternoon.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Diving In 2009!