We were not surprised to see that the quarry had completely frozen over, when we arrived, today. The temperatures have been brutally cold, over the last couple of weeks, and we came prepared with our extra piece of dive kit.
Steve and Eric shoveled out our entry point, then Steve traced, and cut. We were ready to get ready…
Mike and Michel were in before us, and we passed them on our way in…
Eric had run the reel, and tied in to the plane line. We made our way to the plane, hovered for a little while, reached valves, acted silly, then went down to the boat.
Steve posed for a shot with the Pirate flag…
My camera was acting a bit funny, and was not taking pics when I asked it to. It may have been down to a low battery… at least, I hope so.
Eric…
Of course, there is me, with a self portrait…
We made our way back to the plane, where we goofed about some more, and I attempted to take more pictures. I found if I turned it off, then on again, I would get one shot. I missed a couple of shots that I thought may have been neat.
Steve, grabbing his wet notes, to tell us that he wants another TLS…
I managed to get one more shot, before getting back to the hole, and watching Eric behind me, with the reel…
Bottom Time: 37 mins.
Max. Depth: 42′
Water Temp.: 39F
Visibility: Still not crystal clear
We doffed our gear, then headed in to the cottage, where Evelyn had the wood stove going (Thank you, Evelyn)! It is really nice to keep warm, while changing.
It did not take long for the gear to start freezing…
Yours truly…
Argon… Do NOT Breathe! 😉
Or else, this could be you…
That was today’s tidbit (*NOTE* No, he did not actually breathe gas from the cylinder. There were no GUE Instructors harmed in the making of this week’s Bloggy Entry).
Another day in the life of DIR Ontario members, under the ice. Of course, we topped off our Ice Diving Goodness with The Works, and more laughs. Until next time!
Time to dive! We loaded up and headed down to Centeen for.. yes.. some Diving and Scootering Goodness! Shocking, I know. Mike and Michel met us there, and were coming out as well.
What a stinkin’ HOT and humid day. It made gearing up a little tough, but since it is not snow and ice, I do not want to complain too much. The park was very busy with swimmers today too, so we were careful to stay out of everyone’s way, as we brought our gear down to the water.
Getting our gear ready…
We got in the water, and debriefed. Our plan was to travel upstream for 60 minutes, then drop into the channel, and do some exploring in spots that we have not been to before. As we moved along, we could hear a freighter approaching, which is quite typical for this area. We were in 24′ as one passed over, and even though this is an event we are used to, this one sounded like the earth was about to implode. It was not even directly above us, as we were a bit shallow for freighter passing. That was some serious metal going by!
As we dropped into the channel, we came upon a cliff wall that was extremely cool. We had not seen this before, so we already knew that we were in new territory. There were so many very interesting formations, and pieces of wreckage. There were another two freighters that passed over, but not nearly as ground-shaking as the first one.
Once we got into the channel, we got into some serious Rock ‘n’ Roll current, and the visibility improved. We stayed pretty close together though, and even played around in the current. I pointed my scooter against the current, and was still being pushed backwards. What a ride!
We stayed in the channel for about an hour, as planned, then made our way up. Of course, we did make it to the Gaskin on the way back, did a quck tour, then headed in.
On deco, I found a quarter (lucky me), which I lost somewhere on the way back to the van (not so lucky me)!
Bottom Time ~ 2 Hours, 57 Minutes
Max. Depth ~ 108′
Water Temp. ~ 71F
Vis. ~ Stinky in the shallows, but quite nice in the channel
Chart of our path (thanks to Steve)…
Steve’s and my gear, after the dive…
Mike, Michel, and Steve…
Me, sporting some fancy sunglasses that I found at about 95′ (Yes, the ones on top of my hat)…
After having a very lazy Saturday, Steve and I had our arms twisted for some Sunday Diving Goodness. Yes, it was quite difficult to do that arm twisting…
Cory and Raluca were going to head to the Gaskin, and Steve, Eric, and I were going to have another look for that truck. Apparently, it does exist, as Kelly, Dave, and Warren found it last week! We gave Cory and Raluca a lift to the Gaskin, then headed off in search. We took a bearing south, hit the channel, then back up on the other side, where we started to drift. Steve was in the middle, I was on the left, and Eric was on the right. The visibility wasn’t the greatest, but we stayed just far enough where we could still see each others’ lights, and were still able to mow the lawn a bit.
We found another sleigh, some pots, bottles, and drifted amongst the periwinkle shells, but still no truck. I had the camera rolling, in case we came upon it, and I could have that magic moment on film! Yeah.. not… lol. I had the little Go Pro HD960 with me for the first time, and wondered what kind of footage I would get, not having any lights for it. The standard one is alot of fun, but does not pick up alot of ambient light at around 100′. I guess we’ll see with this one!
We decided to cross back over, and hit the trigger upstream again, to see if we could locate it there. We did find alot of very interesting bits of wood, bottles, and even a science beaker, but alas.. no truck. We decided to move a bit more shallow, and were amazed at how upstream we were, as the current was pretty strong, and we had drifted quite a bit, before going back upstream. We decided not to go back to the wreck, but check out the route back from the shallows. We came across some people carving pumpkins, so I got a very quick shot of that. I have still never done that…
We got back to the park, and played around in the shallows some more. Steve and Eric pulled out their Kool Aids… Mmm… Blue Raspberry!
Eric…
When we came in, Cory and Raluca were also in the shallows, working on some skills. We all finished up, doffed our gear, and headed to “Santa Fe.” We tried to go there last week, but it was closed for Thanksgiving. It was a new place for us, and we were anxious to try it. Southwestern food, and it happened to be All You Can Eat Fajita night! Oh boy… They were definitely yummy!
Bottom Time ~ 98 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 102′
Water Temp. ~ 57
Visibility ~ 15′
Steve…
Cory and Raluca…
I couldn’t resist taking a pic of this. There are election signs all over the place, but these ones stood out a little…
Yet another excellent adventure, even though we still have not found that elusive truck!
Up and at ’em! I think I got up before the birds did, loaded the last little bits into the van, and started the trek to Kingston. Quite a few of the gang had arrived the night before, so I was going to meet them at the boat.
I arrived a little earlier than the gang, and got to hang out with Anne and Harold for a little bit.
Kingston Dive Charter docks…
Friends started to arrive, and the boat was loaded up. Since we only had one boat filled for the Friday, I sat out, in order for the others to have some Diving Goodness. The lake was flat too, which is about the only time I can go…lol. Oh well, I was still a very happy camper, and was very happy to see everyone.
Once everyone returned, went to hotel rooms, and freshened up, we headed over to The Pilot House for some dinner. From there, a bunch of us went to the Legion. It turns out that they happened to have karaoke that night, and we went to have some fun!
By the end of the night, I had been invited to sing at a benefit, to write songs with a Legion member, and was handed a business card, in case I wanted to do some recording. It really was a blast. I ended up singing a couple of duets with the guy running it, and we got alot of laughs with our renditions of Picture and Summer Nights. It really was a blast, and everyone there was fantastic. It was also one of the members’ Birthday, and she was happy to share her cake with all of us.
Such fun!!!
Saturday, August 21st, 2010 ~
We had two boat loads today, and since it was pretty windy, I opted to stay on shore. My tummy really does not agree with the lake, when it’s rocking and rolling out there. It didn’t look too bad in the bay, but with the wind, the prediction was definitely “Rock and Roll.”
I bid safe dives to everyone, went back to the hotel to do some work, then came back to hang out with the fellas at the shop.
I eventually wandered back over to the boats, greeted the peeps coming back from Diving Goodness, and they told me that it was definitely rock and roll out there, and that I would have been in the fetal position. Although, they still had a good time. *Phew*
I dropped all of the BBQ goodies off at Northern Tech Diver, and when Eric arrived (he wasn’t there for the Saturday charter), he, Steve, Frankie, and I went over to the quarry, to get me in the water! I was having serious Diving Goodness Envy!
We brought the scooters to mess around with, but the visibility was absolutely horrible, so wen decided to have some fun, ducking and dodging the walls of the quarry, while doing laps. Steve and I were in the lead, as a team of two, with Frankie and Eric behind us… er… well, they WERE behind us! That’s how bad the visibility was. Steve and I stopped to see if they would catch up, so we played around, while I attempted to take some pictures. The camera always makes the vis look better…
Steve took a couple of me too…
Since we couldn’t see anything anyway, I tied off the camera, and we went back to our laps, looking for Eric and Frankie. It is not a large quarry, so we figured we’d find them at some point.
Once we did a lap or two, we surfaced, to look for their bubbles.. There they were! Off we went again! Doh! They moved! We surfaced at the same time as they did, and we beelined it for them, on the surface, full of laughter. It was only the quarry, but it was still alot of fun.
Eric and Frankie…
Bottom Time ~ 33 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 25′
Water Temp. ~ 75
Visibility ~ 3′
Eric, trying to stay out of the rain…
We didn’t stay very long, as we had to get back to the shop for the BBQ!
When we arrived, the BBQ had begun! Chef Jennifer was well on the way, cooking all of the burgers. Thanks, Jen! I had already let the group know that I needed some Diving Goodness, so no one was left out to lunch… er.. dinner.
Chef Jen!
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 ~
Today, I was going to attempt to get on a boat. It seemed that the lake wasn’t too bad, and there wasn’t much of a wind happening, so we figured I was safe! I even had my gear on the boat, when Anne called me, telling me that it was absolutely nasty out there, and that I would definitely not like it. *sigh* Suckage factor high, but I really did appreciate the call. So… down I went, to get my gear….
“Bye Bye, friends! Happy Diving!”
I returned to the shop, where I hung out with Mike and Scotty… darn it… couldn’t resist the deal that Mike found on some Air Jordans… All three of us got them. That, and we used the bunny to drain some tanks. See what happens when I can’t go diving? :O
When the second boat returned, I was waiting at the dock, so we could go get some early dinner!
You call that a knife? 😀
So.. apparently, everyone did have fun dives, and we did have alot of laughs on the surface. Next year… I’m on the boat.. I mean it!!!
w00 h00! A year’s worth of planning, and the Invasion was finally upon us. Time to see friends from last year, some of the “usual suspects,” and make some new friends.
I had loaded the DGTU on Thursday, so I was ready to roll on Friday morning. We were meeting at Jeff’s, to dive the Kinghorn.
Some of the gang had arrived on Thursday evening, and some were arriving today.
A good sized group were hitching a ride on Jeff’s boat, while some of us were going to scooter out to the wreck. Since it it not permitted to dive off the dock during boat season, we were given special permission for the day, and promised to stay away from the boat docks, picking up the line off of the customs dock, instead of the usual spot.
As we were getting our gear together, we got dive bombed by a military plane… about 5 times. I caught it once, as it had already passed…
Once we got sorted out and did our gear checks, Eric V., Ralph, myself, Chris Mal., Piotr, and Szymon headed out on our “turbos,” in search of the line. I had never picked up the line here, and hoped we would find it quickly. Alas, there it was. We got to it quite quickly and headed out.
Chris Mc., Mark N., Bob and Brian P., Erin A., Stephanie and Carmine B., and John Bailey went out on the Shaleka J, with Jeff at the helm, and we met them on the wreck.
Ralph, Eric, and I did a couple of tours around the outside of the wreck, then headed inside. I had my little Go Pro camera with me, and although it was a bit dark, I did get a little bit of footage with it.. that is, until it leaked a bit.
Erin got a little ride on Ralph’s scooter, which I know she enjoyed! We decided to get back on the line, and head back in. Once back at the docks, we found a good spot to leave our scooters, and tied them off. We were coming back for a second dive, so figured the best place for them was in the shallow water, tied to the dock.
Max. Depth ~ 91′
Bottom Time ~ 48 mins.
Water Temp. ~ 73
Vis. ~ 30’ish
Lunch time! We all walked over to the pub for some grub – drysuits and all. I had given them warning that there would be about 18 of us for lunch. They were very happy with the warning. We had alot of fun with the girl serving us. She was joking right alongside of us, and made our meal that much more enjoyable. They were ready for our sogginess, and had set up tables for us in the outdoor, covered area.
Then.. the bill came… Holy smokes… Yes, it is the real thing…
We then made our way back over to Jeff’s for Dive number two. We picked up our gear from the ledge, and once again made our way out to the Kinghorn.
Me gearing up, taken by Andy H…
Chris.. doing some gear maintenance.. with a saw???
I didn’t bring the camera out with me this time, so I didn’t get any shots, but we had a very similar dive. Scootered out, swam around, high-fived passers-by, played inside the wreck, played outside the wreck, then made our way back.
Max. Depth ~ 90′
Bottom Time ~ 41 mins.
Of course, there had to be Kool Aid shots!
After our dives, we headed over to Caiger’s, so the rest of us could check in and get sorted out before dinner.
Dinner was a choice between chicken and steak, and a myriad of other deliciousness. We had two tables, with over 30 people for dinner!
After dinner, some of us made our way upstairs, where we had some karaoke fun. I made a few friends…lol.
Saturday, August 14th, 2010 ~
Saturday, we boarded our charters, with a packed lunch, and headed out for some Diving Goodness!
One group of divers boarded with 1000 Island Pleasure Diving, for some Keystorm and America Goodness, and another two groups were bound for the Jodrey.
A couple of pics from our Jodrey charter…
We met up with everyone at Boldt Castle (Customs). Of course, there were pictures…
Chris McMullen and I were buddied up for some Jodrey Goodness. We made our descent down the wall, played around the bow for a bit, then made our way back in. This was the first time Chris and I had dived as a team, and we were in pretty good sync. Thanks for the dive, Chris!
Total Run Time ~ 62 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 179′
Water Temp. ~ 73
Cap’n. Jeff…
This year’s Invasion was moved to keep from the interruptions of the Poker Run. Instead of that, we had Pirate Day. There were many boats out, with pirate flags on their boats, and zipping back and forth. Needless to say, that we had quite a few waves crashing over our heads in the little mooring bay. It was for this reason that I opted to hang out in the water, while waiting for the rest of the gang to surface. My tummy and boat rockin’ just don’t mix.
Once they were back, I took even more pictures..
After we were allowed entry back into Canada, we unloaded, and headed to the patio, for some pre-dinner chatter about the day’s dives!
We joined again in the Caiger’s Dining Room, and had another fantastic dinner. There were many laughs, and alot of discussion about corn. One of the servers got in on it as well, and even brought me a little cup, with a few kernels of corn.. Priceless.
After dinner, some of us gathered around a bon fire, and enjoyed the beautiful evening. Thanks to the family that joined us, and brought marshmallows!
Sunday, August 15th, 2010 ~
Sunday, one group was headed to the Vickery, and for a cool drift dive, near the Ash Island Barge, and the tech boats headed back to the Jodrey. Dan MacKay, Jen, and Jeremy joined us for today’s dive as well.
Jen and I teamed up together, with Chris Mc. and Dan as a team alongside of us. We played around the bow some more, and although the visibility wasn’t very stellar, it was still a fun dive.
Bottom Time ~ 64 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 177′
Water Temp. ~ 73
This year’s Invasion was a little different, in the respect that it was an all-inclusive weekend, apart from drinks. The charters, room, dinners, lunches, breakfasts, T Shirts, and prizes were all included in the cost of the trip. I think this way works out very well, and I will definitely arrange it this way for next year as well.
It was really amazing to see some of the people that we only see once a year, and also great to have some new faces along!
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