Busy Days At The Quarry

4 03 2009

Saturday, February 21st, 2009 ~ 

 

When we arrived at the quarry today, we noticed that there were ice diving courses going on again. Since they carved their holes in the deeper section of water, we would be out of their way. 

 

I’m not exactly sure what settings I had the camera on, but all of the pictures turned out blurry today. I was a bit disappointed, as many of them looked amazing on the display screen. 

 

We dropped in, did our checks, and carried on. I will post a few pictures anyway… blurry or not…

 

 

We headed over to the boat, carefully staying out of the way of the tethered divers.

 

 

To stay out of the way, we made our way down to the stove and freezer. I used to think the mini freezer was a laundry sink… apparently, I was wrong… lol…

 

This is the best shot I’ve been able to get of them so far, without strobes. They sit at about 105’…

 

 

We ran a line over to the car, which I had not approached from that angle before…


 

We then headed over to “the pit.” I had not been here before. It’s a pit that goes to about 120′, and houses a tractor tire, and another small piece of machinery. Pretty cool stuff… We headed back over to the car, picked up our line,  went back up to the plane, and headed in.

 

Bottom Time ~ 35 minutes

Max. Depth ~ 111′

Water Temp. ~ 40

Vis. ~ Not as good as last week, but still great

 

I had received a special package in the mail, from Heleen, and had to take pictures with the yummy licorice she sent!

 

Steve…

 
Kevin…

 

When we arrived home, I received a call from Rona, from Saskatchewan. Since she was in town, we met up for some singing fun. What a blast! We had a great night, and it was really good to meet her! Thanks Rona!!

 

We ended up having an action packed day, filled with diving and friends. I couldn’t ask for more! Well.. except pictures that weren’t blurry…

 

 

Sunday, February 23rd, 2009 ~

I left the camera at home today, as Steve brought the video camera. We took turns taking video of each other doing skills and finning techniques. We did valve drills, frog kicks, modified frog kicks, flutter kicks, and modified flutter kicks.

We had a really great skills dive!

Bottom Time ~ 46 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 42′
Water Temp. ~ 40
Vis. ~ Pretty darn good

There were other friends diving as well…

Until next week, when I have the camera back in hand!

 

Here are a couple of pictures of another surprise from Heleen!


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Ice Diving Weekend Get Together ~ Day Two

24 01 2009

Sunday, January 18th, 2009 ~

We all got up early, put together our gear, loaded it up, and headed to Timmy’s. Timmy’s was a good option for breakfast, seeing as we didn’t really have time for a sit-down breakfast. We had to get to the water.. er… ice.

Our convoy was on its way, and we actually stayed together, on the ride up to the quarry. Once there, we saw that our hole from yesterday was still open, with exception to our little runway path. Steve recut it for us. It was much easier to exit that way, than to have us all get out like beached whales.

 

We decided to bring scooters today. One of our friends wanted to try one, so we brought them to play with.

 

Steve handed his “Oreo scooter” over to Richard, and I handed mine to Steve. I didn’t really have much need for it, while I was taking photos.

Frankie…

 

Steve…

 

Oren…

 

Richard…

 

Eric…

 

Jen…

 

Me…

 

We didn’t really do much on this dive, other than play around and get some pictures. Frankie also took some video.

Bottom Time ~ 56 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 41′
Water Temp. ~ 39
Vis. ~ Awesome

Here’s a picture of Oren, playing with the “wildlife…”

 

Francois…

 

Shot by the boat…

 

Cool shot, taken by Steve… Eric…

 

Coming back in…

 

Once we got our gear off, we were pretty much popsicles. I did get a few shots of us out of the water too…

Oren…

 

Frankie…

 

Richard…

 

Kevin, post popsicle…

 

Eric, with a snowflake, strategically placed over his nose… Lol…

 

Jen…

 

Me…

 

Steve was hiding from the camera at this time…

 

So it was yet another fantastic weekend of icicle diving goodness. We headed off to a restaurant to warm up and get some food in our bellies. Ice diving sure burns off alot of calories!

It was great to see friends that we don’t see as often in the winter, and good to get in the water! It was also great having Richard along, all the way from Seattle! You’re always welcome, Richard!


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Camera Time!

29 12 2008

Saturday, December 27th, 2008 ~

Thanks to Santa, I finally got a lens for my camera. It was time to take it out for a test run!

A bunch of us met up at the quarry, which is entirely frozen over now, for some diving and camera fun! I am very new to this whole DSLR thing, and this was my first attempt.

Surface shots with a fisheye are fun too…

We geared up and in we went. The visibility was fantastic, but it will get even clearer as the winter progresses.

View on the way to the plane…

Steve took some pretty cool shots too..

Wing of the plane, with me at the nose…

Above the plane, taken by Steve…

Me, being silly, taken by Steve…

 

Me being silly again…

Bottom Time ~ 40 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 34′
Water Temp. ~ 39 F
Vis. ~ 80′


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Sunny Day For A Dive!

16 02 2008

February 16th, 2008 ~

A couple of friends came down from Quebec for the weekend, and we were anxious for a dive! Steve, myself, Leigh (Woofybeotch), Francois, and Eric headed over to the Quarry for some fun. When we loaded the van, it was a balmy -17 degrees outside, but the sun was “shining brighter… oh yeah… that’s great!”

We stopped at the dive shop for some fills, and away we went! We went through the normal routine… shovelled, cleared, and made a hole in the ice.

Ta Daaaaaaaaa… they were done!
(Woofy and Steve)

Woofy and I…

Frankie and Eric getting ready…

We geared up and in we went. Steve, Leigh, and I were a team, and Francois and Eric were a team. We did our valve and S Drills, and headed for the plane. Leigh was running the line. I was working more on my back finning, and played paddy cakes with Steve. Leigh and I made funny faces for the video camera, that Steve brought along. We tooled around for a bit, worked on some skills, and well… just like clockwork, I started to get cold after 30ish minutes, so we signalled to the other two, that we were going in, and headed back. I exited… and it was slightly more graceful than I’ve exited in the past, and I’m proud to say that I didn’t have any boy help getting out.

Frankie and Eric came back not far behind us, and were still under when Steve realized they didn’t bring the reel in, so back Steve and Leigh went to retrieve it… I went back to the van for the camera, and couldn’t help but take a self portrait…

Frankie coming in again…Yes.. the secondary tie off got knocked off when someone came in.. and nope.. it wasn’t me…

The boyz.. from left to right…

Eric, Francois, Leigh, Steve…Err.. and the reel kinda fell apart coming in, you’ll notice a couple of pieces beside it…

Woofy and I after the dive…

Steve…

Frankie and Eric…

I can’t resist posting this one… Just guess… Lmao

Bottom Time ~ 36 minutes
Water Temp. ~ 39
Max. Depth ~ 21′
Vis ~ Awesome!

We packed up and headed for Jean Burger.. The boyz had Club Poutine, and I had a Grilled Cheese with a Poutine… can’t resist that stuff after winter diving… Even though just looking at the stuff clogs my arteries, and causes my butt to grow…

We then headed to the studio, where Leigh showed us the progress in the two impending “We Go Down” videos. All I can say is… unfreakin’ real… He’s brilliant. The next two are going to be incredible. I am a human alarm clock in one of them…

Steve at the finger board…

Leigh showing us the footage…

It was another fun filled day with our friends, and I hope to have more of our adventures to write about tomorrow!


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