This winter has been a terribly brutal one, and one that many Canadians didn’t think would end. It became a cruel joke, to which we stopped laughing, quite a while ago… until today!
The sun was out, and it was above 0C!!! FINALLY!! A great day to take the scooters for a ride! The St. Lawrence River is mostly open, but temperatures are still hovering around 32F and 33F. There are still flash freezings and ice floes, so it isn’t the safest place to be diving, right now. We went back up to the quarry, and I finally got to take my new XK1 for a spin!
We brought the gear to the water…
Frankie, Christian, and Mike teamed up, and Steve, Eric, and I teamed up – even though we were still all together. Our team of three was going to run a line over to the plane, the shark, the rock wall, then back over, so that we would have a large square, to scooter around.
Steve and Eric, after Steve ran the line…
I let Steve take the camera, for this most amazing shot…
There was some glove leakage, and in these temperatures, can be horrible. We ended up turning around, leaving the reel behind.
Christian and Mike…
As Eric says, it isn’t the easiest thing, to try and smile, with a frozen face!
I must say, even though I didn’t get to use my scooter very much, I am sensing a very strong bond. 😛
As Eric and I waited, we ran into Mike and Matt, who were going on a leisurely swim…
Back in we went, to retrieve the reel. Steve…
Eric…
Christian…
A selfie, of course. This time, with my turbo…
We made our way back in, with Steve’s chilly, soaked hands.
Bottom Time:
Max. Depth:
Water Temp.:
It was such a beautiful day, that there was some gear tinkering, after the dive/s.
There was even time for snuggles, with Zora…
A great day for Diving Goodness, and even though the quarry is fun, we cannot wait to get back into the River!!!
I have some good looking dive buddies! 😛 Mike, Eric, Frankie, Christian, Steve…
Well, it is that time of year, again! When our free diving friends meet with us, for some under ice fun and Shenaniganry! I still cannot believe what these guys and gals do – Diving, under ice, in wet suits, and… No.. Tanks! I also still cannot believe that they think that WE are the crazy ones! 😛
Chris P. and A.J. were visiting, and Christian also joined in!
We devised a plan, and got into the water. The free divers had three holes, in deeper water, while ours was in about 2′ of water, in the beach area. Our gear checks were done, cameras were ready, and we made our way to the plane. Steve had the D200, and I had the D100, so there would be no shortage of pictures.
Steve, making sure the settings were ready to go, on the D200.
We got to one of the holes, and a couple of free divers were getting ready to duck under.
Getting ready to dive.
In the first set of free divers, we were serenaded by the Piano Man, Jean-Sebastian Bourassa…
Play on, Maestro!
I was then greeted with a fly-by, from Superman Philippe Beauchamp…
Where is your red “S?” 🙂
This photo was aptly named by Chris Phinney…
Natalie Hebert, featured in, “The Ballet Photo.”
Freedom
Hanging out in First Class.
Christian St-Pierre and Natalie Hebert talk about the weather (the frozen glove-leaking kind)…
Chance meeting, with Christian and Nathalie.
I had no idea that Neo could dive.
Entering the Matrix.
We even got to watch a performance of Blue Man Group!
Blue Man, checking his camera, after he took a picture of me!
Ninja!
…and another one of Philippe…
François Leduc, giving us a pose!
El Presidente
A.J. Vertlieb and Chris Phinney, chillin’…
A.J. and Chris seem to be having fun!
Once the free divers started to come down in slower shifts, we realized that we were getting a little chilly, too. Time to go in.
Pack it up, pack it in!
Chris brought the line in, and I snuck a couple of extra pictures (yeah, I know… I have already taken about 200, today)…
Time to get out.
The entry/exit hole was a bit deeper than we normally have it, but since there were other divers there, when we arrived, we didn’t want to stick the chainsaw in, while they were in the water. It was not an issue for most. Let’s just say that in my vertically challenged 5’4″ state, and the ice being a little taller than my knees, I was not expecting the most graceful exit. I was also dealing with a pulled (or slightly torn) muscle in my leg, so that would make it even more challenging.
I opted on getting out of my tanks at the entry, and thanks to A.J., they mysteriously made it back to our van (you rock. A.J!).
A.J. and Chris P.
Bottom Time: 39 mins.
Max. Depth: 22′
Water Temp.: 37F
Vis.: Not too shabby
I still ended up with a complete arm flood, thanks to my glove rings, that I did not switch out (my own fault).
I think that François was turning into a Popsicle, here…
The Ice Man cometh.
I’m pretty sure that Philippe was, too. I still can’t believe that these guys are in wetsuits.
I cannot thank these guys ‘n’ gals enough. They are wonderful people to dive with, and a lot of fun.
For more information on the goings ons in the free diving community, see the CASM and AIDA websites!
We hadn’t seen Oren in a while, and he finally escaped the holds of his practice, and came out for some Ice Diving Goodness! The three of us got into the water, and while Steve was helping a couple of nice fellows with a scooter, Oren took the reel, and the two of us headed to the boat. I took the “new” camera (and attached lighting devices), and was trying to play with the settings… enough so that I didn’t have washed out pictures, and uneven lighting… *cough*
Not the best shot, but at least it’s not blurry.
Oren, going into the boat.
Cheese!
Mandatory Selfie
Steve eventually joined us (the other two guys came over at the same time), and our team of 3 was reunited.
Steve, hangin’ with the Oreo scooter.
Oren and his canisters.
Steve took the camera, and took a pic of me, too.
I confiscated the Oreo scooter.
We made our way back up to the plane, since there were two of us with glove leaks. The rings that I have put on my suit are used, and apparently, they do not seal.
Oren, bringing the reel to the plane.
Da Plane!
Da plane… From the front.
Going over to pick up the reel.
Steve and the Oreo, once again.
…and, of course, one more selfie…
Fromage. :o)
Bottom Time: 47 mins. (Not easy, with a completely flooded arm – thanks to my faulty glove rings) 🙂
Max. Depth: 42′
Water Temp.: 39F
Vis.: Pretty nice!
When we doffed our gear, at the cars, it just so happened, that I was completely soaked, up my arm. I had to wring it out! I think I will put my other set of rings back on! I know it isn’t the suit, and I know where the water is coming in. So… back to my “primary” glove rings!
We still did have a blast, and taking pics with the new camera was a lot of fun!
Happy New Year! Ok, we were a little late in getting back into the water, after Mexico. How could we not be? Going from the 77F cave water, and coming back to the frozen stuff?
Oren came for a dive, so he convinced us. Otherwise, we may have been content with sitting on the couch, watching our videos, from the Mexico cavezzz…
As we got changed in the cabin, I noticed that I had grabbed my 6mm Santi hood, instead of my 9/7mm Santi hood. That was definitely not going to be warm enough. Thank goodness, Steve had his spare WP hood with him, so I could use that one. It was too big on me, and I had quite a bit of space at the front, between my head and the front of the hood – Oh, well… I can’t be fussy, today. It seems that I had also taken my glove liners off of the wall, but failed to put them in my gear bag. Sheesh… It’s just not my day, is it? Thankfully, Oren had a spare set, and we were dressed for Ice Diving Goodness. We also brought the “new” camera, to try out the strobes, for the second time.
Steve ducked under, first. Oren followed, and then me… ACK! H-H-H-H-HOLY SHEEEEEET! That was some exceptionally cold water, flooding into the hood. I had never had that feeling before, and it literally took my breath away. I kept wanting to breathe through my nose (duhhh), and was very uncomfortable. The long neck on the hood was also restricting me from turning my head, and I really didn’t like it. Of all of the years that I have been diving (including my years of ice diving), this is the most uncomfortable that I have ever been. I did NOT want to be under the ice, feeling like this.
I hovered in the opening for a little while, to see if the feeling would dissipate. I signaled to Steve, to let him know that I was “so-so,” and that I wanted to “hold,” for a minute. He took a few pictures, and as he did that, my head got used to the shocking cold, and I was fine. *Phew* What an odd feeling! Mark my words, I will never allow myself to forget my own hood, again! At least… I’ll try not to. 😉
Steve kept the camera for a little while, so I picked up the reel, and ran it to a semi-permanent line, that someone else had run, this year.
We swam over to the plane, and noticed that the toy box had been moved, and there were toys strewn all over the place. Of course, we had to pick them up, and put them away.
Then, Steve handed me the camera.
Oren…
Steve…
Me, flying with the plane (by Steve)…
Oh, look! It seems that my selfies are contagious! 😀
Me, at the controls…
Steve, playing piano (I had no idea that he could play) 😉 …
We then made our way back to the shallows for a few pics.
Bottom Time: 38 mins. (that was a short one!)
Max. Depth: 26′
Water Temp.: 37F
The pics didn’t turn out as nicely as we had hoped, but there is definitely a learning curve to this camera/strobe combination thing.
Since we hadn’t seen Oren in a while, we had to celebrate with some poutine, from Jean Burger.
*Note To Self* Your (warm) hood is extremely important, and you should never forget to bring it. 37F water flooding like a water fall, into the top of your hood is morbidly uncomfortable, and not something that I recommend to anyone… 😀
Oren, I am also sorry for soaking your glove liner. 😀
Some theme music, for me to remember my warm hood…
Breakie with Becki, Dan, Stretch, and Forest (my BGs were leaving, today), then to the shop! I didn’t have any dive plans for today, since Steve and Sander were going to go on a scooter/RB dive, together. Since Heleen and the gang were going to head to Nohoch, Dan and I joined in with them! Steve and Sander had also decided on Nohoch, so we had quite the crew! We brought two sets of doubles each, so that we were just using back gas, for two dives.
There was a lot of gear to lower down.
Heleen must have taken this picture, since I’m in it… 🙂
Sander was on the receiving end…
Team work!
We wore our initial doubles down, instead of torturing the fellas.
Once it was all down…
It was an extremely hot day, so after getting our drysuits on, we jumped into the cenote, to cool off.
We finally got our gear on, and off we went. The purpose of today’s dive, was for Heleen to take some video footage, so we were on the main line for the entire dive. We kept a nice and slow pace, with Dan in front, with a 100w LED, to light the way. Such an amazing and relaxing dive!
We got out, switched our tanks over, and got ready for the second dive. The boys left to do a longer dive on the Parker Line, and Heleen and I got ready to do a shorter one (if we felt like doing a shorter one). Ahhh… such a beautiful and relaxing dive. I had forgotten how beautiful this line was (aren’t they all?). As we got close to the entry (and already in open water), we shut our lights off, and used the ambient light. We had a little fun in the basin, with a lot of laughter.
Bottom Time: 1 hour, 1 min.
Max. Depth: 19′
Water Temp.: 77F
Heleen, after our dives!
Me, taken by Heleen…
Erik, Heleen, and Jan K. …
Jan K. and Dan…
There was definitely no monkey business or shenaniganry going on, here…
The other fellas finally returned from their dive, and we were on our merry way!
Poor Dan had a bit of a leak (or 7) in his suit…
Back at the shop, Steve and I finally got to meet Panos, in the flesh, which was a nice surprise!
Then, to the resort! We had dinner with Becki and Dan, a drink with Laurynn and Kathryn, then back to our room, to tend with some gear. We tried to go to sleep early, but had a bit of an interesting phone call… I’ll just leave it at that…
Monday, December 16th, 2014 ~
Today, we headed back to Pet Cemetery. We had a few different teams: Steve and I; Sander, Heleen, Eric; Jan, Jan, Dan. Steve and I tried to go to the Dark Side Of The Moon again, but ended up in a different place. We made a couple of jumps, then left at an intersection, and came to some of the most beautiful cave that we have ever seen in our lives. We are thinking that this is what Ali may have been referring to as the “Spectacular” room, since that was such an extreme understatement! Steve just happened to have the camera with him, and he took some video. As stunning as it looks on video, it still does not do it the slightest bit of justice. Neither of us could stop saying, “Holy shit! Holy shit!” That’s how beautiful this passage was. Past the room, there was a little shelf that we could have squished under, but there were just so many fine decorations, and it appeared to pinch right down. I didn’t want to chance breaking anything, so I turned us around.
We picked up our stages, and made our way back to the Ihop line. We recalculated our gas, and followed it through some very different passage. There was a narrow’ish swim-through, into some really big, dark cave. It was huge! We jumped off into another little hole, which was really neat. It started to pinch right down into either no mount passage, or a spot where someone threw a spool through the tiny little hole. We turned back, and continued on the Ihop line, until we got to a spot that had a sharp slope upward. I opted not to go further, since one of my ears had been acting up a bit, and we still had a lot of diving left to do!
Along the cavern line, there was an air pocket, where we surfaced. That proved to be a less than smart idea for my ear. I just could not clear again, on the way back out. I stayed as high as I could, over the line, until we got back to the basin, still trying to clear that darn ear. Le sheesh. Ah, well… It was my new favourite dive, in my new favourite cave!
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