Heleen And Sander Came To Town!

3 09 2011

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011 ~

After a crazy day of work, I filled up the Dive Gear Transportation Unit, and headed to the airport. I only had to do two circles around, and I found my passengers! Our friends from Holland were here! w00t! I finally got to see them in person, and would be spending the next few days diving and talking about everything under the sun!

Our first stop was the Quarry, directly from the airport, as the plane was a must-see for Heleen!

I brought my camera along, for some pics, and we jumped in the water. We went straight to the plane for some pics, then to the boat, sub, and back to the plane for more pics and most excellent Diving Goodness fun! It was definitely fantastic to finally get in the water with Heleen and Sander!

Sander and Heleen, over the infamous plane!

w00t! Myself and Heleen!

Sander, giving the moose ears!

Coming back in…

Bottom Time: 41 mins.
Max. Depth: 55′
Water Temp.: 60F
Visibility: Goodly

Off to Boston Pizza, for some delicious dinner, and to meet Steve!

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 ~

Today, we were heading down to Rockport, to go for a scooter run to the Kinghorn (thank you for the extra scooter, KR). We had a few errands to run in the morning, and I cooked us a big breakfast, so it was early afternoon before we got to the shop.

We made our way to the wreck, played around on the outside, then headed inside, to swim around the core of the wreck. It seems that the wreck has deteriorated even more, and it appears that there have been a few deck beams that have fallen in. I still never tire of seeing the view of ambient light, up through the inside of the wreck, through the wheel. We made our way back, and back up, onto the boat. What a fantastic dive! I think Heleen and Sander liked this one! 

Bottom Time: 64 mins.
Max. Depth: 90′
Water Temp.: 69F
Visibility: Not too shabby

Yummy… Kool-Aid…

After our dive, we topped it off with some ice cream, from the upstairs shop! Mmm.. Rolo…

Jeff and Sander were chatting, so we grabbed Sander an ice cream, too… or.. did we?? 😀

We headed back, and were able to make it back in time for the last 10 minutes of Steve’s Final Hockey playoff game! Way to go, Steve!

When we got back, we unpacked, and had some fun with the neighbours…

Thursday, September 1st, 2011 ~

Today, we had planned on going down to the river, for a scooter dive, but decided to go a little closer, so we could do some tourist stuff, after our dive. Quarry? Meh.. went there on Tuesday.. Hmm.. How about Back Mine? Steve and I hadn’t been there in over a year, and this would be a great time of year to go. The water is always extremely cold, as this mine was built into a mountain, and the water does not see sunlight. Although there is a covered dome overtop of the site, there is a large area of open water, where we dive. There is a mine shaft that starts at about 120′ deep. It is an absolutely beautiful dive, but as I said… is cold.

We took the ferry across to the Quebec side, and once we arrived, we took a bit of a jaunt up to the top, to take some photos.

 There happened to be a photographer there, doing a photo shoot, and he was gracious enough to take some shots of us, too! Thank you, Rick!

Once we entered the water, we made our way to the other side of the open water area, saw the old truck, old line, and other interesting formations. There was obviously not much ambient light, so it was a bit murky… and crisp. We surfaced on the opposite side, had a chat and a laugh, then headed back down. We showed Heleen and Sander the grim reaper sign, then made our way back in.  

Good thing we were already hooked up…

Bottom Time: 45 mins.
Max. Depth: 105′
Water Temp.: 38F
Visibility: 25′

After we packed up, we made our way downtown, to the Byward Market, where we grabbed a snack from the Chip Wagon. We just had to introduce Sander to poutine! We did a bit of a tour of the Parliament buildings, the lock system, and a few other cool buildings.

On the way back, we stopped to pick up some BBQ and sweet corn!

What a fantastic day!

Friday, September 2nd, 2011 ~

Well.. today was the day that we were all departing for different places. Heleen and Sander were on their way home, Steve was heading to Florida, and I was going to Seattle, for the Team AGGAST adventure.

It was so amazing to finally meet our friends from overseas, that we have been corresponding with, e-mailing, and sending so many pictures back and forth with. We were able to give them a little taste of Canada (besides their adventures in the Rocky Mountains, before they got to us), with Tim Horton’s, Kool-Aid, hockey, poutine, the Parliament buildings, maple syrup, and some of the diving we have to offer. What an amazing time for us, too… please come back!! See you next year!! 😛

Here are the links to Heleen’s Canada videos!

The Quarry and The Kinghorn…

Back Mine…

 

 

Canada…

http://wethorse.nl/Canada11/index.htm

Other Wethorse videos can be seen at: www.wethorse.nl


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Brockville Canadian Invasion ~ 2011

17 08 2011

Friday, August 12th, 2011 ~

Well, I will start this entry off, by saying that this was the largest group I have ever organized. The majority of our group for Diving Goodness arrived either on Thursday night, or Friday morning, in time for the run out to the wreck of the Kinghorn. We had some breakfast at Caiger’s, then headed over to Rockport Dive Centre. There were 12 to take the first run on Rick’s boat, and 14 by scooter. I think that was the biggest GUE EDGE I have ever conducted, too…lol.

Raphael and I paired up, and we debriefed our dive plan, trip back in, and even towing, should it be required. This is a swimmable dive (on doubles), so even if we didn’t tow, we would still be in good shape. I led our teams to the line, and we headed out! Raph and I did tours of both the inside and outside, and there were Go Pro cameras a-plenty, taking video of our diving extravaganza!

We decided to head back in, so I hit the trigger… er.. at least I tried to. Two of my prop blades went flying into the abyss (ok, about 7′ down)! What the…? I did manage to pick them up, signaled to Raph, and started to swim. Wait a sec… it’s lunch time.. let’s hit it, partner! I signaled to Raph again, stowed my scooter (of course, being a bit bummed), and latched on to Raph’s crotch strap. Onward!

I have to say, that I was very pleased that we had discussed this whole towing thing, at the beginning of the dive. Raph did great, and when we reached the 55′ mark, I tapped off. We had a relaxing and leisurely swim back in. Thanks for the tow, amigo!!

Bottom Time: 47 mins.
Max. Depth: 90′
Water Temp.: 71F
Visibility: Decent

Me, sportin’ the Grape Kool-Aid shirt…

After a couple of runs out to the wreck, in Rick’s boat, we reconvened on the deck at Rockport Dive Centre, and headed over to The Cornwall/Boathouse for lunch.. drysuits ‘n’ all. We took up the whole room, this time around. Tammi and her peeps were ready for us, as usual!

We got some food in our bellies, some laughter, and fun, then we walked back over for another run out to the wreck. Since I didn’t have use of my scooter (and thank you to Oren for the offer to use yours… while you made a bit of a drive… *cough*), I was going to jump in with Andy, for a swim along the line. Andy had some new tanks that he wanted to check out, and I would be doing my first test dive with the new Light Monkey wing! w00t!

 

We really took our time, and had an extremely slow and comfortable swim, partway to the wreck. We went back and forth, played with a few fish, and waved at some of our friends, passing by. I was seriously digging this wing. It is a 45# wing, that is put together very well, and has some really nice finishing touches (the heat shrink on either end of the corrugated hose). I was using it with a set of Luxfer AL80s, and I really did like the way it filled around the tanks. The edges are a bit wider than other wings, and it just felt really easy to trim out in. Very freakin’ cool wing! First test dive >> Like Factor = Extremely high.

Bottom Time: 35 mins.
Max. Depth: 56′
Water Temp.: 71
Visibility: Decent.. still.

I think Chris enjoyed the dives…

Piotr, too… Lovin’ the jet fuel!

Reconvening…

After our dives, we headed back to Caiger’s, where we got ourselves sorted out, showered, and changed for dinner. We had a buffet of a bunch of extremely delicious foods, and we definitely filled the entire dining room. There was also a live band playing on “The Upper Deck,” that some of us checked out, before hitting the sack!

Saturday, August 13th, 2011 ~

Up and at ’em! We had boats going to the Keystorm and America, as well as to the Jodrey. We had most of the boats going out in the morning, with another afternoon run to the Jodrey.

Buffet breakfast for everyone, and boats loaded. I brought down lunches for each boat, and the morning runs were off! We had one bit of a miscommunication on boat departure time, so two friends ended up going for a shore dive.

Breakfast…

Loading up…

 

Relaxing after breakfast…

Carm and Steph…

Then the boats came back!

We then loaded up our boat, to head to our afternoon Jodrey dive.

On the ride out, I managed to get a good punch in the face, from a flying boat bumper, whacked my head on the boat, and with me being a bit pooped, I opted out of the dive. We were moored in a different place than usual, and my gut just said, “no.” It sucked to have to miss Jodrey Goodness, but I was also pretty pooped, with all of the organizing. I did gear up, and even got in the water, but it wasn’t my day. Yes, my buddy had someone else to dive with…

Pooped (+ sucker punch + head whack) + Jodrey = Thumb.

Instead, I had a bit of a nap on the boat, and took some pics. 🙂

A little shout out to DUI? 😀

 

Self portrait, of course…

When we got back, we unloaded, then got ready for dinner. This dinner was a little more fancy, and we had some extra delicious food! Thank you to all of the staff at Caiger’s!!

We also had a draw for some prizes. Thank you to Liquid Productions, Rockport Dive Centre, and Exploration Promotions for the prize donations!

We finished the night off with some karaoke… Ohh.. what a blast! Bill Baker is a crazy… wha???

Steph also got up for some singing magic!

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to have the bon fire that we wanted to have. A big thank you to Becki and Dan for bringing the S’mores goodies!!!

What a fun finish to the day!

Sunday, August 14th, 2011 ~

Well, today was the final day of the Brockville Invasion. We did a bit more loading, diving, unloading, bidding goodbyes, and taking more pictures. Today’s dives were the Vickery, a drift dive, and for the Tech divers, the Jodrey. I still wasn’t 100%, so I opted to stay aground, and wait for all of the boats to come in.

Fern and LoJack!

 

It really is amazing, how many wonderful people attend the Brockville Invasion. I have made so many new friends, and love to see friends that keep coming back. It does mean a lot to me, that people have so much fun on this trip. It is exactly why I do it.

A group shot… of most of the group, plus most of the reamining folks. Next year, I will allot a time and place for the pic, on the itinerary! We had 49 people attend, this year!

Below is Forest Rothchild, who did a really cool write-up on his Invasion experience. Thank you, Forest!

Link to write-up on TDS…  http://thedecostop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48322

Below is a little video of some of the stills! Come on back next year, ya hear!


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One Schott!

27 07 2011

Thursday, July 21st, 2011 ~

So.. Becky and I had threatened to go diving together many times, over the last few years, and the stars aligned just right, to a weekend that we could. Dave was unable to join us, and even though we missed him terribly, Becky and I knew that we would have much Girl Diving Goodness Fun (ok, we did allow some fellas to join us).

We decided on The Works for dinner, after much chatter and laughter, where we introduced Becky to some interesting burger concoctions and combinations, along with our beverages served in measuring cups. We ended up chatting and laughing our fool arses off until the early hours of the morning. Thanks to some of our western friends for some hilarious back and forth banter!

Friday, July 22nd, 2011 ~

Well, we meant to dive today… Let’s leave it at that… 😀 We did have a good time catching up and talking about.. Well.. Everything! We also prepared for the following day’s dives.

Saturday, July 23rd, 2011 ~

We were up an out early, and made our way to Rockport Dive Centre, for a dive on the Jodrey. Becky, Eric, and I were teamed up, and Frankie and Steve were heading to the engine room. Becky also brought her camera along, and took some really cool shots of us, on the bow. Thank you, Becky!!

Me, on the bow of the Jodrey, taken by Becky Kagan Schott…

Eric, on the Jodrey, by Becky Kagan Schott…

We had a nice, relaxing deco, made our way back up the wall, and back to the boat. We did meet up with Steve and Frankie on deco, too.

Frankie, by Becky Kagan Schott…

 

Steve snuck over to say hello, too – by Becky Kagan Schott…

Bottom Time ~ 71 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 163’
Water Temp. ~ 73F
Visibility ~ 40’ (best we’ve seen in a while)

Once we arrived back at the dock, we headed down to the Cornwall, for some grub, then back home.

Sunday, July 24th, 2011 ~

We managed to get a charter to the Keystorm and America – Thank you, Rick! We were at Caiger’s for an afternoon charter, and we did seem to have quite a lot of gear.

Once we got underway, it was after 3pm. We headed to customs first, then to A-Bay for some petrol. While Rick gased up, we chatted, and even played with the resident kitties.

Becky!

Then, we were off! Andy, Eric, Becky, and I teamed up, Frankie and Steve, and Cory and Raluca too. The plan was to go down to the prop for some photos, then make our way back up. We spent the majority of our time at the prop, then made our way back up and in. Thanks again for the shots, Becky! You rock! It was great to see Andy again, too!

Bottom Time ~ 48 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 75’
Water Temp. ~ 73F
Visibility ~ 40’

There were, of course, more shenanigans on the boat…

From there, we headed over to the America. It had been a while since I had actually been on it, so I was actually looking forward to it. We had some directions to where a large anchor was, so after doing a pass of the wreck, we hit the trigger to find it… We followed our directions to a “T,” and lo and behold, there it was! Sweeeeet!! Doh.. Becky didn’t have her camera on this dive, and it was Murphy’s Law that there was something so cool to get shots of. J

We had a peek at it, then went a little bit further on, to see if there were more cool things to see. We didn’t travel too far off, before turning back to the wreck. We did a quick pass underneath the America, then headed in.

Bottom Time ~ 48 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 75′
Water Temp. ~ 73F
Visibility ~ 40’

Homies…

Look! Andy’s here!

On our way in, the sun was setting over the River, and was the perfect end to some extremely fun dives. We arrived back at Caiger’s, where we had to wait for customs to clear us, before getting off of the boat. This took a while. We waited, and waited, and started to get absolutely molested by mosquitoes. We were sitting targets for these man-eaters!

On the way in…

Finally, Rick came back with the good news that we were allowed back into Canada, and could start making our escape from the crazy mossies. I think it was close to 9:30pm, when we were unloading our gear. By this time, we were pretty hungry, and made our way to Boston Pizza, in Brockville, then home.

A wonderful day of extreme fun, and most awesome Diving Goodness!! W00t! J

On Monday morning, we gave our hugs goodbye, to Becky, and wished her a safe trip home.

Please come back and play, Becky!! We had a blast!!! There are many wrecks waiting for you to see! w0000000000000000000t! Next time, Dave needs to come, too!! Xoxo J

　

Wait a second.. Perhaps Dave was there!! 😉

　

　

　

　

　


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The US Comes North!

20 06 2011

Saturday, June 18th, 2011 ~


Mark Nash, Raphael Santore, Denis Finnegan, and Mick Cagney had come up to the 1000 Island for an extended weekend of Diving Goodness! On Saturday, Steve and I decided to join them for a dive to the Keystorm and then the America. It had been a while since we have done those wrecks, and we decided to bring the scooters along for a fun ride.

We arrived at Caiger’s, and were greeted by our friends. Of course, I had to snap a pic before loading the boat.

 

We loaded the boat, and we were off! Customs, here we come!

No matter how many times I see Boldt Castle, I never get tired of it.

We cleared customs, then geared up for some Diving Goodness!

Raphael, with a big smile!

Mick, splashing in…

Denis.. also with a big smile!

..and Mark, splashing in!

The first order of the day was a dive on the Keystorm. It had been a while since we had done this one. As Steve and I entered the water, I didn’t really feel 100%. There was a bit of wave action, and since I do get seasick, we didn’t waste alot of time on the surface. Usually, once I’m down, I’m fine. I don’t normally get sick on the River though, so this was a bit silly (that is what was going on in my head). Once we got down onto the wreck, we peeked into the bathroom, and then had planned on doing a little penetration. I really felt “off” at this point, and signalled to Steve that going inside wasn’t for me, today. We did a bit of a tour, and then decided to scooter around, looking for other interesting things, off of the wreck.

At this point, I started fighting my gear, was underweighted, and just felt like it was my first ever dive. Time to thumb it. This was the first time that I have ever felt so dumb in the water, and was a little surprised that I had a day like I did. I was wearing different gear as well, which is probably why I sucked so badly. Oh well.. chalk it up to a crappy day in the water, and try again next time.

Bottom Time ~ 46 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 105′
Water Temp. ~ 59F
Vis. ~ 20′ 

 

On a nicer note, our friends did enjoy their dives, and it was a lot of fun being in the water with them. I am looking forward to seeing some of them at the Invasion! w00t!

Important things to keep in your Save-A-Dive kit…

On board, we watched as a freighter carrying windmill props went by…

It even had a launcher!

There were also some boat races going on, which got a little rocky at times. As we were heading back in, we were almost right in their line of fire, in their turning position. Thanks to Captain Steve for avoiding that craziness!

This boat has two jet engines, and was absolutely flying. I have no idea how I got lucky with this shot! 

So, even though my dive sucked, it was still great to be on the water, and with some really wonderful people. 🙂

See y’all soon!


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Hola Amigos!

7 06 2011

Monday, May 30th, 2011 ~

Yippee! Fred and Angelica were in town! We decided to head to a Vietnamese restaurant for some delicious cuisine and some great chats. We ended up talking for quite a while, and with the restaurant’s closing time at 9pm, we  realized we were a little over our time. Time to go back to our casa for a tour, a beverage, and some more hang time. 🙂 

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2011 ~

We were a little behind schedule, thanks to some gnarly construction on the 416, but we were on our way to Centeen, where we were meeting Mike, Michel, and our special guest star, Fred! When we finally got there, we put our gear together for some Diving Goodness!

Fred, in the background, putting his fins together…

It was nearing dusk as we got into the water, which we knew was going to turn into a night dive. Sweet!

Gear checks, dive plan, and away we went. We hit the trigger, heading upstream, then dropped into the channel at the park bench. The visibility was pretty stinky on the way out, but it did get better as we hit the channel, apart from the darkness. 

Our plan was to bring us back to the Gaskin, where we did a couple of passes over and through, before heading back in. It had been a while since Steve and I had done a night dive here, and everything did look so different. Especially not being able to see farther than your light would shine. It was alot of fun! Fred even stayed warm in our “frigid” waters! 😛

 Bottom Time ~ 78 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 94′
Water Temp. ~ 55F
Vis. ~ Stinky, until we got a bit deeper into the channel

After the dive – Michel, Fred, Steve, Mike…

After we packed up, we had to do the Canadian thing, and hit Tim Horton’s. Fred went to pick up Angelica, and we met for something to eat. Before we knew it, it was 1 am on a “school night!” Time flies when you’re having fun. 🙂

Fred and Angelica.. Now THAT’S Canadian!

Fred, Me, Steve…

Sunday, June 5th, 2011 ~

I requested the day off of my Fundies Filming duties that I had been on on Saturday, and was able to join Fred and Jen for some more Goodness in the River, Sunday! We met at Jeff’s, and since there was a charter heading out to the Kinghorn, we were able to hop on it with our scooters, and scooter back in to shore. Angelica came with us on the boat too! We did our gear checks on the boat, as there is usually a nice surface current here. We jumped in, tied onto our “turbos,” and down we went. It has been a while since I have taken a boat here, but since it is high boating season, diving off of the dock is not permitted until the late fall. So, it was jump in off of the boat, and scooter back, getting back onto the boat as we get back in.

As we got to the wreck of the Kinghorn, we drifted along the top of the deck, to show Fred the wreck, then went for a tour inside, taking time to look at everything. We did another tour around the outside of the wreck, then came back around the starboard side, where we picked up the line, heading back. Along the way, we saw a few really large carp! I came upon a rather large crayfish, and played with him a little. As he scurried backwards, Fred got behind him. As he was going to greet him, I signaled to Fred to look behind him… An extremly large carp was sneaking around us. Jen also saw quite a few of her “little guys” along the way, and showed them to Fred.

Bottom Time ~ 48 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 91′
Water Temp. ~ 55F
Vis. ~ Not bad at all!

Jen, Fred, and I, taken by Angelica!

After packing up, the four of us went for a nice lunch at the Boathouse Restaurant, overlooking the water. It was really great to see Angelica and Fred, and also getting in some fun dives. Thank you, Fred and Angelica! See you soon!

Me, Angelica, and Jen, taken by Fred!

After lunch, Jen and I lingered for a little while, then went to top the day off with some dessert!

Cheers!


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