Diving | Chanb77's Weblog

6th Annual Brockville/Rockport Canadian Invasion!

21 08 2013

Wednesday, August 14th, 2013 ~

The van was loaded, and I made my way down to Caiger’s, after work. I had a few things to do, before the dives would start on Thursday, so I wanted to be ready, Freddy!

I arrived, and found Dev on the “Upper Deck,” so we sat around for a little while (of course, while I was up and down the stairs, taking care of stuff), until the mozzies were on full attack. We moved inside, and were joined by Mark, Raph, Fern, and Daniel. w00t!

Thursday, August 15th, 2013 ~

Today, we were going to Centeen, for a shore dive! Centeen is a good place to go, when you have divers of all levels. There is something for everyone to see, the entry is easy, and… it’s fun!

Some of the divers, getting ready to go on their dives. Eric and I stayed behind, in case there were any stragglers, that needed to know where they were going.

Darth Nash and Raph of Kahn, getting ready…

Hong and Dev…

Once it seemed that there were no more stragglers, Eric and I geared up for a dive.

We headed upstream for a bit, dropped into the channel, and appeared to be in a spot that we hadn’t been to before. There was debris everywhere, once we had drifted about 30 minutes. We wanted to drift longer, but we had made our plan, and followed it. I think we need to go back there, if we can find it!

We made our way back in, and had overshot the Gaskin, so just came back to the shallows, where we hung out for a little bit, then in. Very fun!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 37 mins.
Max. Depth: 104′
Water Temp.: 71F

Andy was stylin’, as he was trying out an E.Motion drysuit!

Daniel, Raph, Mark…

The one and only… Frankie Boy!

Steve…

Becki, Andy, and I… followed by Dan’s fancy cap…

Eric B even had his toes painted, for the event!

From there, we went back to Caiger’s, where we got ready for dinner!

Friday, August 16th, 2013 ~

Charter time! We had four boats going out, with both Rec and Tech divers. We had Rec divers aboard the “Arrow,” and Tech divers aboard “River Diver,” “Run Time,” and “Island Diver!” The Tech folks went out to the Jodrey, and the Rec folks went to the Keystorm and America!

Neil wanted to make sure that Oren knew that he had his passport…

Steve, Eric, and I were aboard River Diver, with Daniel, Dev, Joanna, and Stretch, and were heading to the Jodrey.

We had a great dive, going through swim-throughs, and seeing some of the wreck that I hadn’t seen before (rooms on the third deck). We noticed that someone took the radio out of one of the rooms, which was incredibly sad. Besides that, it was a most excellent dive! Thanks for the tour, Steve! There was also some Go Pro video, in which I am hoping that Steve will edit, soon. 🙂

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 12 minutes
Max. Depth: 186′
Water Temp.: 71F

When we returned back to Caiger’s, we unloaded, chilled for a bit, then had a yummy Fajita dinner, and some prizes!

Thank you very much, to our Prize Donors! Also, thanks to Dave Pickens, who also donated a few boxes worth of goodies! Thanks Pickeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnnsssssssssss!!!

Prize Tables:

Table: Team Wet Rocks!

Table: Team Retrieving!

Table: Team #1 Phan!

Table: Team Exploration!

Thanks very much to Chris Phinney, for stepping up, when our speaker could not make it! Chris gave us a presentation on Ship Construction, that is part of the NAS-1 course. THANK YOU, CHRIS!!!

Saturday, August 17th, 2013 ~

Day 3 of Invasion Diving Goodness! Back to the Jodrey, for the Tech boats! The Arrow was taking the Rec folks out to the Vickery, and for a drift dive!

Stretch, Eric, and Steve…

Dev, fixing some gear…

Daniel…

Joanna…

…and Captain Rick!

We met up with the Arrow, at customs!

Then, Samer demonstrates that it is very important to hydrate, so that you can hook up, while diving…

For today’s dive, Steve, Eric, Dev, and I were heading to the stern. I hadn’t been to the stern in a very long time, and I was looking forward to getting there, again. We followed the rail of the wreck down, then back up, and in no time, we were there (it helps that we had current on our side). We did a tour of the outside, through the walkways, and peeked in, a little. I absolutely LOVED this dive!

With some years more experience on the wreck than when I last did the stern, we had a really good time of everything. Doing this dive is scooter dependent, when doing it from the bow. I’m not sure if there is still a stern line on the wreck, or not. Just a fantastic dive!!!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 16 mins.
Max. Depth: 200′
Water Temp.: 71F

Stretch, after rescuing Le Princessi from the evil cave line…

Tonight’s dinner was a most excellent Prime Rib (with a couple of vegetarian options, too), and…. GRAND PRIZES!!!

Of course, the group shot had to come, first! Such a wonderful group of friends!!!

We had two Grand Prizes, thanks to Light Monkey and Santi Canada! w00t!

Congratulations to Dev Clifford, for winning the 45# Light Monkey WIng!

Congratulations to Chris Phinney, for winning the BZ400x undergarment, from Santi Canada!

After dinner, a gaggle of us decided to go to Centeen, for a night scooter dive to the Gaskin! There were 11 of us, so we spread out the teams a little, putting teams that knew the area in the front, middle, and back of the pack!

As we got to the Gaskin, we swam inside, and I have never seen so many eels, in my life! I knew that they were around, but really had no clue that there were this many on the Gaskin. They were burrowing down, left and right, leaving little silt clouds as they dug themselves back into the silt! While I felt like I was on an episode of Fear Factor, I did find myself wildly fascinated, at the same time. 🙂

We spent a little time on the wreck, then headed back in. There were many laughs, and we had a blast!

Bottom Time: 47 mins.
Max. Depth: 65′
Water Temp.: 71F

As we packed up, and were getting ready to leave, it seemed that there was a bit of a key incident. I won’t mention any names, but… we were pretty late getting back to Caiger’s, and I’m sure that the CAA fellow would rather not have had 12 of us surrounding him, as he was trying to do his job! *Giggle* Ah, well… all ended happily, and since there was Diving Goodness involved, it was just another adventure to tell!

Sunday, August 18th, 2013 ~

The last day of our Invasion FUN!

A few folks decided to get on the road early, another bunch went out for a charter to the Kinghorn, and another bunch of us went back to Centeen, for a scooter run!

Ok, so it took us a little longer to get to Centeen, due to the Brockville Triathlon, but… we eventually made it there… convoy, and all!

Thank you! Thank you! No applause needed (Andy)…

Becki and Dan…

Joanna, Eric P., and Stretch…

There were some people swimming out to the Gaskin, and we were taking the scooter folks out to see the old Truck!

Becki’s going DIVING!!!

We did make it to the Truck, and there were a few Happy Dances, as we arrived. There were a few video cameras going, but I haven’t seen any footage, yet!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 55 mins.
Max. Depth: 103′
Water Temp.: 71F

You must be “this” tall, to ride this ride… But, at least there is Kool-Aid – Thanks to Dan Humble, for the Kool-Aid packs!

Stretch and Daniel, photobombing Joanna and I! Love it!

Steve, Dan, Daniel, Becki…

Eric B., Frankie, Eric V.!

Thank you to everyone, for making this year such a blast! I can’t wait to see you all, next year!!!

w00000000000000000000000000000t!

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: 1000 Islands Pleasure DIving, Bloggy Thing, Brockville, Brockville Invasion, Caiger's, Caiger's Resort, Canadian Invasion, Centeen Park, Chan's Bloggy Thing, Diving, Diving Goodness, Gaskin, Gavin, Gavin Scooter, GUE, GUE Divers, GUE Ontario, Jodrey, Kinghorn, River Diver Charters, Rockport, Scooter, Scooter Dive, Skills, St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence River, Technical Diving
Categories : 2000 + 13

DPVs & Drifting Goodness

5 08 2013

Sunday, August 4th, 2013 ~

Steve was taking Frankie and Christian out for their final day of DPV 1 (the awesome Experience Dive day), and Eric, Jen, and I went for a scooter upstream, and a drift!

Centeen was a very busy place today, so we ended up parking some of our vehicles on the side streets.

We brought our gear down to the water, and discussed our plan…

The three of us planned on going upstream to some wreckage that we had found, then drop in a little deeper, to check out the scattered pieces of wood (which were absolutely everywhere), then drop into the channel for some Drifting Goodness!!

We did exactly that! Checked out the many pieces of wreckage, and when we had seen enough, we made our way down to the channel. We ended up in a spot that had a ton to look at, and there were spots that we may not have been to, before.

I knew from the timing, and from my floaty stage bottle, that I was likely nearing my gas switch time. As I checked my stage bottle pressure, the handle came off in my hand. I managed to keep the knob, but the little bits were now lost… Doh! The current was pretty strong here, so I didn’t have much of a chance to turn and search. Well, at least I was spot on for my gas switch. I wasn’t exactly there, but close enough to switch. I signaled to Eric and Jen that I was switching, and Eric switched with me (Jen had switched a little earlier). At least I could still shut down the post, with the knob. I then stuck it in my pocket, for safe keeping.

Once we reached our “time’s up” for drifting, we made our way back up, to go to the Gaskin. We thought we had overshot it, but we didn’t. Since the currents were different in a few places in the channel, we weren’t moving as fast as we had planned (only in a couple of areas, was the current ripping).

We made our way in, did our deco, then Eric and I did some bottle rotations, and we all did valve drills. A most awesome dive!

Eric… Thanks for lending me Le Princessi! 😛

Bottom Time: 2 hours, 23 mins.
Max. Depth: 101′
Water Temp.: 71F
Vis.: Varied from 10′ to 30′

In other news… Congratulations to Christian and Frankie, for completing their DPV 1! w00t!

Happy Civic Holiday, Ontario!

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Bloggy Thing, Brockville, Centeen Park, Chan's Bloggy Thing, Diving, Diving Goodness, DPV 1, Gaskin, Gavin, Gavin Scooter, GUE, GUE Divers, GUE DPV 1, GUE Ontario, Scooter, Scooter Dive, Skills, St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence River, Technical Diving
Categories : 2000 + 13

Let’s Go Swimming… Through?

14 07 2013

Saturday, July 13th, 2013 ~

Steve and Dave were running through some skills, so I joined Christian for a dive! I brought my camera with me, too.

We had a nice, easy swim out to the plane, where we saw Steve and Dave. We hung out for a bit, waved, then carried on. Christian was going to show me a little swim-through… A swim-through?? In the quarry?? Whaaa???

Yes… Apparently, this does exist, and I had absolutely no idea. Ok, it’s not like swimming through a cave, or even part of a nice, tropical reef area, but… you can swim under a rock, in the quarry! This still fascinates me, that I had no idea it was there!

Thank you for showing it to me, Christian!

Not far from the swim-through..

A neat box, from when the quarry was in use. I wonder what it was for?

On our way back up to the boat…

Christian, swimming through the boat, and a random diver in the background…

Dave and Steve – Valve Drills!

Bottom Time: 54 mins.
Max. Depth: 100′
Water Temp.: 39F (at 100′, below a few thermoclines)

After our dive, Christian had a collection of goodies, for us! Some fresh bagels, vegan cream cheese, apples, and a collection of nuts and berries, and a taste of dark chocolate. What an awesome surprise! Thanks again, Christian!

What a fun day!

Steve, looking for the froggy, that was making a lot of noise…

Here… froggy, froggy!

Steve and Dave, after their dive!

Dave is such a happy fellow!

What a great day!

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Bloggy Thing, Chan's Bloggy Thing, Diving, Diving Goodness, Fundamentals, GUE, GUE Divers, GUE Ontario, Morrison's Quarry, Quarry, Skills
Categories : 2000 + 13

The Power House… Or, Thereabouts…

6 07 2013

Sunday, June 30th, 2013 ~

The good Doctor Oren decided to come up for the weekend, and we met at Guindon Park.

We decided to get in on the opposite side of the marina…

Getting gear together…

The plan was to go to the Power House, since we hadn’t been in a while.

We headed south, down the embankment, and up the other side. We drifted for a bit, but the visibility was so horrible, that we never ended up getting to the Power House. We did find a lot of other cool things, though!

There were some areas with some absolutely ripping current, and areas with none. It was a pretty fun ride!

We found a large structure, that we really weren’t sure what it was, but it had ties for ships to be tied up to it (obviously, before the River Flooding).

As we made our way back over to the north side of the embankment, we found a really large anchor. Probably one of the largest that we have ever seen. We also found a tower, and a swing bridge. It was a pretty cool day to find stuff!

As we made our way in, we had surfaced, to get a bearing on where we were. We blew a bag, in case there were any boats. Since there did not seem to be many boats at all, we decided to head towards the boat launch, to get out.

Yeah… there weren’t any boats, until the the little one that buzzed us, went overhead. I swear, we were inches from the prop. I felt the vibrations in my head. Normally, you can hear them coming, but this one was especially quiet. Scared the living pachoosies out of me! *Phew!* We were only in 6′ of water!

We came in safely, and parked our gear.

Bottom TIme: 2 hours, 37 minutes
Max. Depth: 77′
Water Temp.: 66F
Vis.: 2′ to 20′ (depending on where we were)

Although we didn’t make it to the Power House, we were all pretty excited to see new things!

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Bloggy Thing, Chan's Bloggy Thing, Diving, Diving Goodness, Gavin, Gavin Scooter, GUE, GUE Divers, GUE Ontario, Lost Villages, Scooter, Scooter Dive, St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence River, Technical Diving
Categories : 2000 + 13

JK, From The UK, In Canada, Eh!

5 07 2013

June 21st, 2013 ~

We had been chatting with John Kendall about coming over to Canada, to do some diving with us. There happened to be a few folks that wanted to take Tech 1 with him, so we were happy to host at our place.

John’s flight was pretty much on time, and collecting him did not take long, at all. With the 5 hour time difference, and a couple of late working nights, John was a little tired. We arrived chez nous, got some gear together for the morning, and went to sleep!

June 22nd, 2013 ~

We had a charter booked for the afternoon, which was nice. We didn’t have to get up at the crack of ridiculous, and had a bit of time before heading down to St. Lawrence Park. Tom Scott had a charter going out, looking for some wreckage. Eric and Cory joined us, too!

Having some fun, before the dive.

I was a total dork, and had forgotten my can light, which did leave me a little light on our 10′ stop (*duhh*). Nothing a rock couldn’t help me with…

We had a fun swimming drift dive, and did manage to find a few clues (chamber basin and some charred wood), as to where some of the wreckage might be. It was great to be in the water, and we are happy that it was warming up, a bit. I did also find a fancy red flag, which I donated to Tom. 😛 We also got to the old truck, and were able to show it to John!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 6 mins.
Max. Depth: 102′
Water Temp.: 60F

Wow… Cory really grew in this pic…

It was then off to dinner, and back home!

June 23rd, 2013 ~

John was starting the first of two GUE T1 courses, today. Steve and I showed him around the quarry, and were going to jump in the water, but… well… we forgot an essential piece of gear… which is just ridiculous. We have had a pretty good track record, up until now. I think we shall blame John. 😛 *Ducks*

I still took some surface shots.

Line Drills… Watch out for that wreck! 😛

Zero Vis Exit..

*The work week went by, for us*

Experience Dive Day! Steve and I made our way down to Caiger’s, and hopped onto Rick’s boat, with the class. Michel and Eric V. were doing their experience dive with John, and Carm and Steph joined us, too! Steve and I had planned on a longer bottom time, and brought scooters with us. We scootered across to the other side, for something new to look at. As we descended, we saw some kind of round, steel structure. We have absolutely no idea what it was, and had not seen it before. It almost looked like a hatch on a freighter (although, we are pretty sure that it wasn’t).

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 44 mins.
Max. Depth: 200′
Water Temp.: 63F
Visibility: Quite nice!

Group shot, taken by Rick Lymer!
Me, Eric V., Michel G., Carm B., John K., Steve B., Steph B.

Congratulations to Michel and Eric!! Well done, guys! GUE Tech 1 divers!

June 30th, 2013 ~

John started another course, and a few of us went down to Guindon Park (separate Bloggy Thing entry).

July 1st, 2013 ~

Steve, Oren, and I slept in (yes… we acquired an Oren, overnight), then made our way up to the quarry, to meet John et. al. I brought my camera, to take a few shots, while Steve and Oren had a bit of a surprise for John.

We first went over to the shark, to show Oren (he hadn’t seen it since it had been fixed up and floated).

Oren, donating to his buddy…