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Good Friday At The Quarry

23 04 2009

Friday, April 10th, 2009 ~

After lounging around in the morning, we finally packed the van and headed out to the quarry. Steve was going to work on bottle rotations, and I was going to work on stowing a stage reg. I could stand to do it a bit quicker.

We got there, and there were a few others there, getting back in the water, after a winter hiatus. We also saw a couple of other friends that we knew as well. The quarry was wide open and ready for action!

Steve and I got in, did our pre-dive checks, and off we went to the plane. I left the camera behind again, so we could concentrate on skills. We got to the plane, and Steve started doing his bottle rotations. I watched him, then just started deploying and stowing my stage reg. He then passed me another bottle, for me to clip on. I tinkered with that for a while, and of course, I double clipped it on the hip D ring.. pft.. Start over…

I am definitely going to have to do some more work with that, and maybe some exercises to strengthen my hand a bit.

Once we were half satisfied, we headed back in.

Bottom Time ~ 32 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 23′
Water Temp. ~ 40
Vis. ~ 50′ Starting to get less crisp

Eric and Greg were waiting for us, and we sat about with them for a bit. We even had some fun with Eric’s Fusion suit…

We decided to get back in, and do some other skills. Eric joined us for this dive. We didn’t go to the plane, but hung around the deco rock, working on finning techniques and valve drills. Steve swam off a bit, then had an OOG (yes, it was a drill…lol). I rushed to him, donated my stage reg, went to my back up, then deployed my long hose for him, putting me back on the stage reg. All was well in the land of donation. We cut the drill, and carried on. We played with some rocks, then came back in… Ok.. I was the one playing with rocks…

Bottom Time ~ 30 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 17′
Water Temp. ~ 40
Vis. ~ 50′

Another excellent day in the water!

Happy Easter!

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Tags: DIR, Diving, GUE, Morrison's Quarry
Categories : Diving In 2009!

To The Rothesay

12 04 2009

Sunday, April 5th, 2009 ~

Steve and I headed down to Prescott yesterday, and did a little wreck from shore, called the Rothesay. It’s been quite a while since we’ve done this wreck, and it was good to get back to it.

This wreck went down from a collison, and was eventually used as target practice, and has been the victim of dynamite in the past. The boilers are still intact, and there are some neat things to see on this wreck, despite being pretty “banged up.” There is also a really neat swim through, and a few resident fish to visit with. It sits in about 28′ of water, so is often a pretty busy site during the summer months.

The jug was down, so we opted to swim out to 12′, then drift onto the line, which worked out great. We ended up drifting onto it, right in front of the wreck. We did a couple of turns, took pics by the boilers, as well as in the little swim throughs, then headed back.

We didn’t stay out for long, but we had a nice, relaxing dive. The visibility wasn’t that great either, as there had been quite a bit of rain during the week. Still fun!

Bottom Time ~ 32 mins.

Max. Depth ~ 27′

Water Temp. ~ 40

Visibility ~ 20′ and milky

Entry point…

Upon returning home, it seems that my first trip to the river with the camera was unsuccessful. Apparently, I need to learn how to focus properly in low visibility. Oh well.. learning curve! 🙂

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: DIR, Diving, GUE, Rothesay
Categories : Diving In 2009!

Friends, Feast, and Finning… Part 1

1 04 2009

Saturday, March 21st, 2009 ~

On Friday night, a bunch of our friends came from as far west as St. Catherines and as far east as Quebec City. We were having another gathering of friends from afar, for some diving goodness!

Francois and Eric were the first to arrive, followed by Jen, then Jay. We were all hanging out in the dive garage, and helping Jen with her new scooter. After some catching up and nibbling on pizza, we hit the pillows.

Saturday morning, we were up bright and early to go to the quarry. The ice will probably be gone soon, so this weekend would be one of the last couple of ice dives of the season.

When we arrived, there were another three groups of people there to dive. It was a busy day for the watering hole, and there was a large opening above the plane too! We also met up with Jeremy.

We had brought our short body scooters to play with, so that Jen could try out her new toy! We didn’t all have them, so we took turns handing off scooters.

Jen…

Jay…

I handed mine off for a bit, so that I could take some shots, and it was even left to the plane for a bit…

Jay’s little scooter…

Steve, sending me the secret hand shake signal…

Jeremy…

Frankie…

Steve, mid barrel roll…

We had a heckuvalot of fun!

Bottom Time ~ 38 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 38′
Water Temp. ~ 40
Vis. ~ Great!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so a few of us decided to go for a second dive! I left the camera behind, so that I could play around with my scooter. Jen took some shots from the surface, and since there was a gaping hole above the plane, she got some shots of us below!

Jen also got a video clip with her camera…

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We weren’t in for long, but it was fun to get back in!

Bottom Time ~ 21 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 57′
Water Temp ~ 40
Vis. ~ Great!

I think this one is the picture of the day… Jay got a little crabby…

We headed over to Jean Burger for a quick nibble, and then headed back to our place.

We tinkered with gear for a while, then I uploaded the pictures from the day’s adventures. Then it was time for BBQ! Jen had brought up the most succulent sirloin steaks, fresh from the butcher, and fresh bacon to wrap around them. Holy smokes, we were eating like kings and queens tonight! While I played around with the pictures, Jen and Steve got the food together. We had filet mignon, baked potatoes, and.. well.. we forgot the veggies, but we had other add ons! Kevin and Jenn E. also joined us for dinner.

After filling our bellies, it was time to sit back, relax, and watch the “WKPP Push For The Connection” DVD. What a way to wind down a most excellent day of diving goodness and fun with friends!

Stay tuned for Part 2!

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Tags: DIR, GUE, Ice Diving, Morrison's Quarry, We Go Down
Categories : Diving In 2009!

The Quarry Is Melting!

11 03 2009

Sunday, March 8th, 2009 ~

Another busy and gorgeous day at the quarry, and we headed up to meet Kevin and Jeremy. There were many people taking advantage of the beautiful weather today, and getting their gear wet. There were many courses going on as well.

Kevin ran the line today, and we headed out to the plane.

Kevin tied off the line, and we worked on some skills. Steve and I paired up, as did Kevin and Jeremy. We played around a bit, and avoided being landed on a couple of times, by some of the course candidates.

Steve even worked on his “Upside Down Frog Kick.”

We practiced valve drills, finning techniques, as well as picked up some of the “Police Line” that had fallen in the melting water, from the courses.

Kevin even tried the Upside Down Frog Kick…

We looked above, and noticed the big, gaping hole in the ice. We knew there had been a bit of melting, but weren’t sure how much. We made our way to the surface, to check it out… It was a massive open water hole!

Before descending again, Steve pointed out to me, how well you could see the plane from the surface.

We descended again, and did some more playing around the plane.

We finally decided to head in, as it really started to get busy, and we did have to duck a couple of times…

This shot was kind of neat, as it wasn’t until we got home, that I noticed the two people in the ice hole above! It has now been dubbed, “The Alien Picture.”

On the way in…

Bottom Time ~ 60 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 35′
Water Temp. ~ 39
Vis. ~ Great!

When we returned to the hole, we were greeted by other friends about to gear up as well!

We doffed our gear, and Steve wanted to go and play in the big, melted hole, where he got a couple of pretty cool shots…

I came over to say hello, and… lo and behold, my leg went through… Trust that camera to be ready… lol…

We finally packed up and headed over to Jean Burger, for Poutine and chicken! Ok.. chicken for me… Poutine for the fellas!

Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: DIR, GUE, Ice Diving, Morrison's Quarry
Categories : Diving In 2009!

A Trip To The Quarry

5 03 2009

Sunday, March 1st, 2009 ~

We headed to the quarry this past Sunday, and we were able to drag Jeremy out, despite the fact that he has been accustomed to desert weather, over the last 9 months (welcome home, Jeremy).

It was a busy day at the quarry as well, and the visibility wasn’t as great as it has been recently.

Here are a few pics from the day’s events…

A shot of Jeremy in his brand spankin’ new TLS…