Good Friday At The Quarry

23 04 2009

Friday, April 10th, 2009 ~ 

 

After lounging around in the morning, we finally packed the van and headed out to the quarry. Steve was going to work on bottle rotations, and I was going to work on stowing a stage reg. I could stand to do it a bit quicker. 

 

We got there, and there were a few others there, getting back in the water, after a winter hiatus. We also saw a couple of other friends that we knew as well. The quarry was wide open and ready for action! 

 

Steve and I got in, did our pre-dive checks, and off we went to the plane. I left the camera behind again, so we could concentrate on skills. We got to the plane, and Steve started doing his bottle rotations. I watched him, then just started deploying and stowing my stage reg. He then passed me another bottle, for me to clip on. I tinkered with that for a while, and of course, I double clipped it on the hip D ring.. pft.. Start over…

I am definitely going to have to do some more work with that, and maybe some exercises to strengthen my hand a bit.

Once we were half satisfied, we headed back in.

Bottom Time ~ 32 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 23′
Water Temp. ~ 40
Vis. ~ 50′ Starting to get less crisp

Eric and Greg were waiting for us, and we sat about with them for a bit. We even had some fun with Eric’s Fusion suit…

 

We decided to get back in, and do some other skills. Eric joined us for this dive. We didn’t go to the plane, but hung around the deco rock, working on finning techniques and valve drills. Steve swam off a bit, then had an OOG (yes, it was a drill…lol). I rushed to him, donated my stage reg, went to my back up, then deployed my long hose for him, putting me back on the stage reg. All was well in the land of donation. We cut the drill, and carried on. We played with some rocks, then came back in… Ok.. I was the one playing with rocks…

Bottom Time ~ 30 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 17′
Water Temp. ~ 40
Vis. ~ 50′

Another excellent day in the water!

 

Happy Easter!


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Friends, Feast, and Finning… Part 1

1 04 2009

Saturday, March 21st, 2009 ~

On Friday night, a bunch of our friends came from as far west as St. Catherines and as far east as Quebec City. We were having another gathering of friends from afar, for some diving goodness!

Francois and Eric were the first to arrive, followed by Jen, then Jay. We were all hanging out in the dive garage, and helping Jen with her new scooter. After some catching up and nibbling on pizza, we hit the pillows.

Saturday morning, we were up bright and early to go to the quarry. The ice will probably be gone soon, so this weekend would be one of the last couple of ice dives of the season.

When we arrived, there were another three groups of people there to dive. It was a busy day for the watering hole, and there was a large opening above the plane too! We also met up with Jeremy.

We had brought our short body scooters to play with, so that Jen could try out her new toy! We didn’t all have them, so we took turns handing off scooters.

Jen…

Jay…

I handed mine off for a bit, so that I could take some shots, and it was even left to the plane for a bit…

Jay’s little scooter…

Steve, sending me the secret hand shake signal…

Jeremy…

Frankie…

Steve, mid barrel roll…

We had a heckuvalot of fun!

Bottom Time ~ 38 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 38′
Water Temp. ~ 40
Vis. ~ Great!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so a few of us decided to go for a second dive! I left the camera behind, so that I could play around with my scooter. Jen took some shots from the surface, and since there was a gaping hole above the plane, she got some shots of us below!

Jen also got a video clip with her camera…

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We weren’t in for long, but it was fun to get back in!

Bottom Time ~ 21 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 57′
Water Temp ~ 40
Vis. ~ Great!

I think this one is the picture of the day… Jay got a little crabby…

We headed over to Jean Burger for a quick nibble, and then headed back to our place.

We tinkered with gear for a while, then I uploaded the pictures from the day’s adventures. Then it was time for BBQ! Jen had brought up the most succulent sirloin steaks, fresh from the butcher, and fresh bacon to wrap around them. Holy smokes, we were eating like kings and queens tonight! While I played around with the pictures, Jen and Steve got the food together. We had filet mignon, baked potatoes, and.. well.. we forgot the veggies, but we had other add ons! Kevin and Jenn E. also joined us for dinner.

After filling our bellies, it was time to sit back, relax, and watch the “WKPP Push For The Connection” DVD. What a way to wind down a most excellent day of diving goodness and fun with friends!

Stay tuned for Part 2!


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The Quarry Is Melting!

11 03 2009

Sunday, March 8th, 2009 ~ 

 

Another busy and gorgeous day at the quarry, and we headed up to meet Kevin and Jeremy. There were many people taking advantage of the beautiful weather today, and getting their gear wet. There were many courses going on as well. 

 

Kevin ran the line today, and we headed out to the plane.

 

Kevin tied off the line, and we worked on some skills. Steve and I paired up, as did Kevin and Jeremy. We played around a bit, and avoided being landed on a couple of times, by some of the course candidates.

Steve even worked on his “Upside Down Frog Kick.”

 

We practiced valve drills, finning techniques, as well as picked up some of the “Police Line” that had fallen in the melting water, from the courses.

Kevin even tried the Upside Down Frog Kick…

 

We looked above, and noticed the big, gaping hole in the ice. We knew there had been a bit of melting, but weren’t sure how much. We made our way to the surface, to check it out… It was a massive open water hole!

 

Before descending again, Steve pointed out to me, how well you could see the plane from the surface.

 

We descended again, and did some more playing around the plane.

 

We finally decided to head in, as it really started to get busy, and we did have to duck a couple of times…

 

This shot was kind of neat, as it wasn’t until we got home, that I noticed the two people in the ice hole above! It has now been dubbed, “The Alien Picture.”

 

On the way in…

Bottom Time ~ 60 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 35′
Water Temp. ~ 39
Vis. ~ Great!

 

When we returned to the hole, we were greeted by other friends about to gear up as well!

 

We doffed our gear, and Steve wanted to go and play in the big, melted hole, where he got a couple of pretty cool shots…

 

I came over to say hello, and… lo and behold, my leg went through… Trust that camera to be ready… lol…

 

We finally packed up and headed over to Jean Burger, for Poutine and chicken! Ok.. chicken for me… Poutine for the fellas!


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A Trip To The Quarry

5 03 2009

Sunday, March 1st, 2009 ~

We headed to the quarry this past Sunday, and we were able to drag Jeremy out, despite the fact that he has been accustomed to desert weather, over the last 9 months (welcome home, Jeremy).

 
It was a busy day at the quarry as well, and the visibility wasn’t as great as it has been recently.

Here are a few pics from the day’s events…

A shot of Jeremy in his brand spankin’ new TLS…

 

Another member of Team Red…

 

Another one for the Red Team…

 

I guess I just don’t fit in with my Maroon…

 

A few shots from the dive…

 

Steve, doing a modified flutter…

 

Getting ready for valve drills…

 

Coming up on Kevin and Jeremy in the shallows…

 

Who could this be?

 

I think this one is my favourite of the day…

 

When we came in, we fooled around some more, and took some more shots…

 

Bottom Time ~ 41 minutes

Max. Depth ~ 30′

Water Temp. ~ 40

Vis. ~ Starting to change a bit, but still good!

 

All in all, it was yet another beautiful, sunny day for a dive!


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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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