The South West Came North

27 05 2018

Saturday, May 26th, 2018 ~ 

It has been a couple of months, since I’ve been in the water, thanks to a knock on the noggin’, but I am back in action! Steve and I were heading to Brockville, for Diving Goodness! Jason Wright was not too far away, and was joining us for a couple of days of diving, too. Of course, Mike P. was in on the action, too!

We met at Centeen, for around 10, got Jason set up with some gear, and were eager to get in the water. It was a bit busy, with courses.

Getting gear ready, and analyzing tanks…

33661590_10211941099019773_6996338902973808640_n

A big shout out to SOS 1000 Islands, for the work they have done, putting in the second set of steps, to the water. The hooks, for stages and scooters is extra helpful! *GO SOS!*

As I was gearing up, I ripped my glove. I was attempting to wear my 5mm wet gloves, and… rrrrrrrip, right at the seam. I was already committed, so I toughed it out.

We got in the water, did gear checks, and away we went. Mike was on the outside left, then Steve, Jason, and myself, taking up the right side. We scootered upstream, for just over 33 minutes, then dropped into the channel. The sun must have been hiding, because it was pretty much a night dive. We saw a few neat bottles, and Jason even found a bit of a plate, but it wasn’t carry-worthy. Mike did find a pretty neat one, too. We drifted along for a bit, and  hit a back eddy, that pushed us a little more shallow, so we hit the trigger back to our planned depth (100′).

When we reached our max drift time, we headed back up to 65′, where we visited the Gaskin. Of course, we did… that’s our returning reference! Also, it was neat to show it to Jason, who is used to tiny little boats, at the bottom of the lake he dives. It’s amazing, that the line we ran, years ago, is still in decent shape!

We headed back in, and did our little bit o’ deco, where I managed to get a couple of photos. The vis was terrible, so I didn’t get much.

Mike, Steve, and Jason…

DSC_2595

…and again, with a photobomber…

DSC_2597

Of course, a Chantelle-fie!

DSC_2596

We definitely had a lot of fun!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes
Max. Depth: 106′
Water Temp.: 51F

We went for after-dive food, at Boston Pizza, then back to Mike’s, for a gather-round-the-fire-pit session. Chris P. was also in town, and came over to join us!

33714991_10211941099539786_5205460831873007616_n

I can’t tell you what we chatted about… you know, because what happens at the fire pit, stays at the fire pit! Ok, ok… we roasted giant marshmallows! Tomorrow’s dive, to follow! 😀


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Twenty-Oh-One-Eight

Testing The Water

15 09 2014

Sunday, September 14th, 2014 ~

Well, I wasn’t sure if I should have gotten in the water today, but… well, I figured I would give it a try. I had had a small surgery, six days prior, and the doctor told me that I should probably stay dry for a couple of weeks. I did explain that we used drysuits, and if we could help it, stayed dry. She was a little “iffy,” but told me to play it by ear… so I did!

The surgery was just off of my shoulder, so I wasn’t sure how the harness would feel, as well as any drysuit squeeze. Steve was teaching a DPV class, so I came along… and brought my camera!

Luckily, I could just hover a bit, while everyone was doing their skill requirements.

We eventually hit the triggers, and headed over to the Gaskin.

We didn’t stay very long, though. I was hoping to take a Project Baseline shot, but there were skillz to be done! 😛

I didn’t feel any discomfort in my arm (it was the left one, so not my primary scooter arm), which was excellent!

Back to the shallows, for SMB deployments, OOG towing, and ascents. Great work, team!!

Small pieces of wreckage, along the skills path…

Great team work!

We have been noticing an extraordinary number of dead eels, this year. It is not normal, and we are starting to help monitor this situation…

Ahhhh… I was so happy, to be in the water! I did catch Steve, in the background, dumping the gas out of his suit, on our ascent!

Ascent selfie!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 38 mins.
Max. Depth: 55′
Water Temp.: 68F
Vis.: Not fantastic (camera makes it look better than it is)

 

Way to go, guys ‘n’ gal!

 


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Two-Oh-One-Four

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: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : 2000 + 13

DPV 1 Weekend

21 05 2013

Sunday, May 19th, 2013 ~

I decided to head to the quarry, where Steve was running a GUE DPV 1 course. I joined the guys for a couple of dives, and took some surface shots!

There were quite a few people bungee jumping, too. Even though people say, “Never Say Never,” to which I usually agree. I can safely say that you will never catch me doing that. I would sooner jump out of a plane (with a parachute, of course).

Scooters for everyone!

Doing GUE EDGE!

Hong is A-OK!

Going back in!

Bottom Time (for me): 57 mins.
Max. Depth: 28′
Water Temp.: 53F (above first thermocline, at 13′); 48F (below first thermocline)

Some after dive smiles!

Sunday, May 20th, 2013 ~

Today, to the River! A few skills, then the Experience Dive! Eric joined us too, to go for a bit of a scooter run!

Hong, bringing gear down to the water.

We were doing a couple of dives today!

For the first dive, there were some skills to get finished up. All went very well!

Bottom Time: 38 mins.
Max. Depth: 31′
Water Temp.: 51F

The second dive was the Experience Dive, which was really fun. We scootered upstream, dropped into the channel, and seeing how much this was enjoyed, as a first scooter run, was pretty amazing! We finished up on the Gaskin, where we did a small tour, then made our way back in.

Bottom Time: 58 mins.
Max. Depth: 100′
Water Temp.: 51F

I have a feeling that Hong may have really enjoyed this one…

Way to go, Hong!!! Great job!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : 2000 + 13