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…

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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…

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…and again, with a photobomber…

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Of course, a Chantelle-fie!

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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!

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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! 😀


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Categories : Twenty-Oh-One-Eight

Might Have Been The Jodrey…

14 09 2015

Sunday, September 13th, 2015 ~ 

Well, holy smokes… It’s boat diving day! Steve, Frankie, Eric B., and I joined in on Eric V., Dany D., Christian St-P., and Guy’s T2 course charter, to the Jodrey. Steve and Frankie were doing some cool penetration, and Eric and I had also planned to go inside.

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We dropped down the wall, landed on the wreck, and… well… we couldn’t see much of anything. We toured around the crane and conveyer belt for a bit, and looked for the door that we had planned on entering. Yeah… no such luck. We did see the winch, a port hole, and a hellovalotta nothing much. The currents were also all over the place, here. The down currents were stronger, the up currents weren’t there, and there were varying degrees of current, in other places. We have pretty much learned the lay of the currents here, but they did their best to fool us, today! Eric and I decided to end our dive a little earlier than planned, since we couldn’t really see anything, and Eric may have had an encounter with a rare “jumping zebra mussel.” Buggers… 😛

As we ascended, I caught sight of an eel, at 138′. It’s the first time that I’ve seen one just hanging out, under a rock, going up the wall. Kind of neat, since we have been seeing dead ones again, this year. We were able to catch the back eddy, on deco, which was really relaxing. It’s not always there, but when it is, it makes deco all the much “more gooder.”

We had found a sweet resting spot, at 20′, and were chilling there, for a while… until the three on course came up beside us. As they neared, the current changed again, and Eric and I decided to give them their space, instead of harassing them, and making them anxious. 😛

We drifted a bit more, finished most of our deco obligation, and scootered back around to the deco bowl, where we stayed for the last couple of minutes. Our 6-up was insane. Lots of weeds, and a lot of current (nothing unusual). It was nice to have the XK-1 scooters, to turn right down, and keep us in one spot, against the blistery water. 🙂

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 27 mins.
Max. Depth: 187′
Water Temp.: 69F
Vis.: What vis???

Eric and I, after our mostly non-existent visibility dive!

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Saaaaaave meeeeee!

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Also… a big congratulations to Eric V., Dany D., and Christian St-P., for becoming the newest GUE Tech 2 divers! Most of our GUE T2 community was on the boat, that day! w00t w00t!

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Steve and Frankie eventually surfaced (#TeamRB80), and we were able to make our way back to Canada-land!

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Thanks, to Captain Rick, for another amazing day of Diving Goodness!

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Categories : Twenty Fifteen