Town Under Water

30 06 2009

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2008 ~

We decided to head to Cornwall, for a mid-week splash in the river. On the way down, the sky was looking a little dark, and we could actually see the downpour from far away.

We also saw a deer running through a field, with a little shorty, trailing along behind her, in the long grass. I don’t think I’ve seen a fawn before.

Once arriving in Cornwall, there was evidence of the downpour, but the sun was shining, and there was even a rainbow…

We pulled into Guindon Park, geared up…

… and put the scooters on the shore…

Just before we entered the water, there was a fisherman, quite pleased with a rather large catch off of the dock.

We dropped down, and headed out. The visibility wasn’t that great at all, which isn’t a big surprise this time of year, nor is it surprising that the current was ripping. We came across a bunch of old building foundations, a sidewalk, and hit Old Highway 2.

Even though the visibility isn’t the greatest here, I never really get tired of exploring through the Lost Villages. I have yet to make it to the Paper Factory basement, but that is in the plans for the very near future! It will be a bit nicer once the water warms up a bit more. We did come across the line to it though, and cleaned off bits of it.

We headed back in to shore, and had some fun along the way. We saw some pretty big carp that didn’t seem too bothered by the fact that we were there.

Bottom Time ~ 31 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 33′
Water Temp. ~ 55
Vis. ~ 10′ with particulate in the water


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Brule Road Quarry

19 06 2009

Sunday, May 31st, 2009 ~

It had been last August since I had last been in the water with my friend, Andy, and he was game for a dive in Kingston! Andy made the trip up from the US side, to meet me at Dive Tech, where we harassed the local Candy Man for a while, then headed to Kingston, to meet up with the folks at Northern Tech Diver.

The charters weren’t going out that afternoon, as the weather had turned quite a bit, and the lake was too choppy for the boats. A bunch of us decided to head up to the Brule Road Quarry for some skills and thrills. Dan had a fundies course going on there as well, so we made sure to stay out of his way. Most of the gang taking the course were friends of mine, and it was nice to say hello.

Two “Dive Gear Transportation Units…”

Andy, geared up…

We headed over to the wonderful beach entrance, did our predive checks, and dropped down.

The quarry has a maximum depth of about 28′, and has a couple of small boats in it, a car, some shopping carts, and many beer bottles, from the campers.

When we descended, we made our way over the rocks, and as we made our way out, we steered clear of the lift bag, being used to mark the square pattern, being used by the Fundies course.

We did a nice, leisurely tour of the quarry, stopping to put beer bottles in the shopping cart (picking them up off of the ground, and adding them to the others), took a tour of the boats, and even checked out the car.

I decided this would be a good time to demonstrate the valve drill, so signaled Andy to watch. We had discussed this on the surface, so it was not a surprise. Andy also demonstrated that he could reach his valves and will be practicing the valve drill as well.

We did see a fish or two… We weren’t sure if it was the same fish or not, but if it was in a different place, perhaps we can count it as two?

We did the entire circuit of the quarry, then made our way back in, and discussed the dive on the surface, before getting out.

Bottom Time ~ 44 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 28′
Water Temp. ~ 63
Visibility ~ 25′

Gearing down, Andy noticed that I had GI Joes in the van, and that, of course, triggered some silliness..

We headed back to NTD, and loitered a bit, while the fundies class finished their exam. We got a shot of Mike, with his fancy dive bag…

…and a hood…

Boats from Kingston Dive Charters, with James’ little boat…

Vicky Marie…

The class finally finished, and I got a pic of them smiling…

I even snagged a picture of Marc, who was up visiting, giving Dan a hand…

Myself, Andy, Dan, and Marc went out for a bite to eat, shared some great conversation and a bunch of laughs, then all went our separate ways back home.

Andy, it was great going for a splash with you, and I look forward to corrupting you… I mean.. diving with you some more!


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Soggy Dive…

15 06 2009

Sunday, May 24th, 2009 ~

We made arrangements to meet Kevin, Jeremy, Oren, and Sean, for a scooter adventure,  out of Centeen Park. On the drive down, we saw quite a few older cars that we gawked at along the way.

Here is one that I got a shot of, heading down the 416…

We were the first to arrive, and were greeted by a rather large tour boat, moored up to the far side of the park…

Here’s a slightly closer look…

I also got a shot of the Historical plaque, which shows some slight differences to the park since 1927…

Once everyone arrived, we got all of our gear together, and got ready to dive! Erin and Kevin A. also came by to say hello!

Oren, bringing his scooter down…

Sean, setting up…

Kevin and Jeremy’s Gear…

Ahh… Bless him… Thank you, Steve.

Kevin’s turn…

…and Jeremy…

We geared up, and in we went. Our quest today, was to find an old truck, laying in about 100′, across the channel. We did our predive checks, discussed our plan, and off we went. Oren was heading the adventure today, and we followed his lead.

Here is a shot of us just before descending, taken by Kevin Abe…

As we started out, I started to feel water in my drysuit. I wasn’t sure exactly where it was coming in, but I could feel a chilly spurt of cold water, every time I pressed my drysuit inflation. The water was a bit warmer, so it wasn’t a dive ender at this point.

We reached the channel, and drifted across, keeping our eyes peeled for the prized old truck. We played amongst the white bed of periwinkle shells until we came upon a rock wall. We had reached one of the islands. We decided to turn back, as we had to go against the current on the way back. We circled the little island, hit a couple of back eddys, and started the journey back to Centeen Park. We saw many large fish, including a few carp, pike, and even a gar pike.

At one point, we found an area with many tree roots and branches, which looked like something out of a Harry Potter movie. We weaved in and out of them, and saw even more fish amongst the trees.

When we arrived back to shore, we all surfaced with smiles and debriefed our adventure.

Although we didn’t find the truck, we still had a blast, and it was great to gather with everyone again.

Bottom Time ~ 86 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 112′
Water Temp. ~ 53
Vis. ~ Varied between 15′ – 40′ (better visibility in the channel)

After removing my drysuit, I actually had to pour water our of my feet… I’d say it was a bit of a soggy dive…

My wet socks and booties…

A little boat that cruised by…

..and, of course, the self portrait…

As we packed up, I noticed a little dragon fly, sitting on the sidewalk…

We did our circle checks, and headed out for a bite to eat. When we came out, we noticed a dragon fly on our grill. I really hope it wasn’t the one from the sidewalk…

Despite the fate of the dragon fly, we still managed to have more fun, laughter, and diving goodness on a Sunday afternoon.


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Back To Kingston

25 05 2009

Friday, May 15th, 2009 ~

I spent a couple of hours packing the car, and managed to fit three 18 ah Gavins in my little, two door Honda. I had to do some arranging, but managed to get them in there. I was thankful for the end caps we have, that’s for sure! 

I fit two in the trunk, with end caps on, as the back ends wouldn’t clear my trunk…

There are actually two tubes; one on either side of the trunk, with a tub in the middle, and my 4th Elements to the left…

 

Since I couldn’t fit the back ends in, I placed them on top of their crates, so that the clutches wouldn’t touch the seats. I strapped them in, on each side of the back seat…

 

That left room for mine, riding shotgun…

 

Thank goodness Steve still had my tanks in Kingston, but I did have my other gear, that did fit in the car.

I arrived in the evening, grabbed a sub, and brought the guys some beverages. They had one more day left of the first ever, Canadian GUE ITC, and were working hard.

 

Saturday, May 17th, 2009 ~

We all got up early and headed over to Timmy’s, for some breakfast. I think Alan was getting a bit sick of the Bagel BELTs…lol…

We all headed over to the shop. The guys went to the classroom, and I waited for friends to arrive, to go out on their zodiac. Although… the weather wasn’t cooperating, and the waters were really rough. I thought that it would be a good decision for me to opt out of the lake diving today. My tummy doesn’t deal with that very well…. Apparently, the others did try to get out on the lake, but were unable to, and headed to the river.

I ended up being a dive shop bum for the morning, then headed out to Centeen Park, with James P., for a leisurely scooter out to the Gaskin. He hadn’t been on the wreck in a while, and I never mind doing the Gaskin. What was even funnier, is that we met up with the zodiac crew on the wreck! “Fancy meeting you guys here!” We exchanged hellos, and carried on our way. We had a fun dive, then went to get James some Fish ‘n’ Chips.

Bottom Time ~ 40 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 67′
Water Temp. ~ 50
Vis. ~ 25′

We then headed back to Kingston, where we met the gang for dinner. Well.. James had dessert! The fellas had had a great ITC, and finished the first hurdle.

Congratulations Steve, Guy, Alan, and Corey!

Then a bunch of us went back to the cabin for some stories and bevies.

 

Sunday, May 17th, 2009 ~

Guy had left the night before, to catch a plane, so it was just Steve, Alan, and I at the cabin. The boys had a well-deserved sleep in. It had been a long week.

We got up, headed to the shop, and saw that the charters weren’t going out today. The weather was way too stinky. We packed everything up, and went to Cora’s for breakfast. I’ve heard of this place for years, but had never actually eaten there. This was my first time, and what a breakfast!!! I had to share it with Steve and Alan…

 

After stuffing our bellies, we decided to go to Centeen Park again, and take Alan for a run out to the channel, so we headed out to Brockville.

We geared up, and in we went. We scootered along the wall, and got to the drop off point. Alan found some line to play with, then we headed down, into the channel. Hmm… drift, you say? I guess the current didn’t get the invite to the dive today, as it was pretty non-existant. We tooled around a bit, then headed back toward the Gaskin, where we did some swim throughs and played around the wreck. We got back near shore, and played a little more, with the scooters, then headed in. I think Alan might have enjoyed it… as did we. :o)

Bottom Time ~ 71 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 96′
Water Temp. ~ 50
Vis. ~ 40′

Alan…

 

Steve…

 

Self Portrait…

 

It was really great to finally meet Guy and Alan, and I look forward to many more dives with them, in the near future!


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Mooring Day ~ Part Two

13 05 2009

Sunday, May 10th, 2009 ~ 

 

It was Mother’s Day, and I made sure that I called my mum on the way over to the shop. Steve had left a few minutes earlier than I did, as he was starting his ITC this morning, and wanted to get Timmy’s first. Jen wasn’t far behind me… literally… I think we just missed each other, passing in the hallway. We weren’t sure if the boats were going to go out, as the weather wasn’t looking too promising, and the internet told us that there would be possible storms later on, and high winds. 

 

My first thought was that I should probably stay off the boats today, as my tummy really doesn’t like the waves out on the lake. Of course, I thought about it for a while, hemmed and hawed, and without alot of persuasion from Anne and Oren, I loaded up the boat, geared up, and off we went. 

The winds are coming from the North! That’s a good thing! The waves won’t be bad!

We were going to attempt to raise the moorings on the Cornwall, the Glendora, and possibly a third, depending on the weather. Myself, Jen, James Y., Sean, and Nancy boarded  Sorobon once again. Oren and John were aboard Seadeucer. 

James Y. aka Vinnie…

 

Jen and Sean…

 

Nancy…

 

Anne even braided my hair for me…

 

All was well on the ride out, and Anne brought us to the numbers for the Cornwall. Anne said, “Now!” to throw out the shot line, and Sean tossed it in. My tummy was beginning to turn a bit, so I geared up and got in. The waves were really moving now, so the quicker I got in, the better. Once I was in, I was a happy camper. I made my way over to the shot line, where Jen met me shortly after. Instead of descending right away, we waited for Sean to come over, so that they wouldn’t lose sight of the shot line, with the waves rockin’ like they were. Once he was there, we set off.

There was “word on the lake” that this line was a bit entangled, so Jen and I figured we’d check it out before the boys came down to throw it up. Once we got down, once again, we were right at the wreck. Way to go Anne and Sean!!!

(That was for you CMaul)!

We saw the mooring line on the opposite side of the wreck, and made our way over to it. We followed it along, checked it as we went along, and once at the bottom chain, saw that it didn’t look to be in bad shape at all. The boys would be fine.

Since neither of us had done this wreck before, Jen and I decided to take a little tour down the middle of it. We came upon one of the paddle wheels, that was still intact, but fallen over, as well as the intact boilers. We decided to go check on James and Sean, and headed back toward the line. We met them half way, where they gave us the “ok” and carried on with their dive.

As Jen and I made our way to the line, we saw the line that the guys had successfully sent up, and although it was a bit jerky with the water movement, all looked fine and dandy. We continued around to where the shot line was, and it was clear that Jen and I both had the same thought. We noticed how close it had moved toward the wreck, and thought we should move it a bit, so that it didn’t get entangled in the wreck, as it was pulled up. We made our way to it, and Jen moved it over a bit.

Ok… let’s go home…

We went back over to where the line was…

Um.. yeah… it WAS here about 2 minutes ago…

The first thought through my head was that the boat was moored to it, and they were drifting…away. Jen and I looked at each other, and knew that we both weren’t seeing things. It really wasn’t there! Lol…

James and Sean were now on the scene as well, so the four of us headed back over to the shot line, where we ascended, and blew a bag.

When we surfaced… yup… no boat… lol… It didn’t take them long to get back to us though. Anne was going to bring in the shot line, and realized that it wasn’t there. She then realized that the numbers were off, so she immediately headed over to us, where we had a bit of a chuckle, and got back on board. It was a bit “rock and roll” with the waves, but we all got up safely. At least they were able to pull up the entire line, so it can be fixed and replaced.

“I swear there was a line there!”

I guess we can’t chalk that one up to David Copperfield. I don’t think he was in town on Sunday.

Bottom Time ~ 32 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 74′
Water Temp. ~ 42
Vis. ~ 40′

Once we had a debrief and a good chuckle, we headed over to the Glendora.

My tummy had not been too bad until this point, but with the bumping and grinding, I think I went instantly green. Jen said that I was a mix between grey and green. I really wanted to get back in the water, but couldn’t even bring myself to gear up. Argh… stoopid seasick.. pft… At least I didn’t give in to it… this time.

Jen was going to go in with Nancy, but they were not in the water long.

Once the boys came back on board, we headed back to the dock, with me in the fetal position, the entire trip back.

 

I did take a picture of James’ iPhone, where he had marked where we were…

 

I was able to sit up a few minutes before reaching NTD, and Jen noticed that the colour had returned to my face. They were all placing bets on how quickly I would kiss firm ground. 😉

Once back, we unloaded our gear, met the rest of the gang, then went to grab some grub. My tummy was still a bit funny, so I took most of my dinner to go!

Despite my churning tummy, the twisting waves, and the rocky weather, it was amazing to get back to Kingtson, for the diving, as well as hanging out with good friends. I can’t wait to get back out next weekend!


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