Chanb77's Weblog

Saturday, June 18th, 2011 ~

Mark Nash, Raphael Santore, Denis Finnegan, and Mick Cagney had come up to the 1000 Island for an extended weekend of Diving Goodness! On Saturday, Steve and I decided to join them for a dive to the Keystorm and then the America. It had been a while since we have done those wrecks, and we decided to bring the scooters along for a fun ride.

We arrived at Caiger’s, and were greeted by our friends. Of course, I had to snap a pic before loading the boat.

We loaded the boat, and we were off! Customs, here we come!

No matter how many times I see Boldt Castle, I never get tired of it.

We cleared customs, then geared up for some Diving Goodness!

Raphael, with a big smile!

Mick, splashing in…

Denis.. also with a big smile!

..and Mark, splashing in!

The first order of the day was a dive on the Keystorm. It had been a while since we had done this one. As Steve and I entered the water, I didn’t really feel 100%. There was a bit of wave action, and since I do get seasick, we didn’t waste alot of time on the surface. Usually, once I’m down, I’m fine. I don’t normally get sick on the River though, so this was a bit silly (that is what was going on in my head). Once we got down onto the wreck, we peeked into the bathroom, and then had planned on doing a little penetration. I really felt “off” at this point, and signalled to Steve that going inside wasn’t for me, today. We did a bit of a tour, and then decided to scooter around, looking for other interesting things, off of the wreck.

At this point, I started fighting my gear, was underweighted, and just felt like it was my first ever dive. Time to thumb it. This was the first time that I have ever felt so dumb in the water, and was a little surprised that I had a day like I did. I was wearing different gear as well, which is probably why I sucked so badly. Oh well.. chalk it up to a crappy day in the water, and try again next time.

Bottom Time ~ 46 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 105′
Water Temp. ~ 59F
Vis. ~ 20′ 

On a nicer note, our friends did enjoy their dives, and it was a lot of fun being in the water with them. I am looking forward to seeing some of them at the Invasion! w00t!

Important things to keep in your Save-A-Dive kit…

On board, we watched as a freighter carrying windmill props went by…

It even had a launcher!

There were also some boat races going on, which got a little rocky at times. As we were heading back in, we were almost right in their line of fire, in their turning position. Thanks to Captain Steve for avoiding that craziness!

This boat has two jet engines, and was absolutely flying. I have no idea how I got lucky with this shot! 

So, even though my dive sucked, it was still great to be on the water, and with some really wonderful people. 🙂

See y’all soon!