September | 2014 | Chanb77's Weblog

Dary-Ary-Ary-Aw!

28 09 2014

Sunday, September 28th, 2014 ~

Today was going to be an adventure! Jen and Mike took us out for a cruise, launching from the Brockville public boat launch.

We put the boats in, loaded up, and away we went!

The ride out was pretty fun, in the two zodiacs. I managed to cling on, even when my butt got some air time, thanks to a couple of the waves. At least I had my drysuit on. 😛

We anchored in a spot upstream, and north of the wreck. We had scooters, so we didn’t mind the extra jaunt. We preferred the shelter from the ripping current! We were able to jump in, and do our gear checks, beside the channel marker, with ease. Bottles were also checked and verified. We dropped down, settled out, and scootered into the channel, where the Daryaw sits. As we made our way, my reg started to breathe a little tight. Got a breath, didn’t get a breath… I reached down, and the knob had mostly closed. I guess my AL40 deco bottle had somehow rolled it off. We had checked our bottles/gauges at the surface, and I even breathed it in the water. I know that I had turned it on. Oh, well… It’s on, now – carry on.

We reached the wreck, which is sitting upside down, and Frankie and Dany went inside. Steve and I poked around a bit, went up into the air hole (as the season progresses, and more divers are on the wreck, the air pocket gets larger). You can surface in it, but I wouldn’t recommend breathing the air, in there!

We checked out the other holds, and to stay on schedule, for our awesome sauce boat captains, Steve and I motioned to Frankie and Dany, that we needed to get our drift on! We drifted along, and decided to go up and over the south wall, to check out the other “valley.” There was a lot of neatness, there! We found a rather large anchor, a few large fish, and some very interesting rock formations. What an absolutely fantastic dive!

Eventually, we made our way back over the wall, and headed north, where we did our deco, blew an SMB, and waited for Jen and Mike to collect us. Absolutely LOVED that dive!!!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 38 mins.
Max. Depth: 91′
Water Temp.: 64F
Vis.: 25′

Wheeeeee! We made it back to the public docks, with minimal butt ejection, and waited our turn to remove the zodiacs.

As we waited, I even tasted a crab apple, right from the tree (Jen made me do it) … 😛

It was definitely a spectacular day! Diving Goodness, good friends, shipwrecks, anchors, some ripping current, and FUN! Thanks for taking us out, Jen and Mike!

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Tags: Bloggy Thing, Brockville, Chan's Bloggy Thing, Daryaw, Daryaw Wreck, DIR Ontario, Diving, Diving Blog, Diving Goodness, Gavin, Gavin Scooter, GUE, GUE Divers, GUE Ontario, Scooter, Scooter Dive, Skills, St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence River, Suex, Suex Scooter, Technical Diving
Categories : Two-Oh-One-Four

Back To The Mother Ship

27 09 2014

Saturday, September 27th, 2014 ~

w00t! Today, we were going back to the Jodrey!

Some of our Québec buddies were joining us, for a splash, too!

Steve, Frankie, Dany, and Larry…

We did our mandatory customs stop, at Boldt Castle, and we were on our way!

Steve and I had planned on scootering to the stern, and possibly going inside.

On the descent, I had some really strange sinus thing going on, that was not normal, for me. I was able to clear without issue, so I kept on.

We noticed that the current was down at the bow section, but as we neared the stern, it was absolutely screaming. Thank goodness, for our most excellent scooters! The visibility was also pretty horrible, which was a little surprising, seeing as the water temperature had dropped, just a little bit, since our last dive here. The vis usually improves, as the water temperature drops.

Steve and I made our way to where we were going to go inside. The current was absolutely ridiculous, and I just wasn’t feeling 100% (sinus thing was messing with me, a bit), so I motioned a “no,” to Steve, to going in. As much as I wanted to, I figured that we could go in another day. The wreck wasn’t going anywhere. Ah, well…

We continued around the stern for a bit, checking out other extremely cool bits of Jodrey (I never get sick of this wreck), then made our way back to the bow, where we started up the wall, for deco.

We did most of our 20′ stop at the deco stool, then made our way over to the bowl, and did our 6-up!

Another amazing Jodrey day!

Ahhh… such goodness, and smiles all around!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 51 mins.
Max. Depth: 204′
Water Temp.: 64F

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Tags: Bloggy Thing, Brockville, Chan's Bloggy Thing, DIR Ontario, Diving, Diving Blog, Diving Goodness, Global Underwater Explorers, GUE, GUE Diver, GUE Divers, GUE Ontario, Jodrey, Ontario Diving, Scooter, Scooter Dive, St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence River, Suex Scooter, Technical Diving, XK1
Categories : Two-Oh-One-Four

More Fundies!

22 09 2014

Saturday, September 21st & Sunday, September 22nd, 2014 ~

Well, in order to keep what happens in Fundies, in Fundies, I will just post that…. there was a Fundies course! 🙂

The first weekend of a split weekend course, in Brockville.

Jen B. was armed with the camera, and for this course, I just floated around, and helped when I was needed. Oh, and I took some photos.

After an ascent…

This buckle will go in Denis’ museum pile!

A freighter was passing by, blaring the horns…

I can only guess that it was towards the dive boat, or the sea doo’er.

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 53 mins.
Max. Depth: 30′
Water Temp.: 64F

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 22 mins.
Max. Depth: 28′
Water Temp.: 64F

A great couple of days of Diving Goodness!

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Tags: Bloggy Thing, Brockville, Centeen Park, Chan's Bloggy Thing, DIR Ontario, Diving, Diving Blog, Diving Goodness, Fundamentals, Fundies, Global Underwater Explorers, GUE, GUE Divers, GUE Fundamentals, GUE Ontario, Ontario Diving, Skills, St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence River
Categories : Two-Oh-One-Four

DPVz

15 09 2014

Sunday, September 14th, 2014 ~

I wasn’t sure whether or not I was going to dive today, since I had a bit of an issue with my arm, the previous Monday (minor surgical procedure – yes, everything is fine). I did want to give it a try, so I figured that joining in on Steve’s DPV-1 class was a good idea. Of course, I brought the camera along, too.

Valve drills, stowing drills, OOG + towing drills, and all of that fun stuff. I stayed in the background, taking some photos, and stretching my arm out, a little. I wondered if the suit squeeze would bother it, but it didn’t. *Phew*

(Don’t worry, KK, we wear drysuits – I didn’t get the sutures wet) 😛

The team, on the trigger…

We scootered over to the Gaskin, then right back in, with some more skills, and an ascent. I can’t give away all of the fabulous skillz that the course ensues, so I will be a little bit vague with my details!

It was a fabulous day, and although the visibility was pretty stinky, it felt really good to be in the water! The camera does make the vis look better than it actually was.

Selfie, during an ascent drill!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 38 mins.
Max. Depth: 55′
Water Temp.: 68F
Visibility: Stinky – like gym socks

Way to go, team! Well done!

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Tags: Bloggy Thing, Brockville, Centeen Park, Chan's Bloggy Thing, Chantelle Blanchard, DIR Ontario, Diving, Diving Blog, Diving Goodness, DPV 1, Gaskin, Global Underwater Explorers, GUE, GUE Divers, GUE Ontario, Scooter, Scooter Dive, Skills, St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence River, Suex Scooter, XK1
Categories : Two-Oh-One-Four

Testing The Water

15 09 2014

Sunday, September 14th, 2014 ~

Well, I wasn’t sure if I should have gotten in the water today, but… well, I figured I would give it a try. I had had a small surgery, six days prior, and the doctor told me that I should probably stay dry for a couple of weeks. I did explain that we used drysuits, and if we could help it, stayed dry. She was a little “iffy,” but told me to play it by ear… so I did!

The surgery was just off of my shoulder, so I wasn’t sure how the harness would feel, as well as any drysuit squeeze. Steve was teaching a DPV class, so I came along… and brought my camera!

Luckily, I could just hover a bit, while everyone was doing their skill requirements.