Chanb77's Weblog

Friday, January 30th, 2009 ~

We had just had another round of crazy snowfall, and we had a weekend of diving planned, with our friend, Jay.

Jay left in the wee hours of the morning, to make the long drive up to see us. Once he arrived, we packed up the van, and away we went. In making the drive across the Quebec border, we encountered just about every type of crappy winter weather we could imagine, within a 45 minute time frame. It cleared up once we passed onto the highway that led to the quarry, and it was smooth sailing for the rest of the way.

We had to take the back way in, and the snow was very thick. Once we got a run at one of the hills, we couldn’t slow down in order to keep from getting stuck. Jay wasn’t so lucky. He was no longer behind us. I never realized how far a walk it was until we actually had to walk it…Lol…

We finally got him unstuck, parked his van, and headed back over to the dive area.

We noticed that time had passed quite quickly, and were not able to get a dive in. We decided to cut our losses and come back the next day.

 

Saturday, January 31st, 2009 ~

We packed all three of us into the van, so that we wouldn’t have to go throuh the same events as the previous day. We were able to squish Jay in there…

 

We brought the scooters along for fun, as well as the still camera. I’m still working out what function does what, but I’m enjoying playing with it.

The frozen outline of the hole we cut the previous day…

 

Steve had the camera for a bit, and got some cool shots.

Jay…

 

Myself and Jay…

 

Steve and Jay…

 

Jay…

 

I even caught Steve mid twirl…

 

I just like this shot that Steve took, coming toward me…

 

Jay…

 

Me…

 

Jay and Steve…

 

Jay, nearing the hole…

We had a good, fun dive, and even went over to visit the resident “shark.” His shot turned out a bit dark though.

Bottom Time ~ 47 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 73′
Water Temp. ~ 39
Vis. ~ Stellar

 

Sunday, February 1st, 2009 ~

Today, Kevin joined us for the fun as well. There had been a couple of divers before us, so we didn’t have to recut our fancy entry.

Steve…

 

 Getting ready to head out to the plane, Kevin in the back, Jay on the left, and myself on the right…

 

We did some more playing around, and headed down to see the sink and stove. We hadn’t seen them before. The stove looked like it was in good shape… hehe. There wasn’t much ambient light for any great pictures.

We made our way back up, found the end of Kevin’s “string,” that kept him occupied for a bit, then back up to the sub, then the plane.

Steve, Jay, and Kevin…

 

Awesome shot by Steve…

 

Some of the local wild life attacked Jay…

 

There were a couple of other divers that came over too…

 

Steve and Jay…

 

The three fellas…

 

SuperSteve…

 

Jay…

 

Kevin…

 

Bottom Time ~ 67 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 105′
Water Temp. ~ 39
Vis. ~ Fantastique!

Yet another great dive under the ice, and fun with friends. We played around a bit, before getting out…

 

Then came the inevitable “after-cold-water-dive pudgey face!”

 

I am looking forward to getting back in next week, as it is supposed to be above zero! w00t!

Saturday, January 17th, 2009 ~

Plans had been in the works, for some friends to come and stay for the weekend, for ice diving. The house started to fill up on Friday night, and one friend was picked up from the airport. It was turning into an event!

Saturday morning, another friend arrived, and we headed up to the quarry. We decided to cut a bit of a runway up to the beach, so that exiting the water wouldn’t be such a task for everyone.

We geared up and in we went. There were eight of us, and I tried to get shots of everyone (ones that turned out).

Steve…

 

Richard…

 

Eric…

 

Frankie…

 

Oren…

 

Kevin…

 

Jen, playing with the wild life…

 

Me…

 

Silhouettes from the Sub…

 

We had alot of fun swimming around, and placing “sea creatures” in each others’ manifolds… read… I had alot of creatures in my manifold.

Here’s a group shot, with Kevin caught in the act… taken by Steve…

 

Bottom Time ~ 61 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 56′
Water Temp. ~ 39
Vis. ~ Wicked!

When we got out, our gear and drysuits quickly turned to popsicles, so we quickly put everything away, then jumped back in the water, to defrost the zippers on our drysuits.

It was then off to Jean Burger for Poutine!

We all came back to our place, brought the gear in, and later had a nice turkey dinner!

W00 h00! Birthday dive! At least, the day after! We weren’t able to get out on the 3rd, so we headed up to the quarry on Sunday. We had to take the back road in, as the front gate was still locked. When we arrived, we saw a couple of friends also going for a dip!

The three of us dropped down, and of course, I had the camera with me again. Between Steve and I, we passed it back and forth.

Me in front, Kevin in behind…

 

Steve, with the reel…

 

We made our way to the plane, and Steve tied off the reel. Our other friends were already there…

 

We swam around, took some shots, and watched Kevin play with his yellow line and rock again…

 

Steve, over the plane…

 

Steve S on the left, Kevin below…

 

Kevin…

 

Steve took this wicked shot…

Going clockwise…Me – with the white tanks, Kevin, Steve S., Rob W….

 

Steve…

 

Me, on the left… Kevin on the right…

 

Me…

 

Coming back in… Steve and Kevin…

 

I’m really liking these reflective shots too…

Kevin…

 

Steve and Kevin…

 

Me…

Bottom Time ~ 43 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 38′
Water Temp. ~ 39
Vis. ~ Pretty darn nice…

Steve…

 

My face loves to pudge up from the cold water… Lol…

 

We had yet another amazing day in the water, and I got to play with my camera again. I’d say it was a pretty good way to spend the “Day-After-Birthday!”

Happy New Year!!

The sun was shining, and we were eager, so we packed up and headed to the quarry. When venturing outside, we were faced with the bitter -27 with wind chill temperatures, but we still weren’t discouraged!

We arrived at the quarry, where Steve used our trusty chainsaw, and cut us a nice pentagon.

This would be the second time using my new camera in the water, and I was hoping to get some similar results from the first dive. Steve and I both took turns shooting.

We dropped down, did our valve checks, and ran a line out to the plane.

Steve and Kevin…

Kevin found some fancy yellow line that he played with for a while, and although we didn’t get a shot of him attaching it to rocks, we did catch him with the rope…

We mainly stuck by the plane, and just played around a bit, taking pictures.

Kevin and I…

Steve, bringing in the reel, with Kevin in front…

A look under the floating dock…

Steve…

Me…

Kevin…

Steve and Kevin…

..and… cold water, pudgey face syndrome…

Bottom Time ~ 44 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 61′
Water Temp. ~ 39
Vis. ~ Wicked

Upon getting out, the gear was pretty quick to freeze. Here’s my rig within a couple of minutes of taking it off…

Here are each of us as popsicles as well…

I actually had to sit in the van for a few minutes to defrost and open my zipper. It would have been much easier to just jump back into the water, but I had already taken off and packed my gloves!

Despite the frigid air temperatures, we could not pass up the first dive of the year! The water was actually much warmer than the air!

That’s Canada, eh?