The Next Day…

3 08 2014

Saturday, August 2nd, 2014 ~

Ok, is there anything better to do, after a week long GUE course, than GO DIVING!? Steve, Eric, Jen, and I went out for a scooter/channel drift dive. We went approximately 40 minutes upstream, on the trigger, and then made our way down into the channel. We came up the embankment a little, on the south side, and started to drift. There was some really good current, in through there… at least, for a while, there was. After drifting for a bit, the current was non-existent, and then picked up, again.

We were in the channel for about an hour, then started to make our way back up, to the Gaskin. We always know when we are nearing it, as the visibility decreases, a bit, on the west side of the wreck.

Back to the shallows, where we did a couple of stops along the way, a bottle rotation, and some deco, at 20′.

Bottom Time: 2 hours, 29 mins.
Max. Depth: 106′
Water Temp.: 68F

I think I must have been a little tired, as I didn’t get any pictures, at all. At least I did get a picture of our celebratory fudge, from The Fudgery!

Also, the celebratory drink, that Jen purchased (thanks, Jen)!


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Nary A Photo Was Taken

21 07 2014

July 20th, 2014 ~

Today, Eric B., Jen, and I went out for a scooter run. Eric and I brought along enough bottles for us to do rotations, after our dive.

We scootered upstream for 30 minutes, then made our way into the channel. The visibility was much better in the channel, than in the shallows – thank goodness! There were spots where the current was absolutely ripping, and spots where it was non-existent. Go figure.

We drifted at 100′, for about 30 minutes, then made our way back up. We did a little deco, then some bottle rotations.

Hooray, for bottle rotations! Exciting, I know!

Bottom Time: 2 hours, 29 mins.
Max. Depth: 103′
Water Temp.: 68F

I can’t believe that I didn’t take a single photo of our dive, entry, exit, team, bottles, scooters, anything…

I shall use a picture from a previous post, then. We cannot have a post without pictures! Pics, or it didn’t happen! 😛

T2 = T minus 7 days…

 


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Courses, Of Course

19 07 2014

July, 2014 ~

The next couple of weeks brought GUE courses, to the front line. Steve was teaching a Primer, a DPV-1, as well as some Fundies Goodness, and hours of in-water time.

Congratulations, to all of the students!

 

A small glimpse of the new under water statues, at Centeen Park…

Between all of this goodness, Eric B and I went out for a skillz dive, in preparation for our upcoming Tech 2 course. We each brought three bottles, so that we could practice our rotations, at the quarry. At 20′, we dropped our bottles, to do valve drills, s-drills, finning techniques, blowing smbs, and all of the usual skills. Then, it was rotation time. I seemed to be having quite an issue, getting my last bottle’s butt clipped to my hip D-ring. I was getting quite frustrated, and my silly, slightly injured wrist was really bothering me. Ok. Deep breath… Let’s try this again… I took off the bottles, laid them on the bottom, and tried again. Yes, the clip that I was using, was a little bit tough, but nothing that should be giving me such an issue. Here I go, again…

Same thing… just couldn’t reach that darn D-Ring… wtf??? I put the bottles down, again, and decided to switch them around, just to test the theory. That’s when I noticed that the bottom clip had been left, wrapped around the hose of the stage bottle. Well, duhhhhh… no wonder I couldn’t reach the inside, with that clip.

I unwrapped it, then had at it, again. This time, success. *Phew* Eric’s went a fair bit smoother than mine did.

*Notes to self*
1) Check to see if bottoms of stage bottle clips are wrapped behind the tubing, before doing bottle rotations.
2) Bottle rotations with full bottles of 32% suck. Yes, I was already aware of this, but now, I am extra aware.

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 6 mins.
Max. Depth: 19′
Water Temp.: 66F
Frustration Level: Varying, but at least I was persistent 🙂

 


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Rollin’ Up And Down The River…

23 06 2014

Saturday, June 21st, 2014 ~

Since Steve and I were the only team available for the initial Project Baseline: St. Lawrence River – Canada dive, we decided to do a bit of a dive, before our station-seeking, on the Gaskin.

We brought our scooters and a camera along, and went for a ride!

We scootered upstream, and before we dropped into the channel, we played around, and took some pictures…
(Pics of me, taken by Steve; Pics of Steve, taken by me – Nikon D200 – playing with strobes)

 

After our “photo session,” we dropped into the channel, and looked for anything “neat,” that we could find!

We did come across many burned planks of wood, that could very well have come from a couple of the wrecks, from the War of 1812. We know that they were burned at the water line, in the area.

Also along the path of wreckage…

More burned wood…

There was a lot of debris along the path that we took, and we are happy that we had the camera along, to take some pics of it.

Once we started to make our way back up to the Gaskin, we readied for our initial Project Baseline: St. Lawrence River – Canada dive. Details of that dive, are in the entry, before this one – found, HERE!

 

Bow of the Gaskin…

If you would like more information on Project Baseline, and how to get involved, in your own community, you can find information HERE!

Doing a little deco, at 30’…

…and a little more deco, at 20′!

Bottom Time: 3 hours, 12 mins.
Max. Depth: 107′
Water Temp.: 60F
Vis.: 5′ to 20′ – milky

I did get a little chilly, near the end of the dive, but it was absolutely wonderful, to be playing out in the channel, again!

 


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Project Baseline: St. Lawrence River – Canada ~ Initial Dive

22 06 2014

Saturday, June 21st, 2014 ~

We didn’t have any GUE Ontario members that were able to join us, for the initial Project Baseline dive, so Steve and I went out in search of the best spot, for one of the stations. Our initial station will be on the bow of the Robert A. Gaskin. Our goals will be to monitor the deterioration of the wreck, as well as the water temperatures, visibility, and any obvious changes (eg. fish, eels).

The ship was originally launched in April, 1863, in Kingston, Ontario.

Since we were the only two divers, we decided to go for a scooter up the St. Lawrence River, and end up at the Gaskin, on our way back. Steve had the camera, in hand.

As we approached the Gaskin, the visibility was not the best. The camera would make it appear better than it was, but it was still tough to get shots, where the camera could focus very easily.

A few different angles:

Taken from 49’…

From above the deck, with the bow to the right…

Taken from 59’…

Water temperature: 60F (top to bottom)
Visibility: 25′ (a bit milky – camera makes it look clearer)

We have established a natural station, for the bow, and will do others on the aft starboard side, as well as the stern, where there is noticeable damage to the wreck. We did see a few small fish.

Project Baseline Dive #1 = Complete!


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