Another Day Of Fun & Training!

11 08 2013

Saturday, August 10th, 2013 ~

Today was more Diving Goodness, at the quarry. Donna and Steve were working on some skillz, and AJ and I went for a swim, so he could try out a Santi Demo suit (and get measured for one of his very own).

We made our way to the quarry, that was extremely busy with OW courses. We found a couple of spots in the second parking lot.

Finding DEMO!

Aj and I started our swim out…

As we got to the piano, AJ decided to play us a tune. He didn’t have a tip jar, so I couldn’t leave him anything.

As we went through the boat, it appears that there has been more damage done to it. 😦

We passed a couple of thermoclines, and went down to the swim through.

AJ, coming out…

I made another pass through, and took a shot, approaching the exit hole…

It was pretty frigid down there, so we ascended some, then made our way back towards the boat.

We were going to swim through the boat, but were met by a couple of other divers…

We then went over to see Morrie, and AJ gave him a hand with a stray bottle nose…

I’d say we had a bit of fun. 🙂

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 1 min.
Max. Depth: 101′
Water Temp.: 44F, at depth; 73F, at surface
Vis.: Better at depth. Milky at the plane, and zero vis., coming to the shallows

We came out, had some lunch, then went back in. This time, we joined Donna for some skillz. I gave Steve the camera.

On our way back in, Steve decided to get a better perspective on things.

Donna, myself, and AJ…

We practiced some rescue skillz, which was fun, then came in. A fun day, with a mixture of everything!

Bottom Time: 52 mins.
Max. Depth: 29′
Water Temp.: 68F to 73F

Donna…

AJ gives us a Whoooooooooom!

Steve and I…

AJ!

Steve and Donna!

…and, of course, a selfie!!


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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!


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Even More Skillz, DPVz, & Free Divers!

4 08 2013

Saturday, August 3rd, 2013 ~ 

While Steve was teaching a DPV 1 course, I went for a skills dive with David J.! It also happened to be on a day where some of our free diving friends were in town! Of course, I brought the camera. We would do our main skills dive before the divers got there, then go back in for pics with the free divers.

David J., after our skills. Lookin’ good, Dave!

Bottom Time: 31 mins.
Max. Depth: 42′
Water Temp.: 55F

We came in, doffed gear, and met with our free diving friends. The plan was for us to go back and do a few more skills,  while the free divers set up their markers. Once we were done, we were to surface, and signal the guys to come in! Our timing was perfect, and we started at Morrie!

Eek! Shark!

I even got a shot of a couple of remoras…

Then, Philippe decided to go with no shoes, no shirt, no service…

Love it!

David J., getting read for his Fundies Pool Noodle specialty…

Then, we moved on to the sub. It was a bit chilly down there, so no one was there for long.

Then… craziness! How chilly was Philippe?? Pretty chilly!!!

What a blast, we had! Thanks for being my buddy, David J.!

Bottom Time: 54 mins.
Max. Depth: 54′
Water Temp.: 55F

Steve, Frankie, and Christian were doing their DPV stuff, while all of this shenaniganry was going on!

Christian and Steve…

I think Christian is happy with his new suit!

Frankie Boy!

Such a great group of guys!

See you back in March, under the ice!


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Some Fundies Goodness

29 07 2013

Saturday, July 27th & Sunday, July 28th, 2013 ~ 

Another weekend of Fundies Goodness. Jen and I ran the grid line, blew a surface marker for the initial descent line, and took turns filming.

Saturday 
Total In-Water Time: 2 hours, 30 mins.
Max. Depth: 38′
Water Temp.: 71F

Sunday
Total In-Water Time: 2 hours, 3 mins.
Max. Depth: 37′
Water Temp.: 71F

Me…

Jen…

Heison was also visiting on Saturday, and had his fancy Diver Guy, with him!

Sasha, Steve, and Chris!

…and of course, diving is serious business, right??? 😛

Heison took some shots, too. I managed to save his scooter from a solo rock wall descent, even though he thought that I took it from him. 😀

Gorgeous day for Scuba School!


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Got E.Motion-Al

22 07 2013

Sunday, July 21st. 2013 ~

Today was the day that I was trying out my new Santi E.Motion suit. I had it on deck to dive on Saturday, but our dive did not go ahead, as planned.

Since Steve was teaching, I made my way down to Brockville, and met Jen. We were going on a channel scooter/drift dive. Our plan was to scooter upstream from Centeen Park, then drop into the channel, and have some fun!

We hit the triggers, and away we went. Once we reached our planned channel drop, we started towards the channel. As we were making our way, we ran into some wreckage. A lot of wreckage. We sometimes see the odd plank of wood, but these piles were many, and strewn about for quite a distance. Of course, we had to have a look, so once we did reach the channel, we cut our planned drift time down by a few minutes.

While we were in the channel, there was a freighter that passed overhead. This is nothing new, and happens quite often. This one sounded like it was within spitting distance! There we were, drifting in the channel, in some pretty mild current, when the river bed started to shake, the current went from slow to “spit you out” kind of speed, and it was so loud, that every piece of our beings were pounding. I swear, we could feel our heart beats, in time with the freighter! We were just shy of 100′, so I knew we weren’t in any danger, but sheesh… talk about giving us some wide eyes!  After it passed, the current slowed down… *Sings Twilight Zone music*

We had reached our planned (make that, replanned) drifting time, so we started to make our way back up. Just as we got to 70′, we were staring into the stern of the Gaskin. How was that for planning? We went for a bit of a swim through it, then decided to swim off, a little. Jen found a couple of little treasures (no, they were not of the wreck-finding kind). 😛

As we came back up into the basin of the park, we came upon an extremely tangled Halcyon reel. Since we were going to do a few minutes of deco anyway, we decided to untangle it. Well, holy smokes… It was not an easy task, but we finally did it. It definitely took the both of us, to do it. We figured it belonged to the people running a course there, so we brought it in. As we surfaced, Jen asked if anyone was “missing” one. They were using it for a rescue scenario, and were just about to go back and pick it up! We saved them a bit of time and energy. 😛

Bottom TIme: 2 hours, 8 mins.
Max. Depth: 99′
Water Temp.: 73F
Vis.: 10′ to 40′

Mike met us over at Bud’s, for some dinner!

We caught three ducks on the back of a Sea Doo, but by the time I got my camera out, they were jumping ship. Go figure…

Oh, well! At least we had a really fun dive!

As far as my new Santi E.Motion suit goes, it fits absolutely perfectly, and was so comfortable to wear. I’m sure that if I had not had a P-Valve malfunction (duck bill valve), that I would have been a happier camper, but the suit was awesome. I can’t wait to get some more dives on it!!


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