Chanb77's Weblog

Friday, October 31st, 2014 ~

Despite the fact that there would be numerous characters from Frozen, zombies, and superheros knocking on our door for candy, Steve and I were loading up, and heading to Thetford Mines, QC. As we were throwing the last few items into the van, we did get a couple of little trick-or-treaters, and we saw the Best. Dad. Costume. Ever. I have never seen a Storm Trooper living in our neighbourhood, but this dad’s costume was the real deal. I made a comment to him, to which he nodded, as he pushed his daughter’s stroller to the house across the street. Use the force, Storm Trooper… become one of us…

Since we were pressed for time, we went through a Drive-Thru, for dinner. Of course, we brought along our giant bowl of candy, and offered some to the staff, as we drove through. Steve thought I was nuts, at first, but after seeing the reactions of the restaurant staff, there were smiles all around!

Ok… en route… Our drive was pleasantly uneventful… mostly… until we reached the exit towards Thetford Mines. Holy roller coaster road, Batman! There were twists and turns, hills with tummy drops, and it was a 90 km/hr country road, with houses on each side. We drove on this crazy road for about an hour, before making it to our hotel (thanks for hooking us up, Denis!). We settled in, and… z-z-z-z… Only 4 1/2 hours of driving.

Saturday, November 1st, 2014 ~

We were not in a rush to get to Flintkote, so we lazily got some breakfast (mmm… waffles), and got dressed for the frigid weather. It was in the minuses, here!

We arrived, and it took us a couple of wrong turns, once we were inside the quarry, but we eventually found the car park, for the “shallow” side. We met up with a bunch of our friends, analyzed gas, then jumped in the water!

Frankie, Denis and Steve…

The entry…

Steve, after his glove test…

Me, waiting for the Diving Goodness to begin!

We did bring our scooters with us (duhhhh), and Steve and I took turns with the camera.

Dany D., Eric V., Frankie, and I…

We scootered along the wall, at about 40′, for about 15 minutes, then dropped down to the bus. I was exceptionally happy to have my “new” Santi 400g undies on (I bought them last year, but was saving them for this winter), thanks to that frigid thermocline. The bus sits at about 85′, and the temperature dropped to about 42F. We tied our scooters off, and went for a swim.

Me, peeking out from the side of the bus – at least I didn’t get thrown under it… 😉

…and coming out of the bus…

Dany, by the bus…

Steve, Eric, and Frankie…

Ok… let’s get a move-on… We picked up our scooters, and kept going.

Steve…

We then came across the “computer room,” and the place that Christian St-Pierre’s mirror was placed. Note the GUE Ontario sticker, on the corner of the mirror! Steve did get a shot of the mirror, but it was a little blown out, using the strobes.

Frankie, me, Eric V. …

From there, we headed to the “restaurant,” which is beside a conveyer belt. Apparently, this conveyer belt goes down to about 280′.

Here, you see the kitchen to the left, and the dining area to the right…

The conveyer belt, in the background. It is quite large…

Me, as we were about to move up, above the thermocline…

Ok… That’s enough of that, let’s keep going… We continued around the rest of the quarry, and came back in. I was very thankful for the extra warmth of my new’ish undies, and even though it did occur to me, to add an extra weight to my harness, with the new, fluffy undies, I was still in need of a rock, for my pocket. D’oh! At least I didn’t have to look far for one. They were in abundance here, and they all had weight to them – as opposed to the ones at Morrison’s quarry. You have to search far and wide, to find one worthy of a pocket weight.

Bottom Time: 59 mins.
Max. Depth: 97′
Water Temp.: 41F (50F, above the thermocline)
Vis.: Pretty darned good!

Steve and Eric V., at the surface…

The one and only: Frankie Boy!

Sunday, November 2nd, 2014 ~

Today, Steve was doing a GUE Fundies – Tech upgrade dive, and Eric B. came to join me for a dive.

Driving in, at the quarry…

Eric and I plopped in, watched the course dive for a minute or two, then headed off into the abyss. We made it to the bus stop in about 12 minutes, this time. We dropped down, had a swim and a look, then came back up, above the thermocline. It was really neat to see some of the items that have been placed along the quarry wall. There were canvases of artwork, which were really cool, and nice to look at, as we scootered by!

We passed by the conveyer belt again, and I knew that we had a little ways to go yet, before coming full circle.

As we did come in, we came up to about 30′, which is where I knew that the little round “bubbles” were, that led back to the exit. Sure enough, they appeared, and we saw the rest of the gang, doing rescues. That was good timing!

Bottom Time: 43 mins. (a little shorter than yesterday)
Max. Depth: 85′
Water Temp.: 46F (we didn’t stay as long, at depth, this time)
Vis.: Still, pretty awesome

Cold water is goodness, but it is not a producer of very flattering surface pictures, thanks to “Cold Water Pudgy Face.”
Eric B. and I…

As Cas would say… A Chantellfie! Yes, I was trying to capture the peeps in the background…
(I am totally adopting that, Cas) 🙂

Steve and I, after a fun weekend of Plongée Bonté (is that the correct wording, for “Diving Goodness,” in French?), and fun with friends!

After we spent a bit of time inside the container, warming up, we headed to a little restaurant, for some food. We ate, bid our goodbyes, then headed back on the road, to come home. Thanks to Eric’s fancy car computer, he messaged us, to warn us about an accident, and to change our route. *Phew* That was impeccable timing – about 3 km before we neared the brake lights!

Thanks to all of our friends at Plongée Nautilus, for having us, and for a great weekend!

Congratulations, to Mathieu and Anne-Marie, for completing their Fundamentals Tech Pass upgrade!! w00t w00t!!! Well done, and well earned!!!