Hop Hop Hop Into The Water

1 04 2013

Friday, March 29th, 2013 ~ 

Well, Good Friday was as good a day as any, for some Diving Goodness. We met Frankie and Christian at the quarry, for a bit of a dip!

It looks like the quarry is starting to melt, and with this gorgeous weather, it shouldn’t be too long before it’s open!

Christian buddied up with Frankie for some skills, and Steve and I went along for the ride, while Steve was going to test the Go Pro, with the scooter mount and lights set up.

Frankie was going to run the reel, but since Steve and I were ready to go first, Steve brought it in, so that we could stretch out and do bubble checks… and maybe get some footage!

Yeah.. perhaps not. The battery had spent itself. It had been charged after our last dives, but it seems that the battery drains, even when not in use. Lesson noted. On the other hand, the lights fired nicely. Steve left the rig on the line, Frankie and Christian came in, and were practicing some valve drills.

We made our way to the plane, where there was a slight bit of Shenaniganry. Steve and I played around, upside down, played with our valves, and played inside of the plane. Somebody had some cold hands (I won’t mention any names), so we made our way back in!

Another fun day, under the ice!

Bottom Time: 45 mins.
Max. Depth: 29′
Water Temp.: 37F & 39F

After-Dive shop talk…

“Follow The River.” I couldn’t resist – A reference to our parody, Sanked ‘Em…

Neat formations in the melting ice…

After our goofiness, we decided that our Good Friday dinner should be at the Vietnamese restaurant, near our house. Absolutely delicious! Then, back to our place for dive talk, galore.

 

Saturday, March 30th, 2013 ~ 

Today was RIVER DAY!!! We knew that it would be chilly, so we really didn’t expect a long dive, but at least we were back in the St. Lawrence!

The River is open for business!

The water looked exceptionally clear, at the entry.

It still looked nice, at the first corner (about 20′ deep)…

…and not too bad at the second corner (about 30′ deep)…

We got in the water, and it definitely felt pretty chilly! We were expecting 35F, which is what we got on our bottom timers (except for Steve’s – his always reads 2F lower than mine, so he got 33F – I believe mine, since it read the same as the A-Bay buoy). 😛

As we did our checks and descended, we were greeted by a ton of green goober. The algae bloom has started already, and is absolutely everywhere.

Since the water was still pretty chilly, we decided to just scooter over to the Gaskin, and Steve was going to get some footage, with the recharged Go Pro.

As we got to the wreck, it was like a force field of green algae, just everywhere. The wreck is really falling apart now, but doesn’t seem too much different from the fall, when we were last on it.

I guess we aren’t as “tough” as we used to be, and we were feeling the cold water. Only Frankie had a heated device on. So… after a short play around the wreck, we came back in.

Bottom Time: 33 minutes (yep… total wusses)
Max. Depth: 64′
Water Temp.: 35F
Vis.: Hard to tell, for all of the green goober, but better than last spring.

Even though the water was so chilly, we were totally bulked up with thick winter undies, and thick liners and dry gloves, I have to say that I felt so relaxed, and very happy to be back in the River!!!

Group shot, and group smiles!

Christian is also the proud owner of a new Light Monkey wing!!! Enjoy it, Christian!

Ahhhhh….. Diving Goodness!!!





A Happy St. Paddy’s Quarry Day, To You!

18 03 2013

Saturday, March 17th, 2013 ~

Well, there were not any green drysuits today, but I did have my green GUE hoodie on, so I guess that counts.

Steve, Eric, Blake, and I joined forces and headed to… yes, the quarry. Our options are pretty limited in the winter, so this is where we spend a lot of our diving time.

Of course, we wondered if Blake would be up for it, since is is now a resident in the Florida cavezzz, which are just a bit warmer than the ice-covered quarry. 😀

Glove test. Yep… a little chillier than cavezz…

I wonder what Eric and Steve were up to, here…

Eric ran the line…

Steve was very relaxed, during his dive…

I think Blake was seeking cavezzz…

Illumin-Eric…

Yep… Blake was still “cool” with this whole ice diving thing. “Moose ears!”

Blake found a frog, but he looked a little bloated. I don’t think he was hibernating…

Oops… Looks like Le Princessi caught another victim!

Hawt date night!

There was even a round of golf, on the front nine…

On our way back into the shallows. You can see that our “H” cut out is still visible, even though it is completely frozen over.

Blake, just hangin’ around…

Yep… Steve is still pretty relaxed…

…and Eric is reflecting on his dive…

 

The sun finally came out, as we were exiting!

Bottom Time: 40 minutes
Max. Depth: 25′
Water Temp.: 37F

Well, what can I say? We had yet another fun-filled and excellent day of Diving Goodness, in the quarry! A great way to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day! That, and The Works, afterwards!

*Cheers to a fantastic day! Go team!





Just Another Just Culture

5 02 2013

Saturday, February 2nd, 2013 ~ 

Since I had harassed Gareth Lock enough times to come and visit us, he finally caved. 🙂

I picked Gareth up from the airport, and Steve, Tim, and Eric B. went up to the quarry, to get a head start on getting the hole cut. It was a pretty chilly day, too. We would christen Gareth with some Canadian winter, that’s for sure!

*NOTE* The in-water pictures are horrible. I tried some new settings on my camera, and clearly they did not work well. I am posting a few anyway, to document our day. *END OF NOTE*

Gareth’s plane was late arriving, but he finally found me, and we were off to the quarry!

Once we arrived, there was already a hole cut from previous divers, so Steve had just added on, making a nice runway, for easier entry/exit (brought it more shallow).

Gareth and Steve…

Tim…

Since it was pretty cold, we geared up quickly and splashed in. Steve had the line, and led the way out to the plane.

*Reminder: Pics are not great* 🙂

Heading out…

Gareth, by the plane…

Gareth, hanging out inside the plane!

Steve, Tim, and GLOC…

There was definitely some Shenaniganry going on, but how could you expect anything else?

We then went over to visit Morrie…

I even handed my camera to Gareth, and he got a pic of me!

Yep… I think Gareth fits right in, with us…

Ooh… a diver down ice sculpture!

Or, is it Pac Man???

As we made our way back in, it was clear that Tim and GLOC didn’t want to get out…

Bottom Time: 58 minutes
Max. Depth: 41′
Water Temp.: 37F

Yes… That was fun!

 

Sunday, February 3rd, 2013 ~ 

GUE Ontario Presents: Gareth Lock – Just & Safety Cultures presentation, chez nous. A bunch of GUE Ontario members came over, each brought some food and drink, to make it a pot luck, and Gareth spoke for about two hours (including questions and some discussion).

It was an absolutely fantastic presentation, and we all walked away with more knowledge, and a little more thought into applying some of this into our every day diving. I know all enjoyed it.

We thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule, to come and shed some light with your work! Please come back soon!

We didn’t have very much time with GLOC after the presentation, and we had to rush him off to the airport, again. Perhaps one of these days, we can come and visit you, over the pond!

If you have an hour to spare, it is definitely worth the time to tune into the below presentation, of Gareth’s (recorded from another venue).

Thanks again, Gareth!!!!!!!





Happy New Year – A Few Days After

10 01 2013

January 5th, 2013 ~

Ok, so we didn’t make it to the quarry on January 1st, but we did get there for the 5th, and to christen the new year with a dive under the ice.

When we arrived, Steve had to shovel a path for us to get to the water.

The ice looked pretty thin at the entry, so we didn’t think we would need the chainsaw.

We geared up and headed for the water. Eric had his tanks on, I was on my way, and Steve was leak testing his gloves, when he realized that the ice was a bit too thick to break up. Between the three of us working on it, we finally managed to make the hole big enough for us to squeeze through.

Eric was running the line today, followed by Steve, and then me.. with the camera.

Eric looks way farther away than he actually was…

Steve, with his RB80…

Eric…

We played around the plane for a while, and Steve actually fit inside it…

We were then greeted by the resident pike, who was looking a little hungry…

I was able to get pretty close to him…

He seemed to have either some kind of fungus on his other side, or even something left over from a hook…

We were a little concerned about him, wondering if he had enough to eat.

After a little more playing around the plane…

… we decided to make our way back in.

Steve, just below the air pocket…

Eric, bringing us in…

Oh… it’s me!

When we surfaced, we noticed a natural ice cave arrow that formed, just for us…

Bottom Time: 38 mins.
Max. Depth: 25′
Water Temp.: 39F

We packed up and headed to The Works, where we met Chris P. for some delicious dinner.

The water felt a little chillier today, even though it was still above zero. Maybe we are getting a little less tolerant to the cold??? Ah well, it was still fun to get in the water, and to see that the pike is still there!





Twenty-Twelve….. What A Year!

31 12 2012

Well, what can I say? 2012 has been a year of adventure, and even took us to far away lands, that we never thought we would see!

Of course, we always start the year off in the confines of the icy cold quarry water.

Of course, it stays like this until the beginning of April…

In February, we had another AGGAST adventure! Laurynn, Kathryn, Karen, and Sonya came to the Great White North, for some of this Ice Diving stuff! Of course, we had a bunch of other friends join us, too!

There were even really neat cupcakes!

Our group shot!

Le Princessi was out to play, as well.

We did have a blast, and we even ended up being DUI Dogs!

http://www.dui-online.com/testimonals/2012/team_aggast.html

Here is a video of our weekend!

In March, the free divers came back! They are such a great group of people, and the fact that they free dive under the ice, just blows me away!

Steve and I then went down to Mexico, and did the DPV Cave Workshop, with Danny. What an amazing week!

We had a couple of days off in between, and went diving with Laurynn and Kathryn. Kathryn took some wicked shots of us, in Minotauro!

Lowering scooters down at Nohoch, was pretty crazy, too…

On our last day, Fred took us to a spot along the ocean that had some flow coming out of it. It was a most awesome day, in the ocean!

Pic taken by Fred Devos…

We had many fun dives in the St. Lawrence River, with new friends and already made friends.

Then, the trip of a lifetime… We were invited onto Elena’s boat, and took a trip around the world (40 hours of travel), to Truk Lagoon. I don’t think I have enough words to describe how incredible this trip was. We met some great friends, were treated like royalty, and did some absolutely amazing dives.

I saw my first sea turtle, got dive-bombed by some big fish (which made me shriek), played with “Nemos,” and saw some of the most amazing wrecks, that I could ever imagine!

Below pics taken by Kevin Davidson…

Pic taken by Leigh Cunningham…

Once we returned, and got back into the River, our 5 year search finally resulted in the finding of that darn truck. Many others have seen it before us, but we just couldn’t seem to find it… until July, 2012. I guess we had to go to Truk, before finding the Truck? Wah wah wah…

Pic taken by Eric’s camera, on a timer…

Steve taught some Fundamentals and DPV 1 courses, as well as did some Rec to Tech upgrades.

Ken and Debbie came for a visit, too!
Mike, Ken, Debbie, Me…

We made it to Kingston, for a long weekend BBQ, just like old times!

Eric and I joined in on a charter with Bottom Time Diving, to help with the SOS Eastcliffe Hall mooring buoy. Luc, Frank, and Sandy had most of it covered, so Eric and I tidied up some of the line. Some crazy surface currents, there!

Then it was time for the 5th Annual Brockville Canadian Invasion! People came from far and wide, and a good time was had by all (I hope)! 🙂 Fred Devos joined us, and gave us a presentation on the Mexico Cave Exploration Project (MCEP), with updates from Ox Bel Ha.

Jenni M was certified this year, and we went to the SOS BBQ, and a dive on the Connie! What a fun day!

The visibility has not been great in the River, this year. I wonder if it has something to do with how warm it got, so quickly. There is also a shortage of zebra mussles, these past couple of years. They are invasive, and cover absolutely everything, but they also give us better vis.

We did quite a few longer scooter dives, this year… and did some investigating in parts that we hadn’t been to before.

Our good friends at DUI made a trip to Alexandria Bay, and since it wasn’t too far, we went to visit! We also did a couple of dives (of course)!

Eric V., Susan L., Me, Steve, Frankie Boy!

Blake, Steve…

Andy, doin’ it Gangnam Style…

I even tried an RB80 on, for size…

We finally scootered out to the Eastcliffe Hall from shore, which was a lot of fun… Even though I came close to thumbing the dive, due to the 2″ visibility, which eventually turned into really nice vis.

…and even more dives, in different parts of the River!

Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Eric, Raluca, John, Corey, James, Steve…

Eric, CoRal, Steve…

We also had more friends come to visit, from the US! Eric P. and Tim F. spent their US Thanksgiving weekend with us. We spent a couple of days at the quarry, and a day at the River! We did have other friends join us, too!

Kevin L., Tim F., Me, Eric P. …

Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Eric P., Bob S., Tim F., John B., Oren L., Steve…

We then had a small army travel down to Mexico, for some cavezzzzzzz! There were over 30 in our group, and there were even more that we joined in with! Our group had different tasks, to help out with the Mexican Cave Exploration Project (MCEP), retrieving sensors from different systems, as well as helping out at Yax Chen/Ox Bel Ha. Thanks so much to Fred, Chris, Danny, Angelica, Jorge, and Eduardo for handling such a giant group, and helping everything to run so smoothly!

We visited many different systems, and were once again mesmerized by the Mexico CAVEZZZZZZ!

Me, coming out of Mayan Blue: B Tunnel. Pic taken by Ali Fikree!

Messing around in the basin of Mayan Blue. Pic taken by Ali Fikree!

Heleen also took some video of us, in Dos Pisos. What a stunning cave!

…and Xtabay/Chac Mool…

There are a few missing from the group shot, but most of us are here!

With such an event-filled year, it is hard to believe that we could beat this one!

*Cheers* to 2013!