Canadian Invasion ~ Kingston Edition

21 08 2009

Friday, August 14th, 2009 ~

The van was locked and loaded once again, as I made my way to the mighty Ktown. This was the second installment of the Canadian Invasion, and for this segment, we were in and on the lake!

We convened for a charter upon the Vickie Marie, out of Northern Tech Diver. This would be the first time on this boat for me, and I was hopeful that there would be no fish feeding moments. It was a bigger boat, so my chances were good! It also helped that the lake was pretty flat.

Due to the fantastic conditions, we decided that we could go out to the Sheboygan, then the Marsh. Two of my favourite wrecks out there!

Captain Vinnie James gives his boat speech…

First mate Nancy has the wheel…

I was teaming up with Mark for these dives, and we both tagged along with Mer and Gerard as well. We descended on to the Sheboygan, and were greeted with some nice visibility. The water temperature was nice ‘n’ frosty below the thermocline, but it was actually quite refreshing, due to the crazy heat wave we were having this weekend. We did a few tours of the wreck, including playing with the prism: Mer and I took turns holding our light on one side of it, while the rest of our posse swam underneath to see it.

Of course, we had more dance moves, and played along side of the wreck. Gerard called me a cheap date… narced at 90’…lol. I guess that makes me narced at 1 ATA as well, seeing as I am the same on the surface. 🙂

We made our way back up to the boat, ditched our tanks, and jumped back in. It was hot!!

Bottom Time ~ 40 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 92′
Water Temp. ~ 64 and 54
Visibility ~ 60′

We gathered back up and headed over to the Marsh. It seems a couple of other boats also decided that the Marsh was a good wreck to dive that day, so we opted to go over to the Comet instead. Good stuff.

When we got there, we met up with Anne and Sorobon, who moved over for us to take the mooring, and Anne hooked up to us. When we reached the wreck, the visibility wasn’t as fantastic as the Sheboygan, but it was an incredibly relaxing dive. We took our time, checked out just about every little nook and cranny, and squeezed through a couple of tight spots as well. Alot of fun! You could actually see the thermocline at the wreck!

Bottom Time ~ 55 mins
Max. Depth ~ 80′
Water Temp. ~ 55 & 64
Visibility ~ 20′ and milky

It seems the combination of a flat lake and a nice, big boat were a great remedy for my stomach. There would be no fish feeding today!

When we came back in, Casey had arrived, and Mer posed with him…

We headed next door for some grub, then back over to the hotel to freshen up and check in. We decided that the call for ice cream was louder than the call for the pillow, so we ventured over to Dairy Queen for some dairy goodness! I opted for the Oreo Blizzard… yummm. When we got back to the hotel, Steve and Frankie were not long to arrive.

Saturday, August 15th, 2009 ~

Today, we had Sorobon and Spike for charters, as well as a group scootering. The charters went out, and the rest of us headed for the KPH, where we were going out to the Stacked Hulls, and checking on the line. Dan MacKay was the captain on this adventure.

George and Dan L getting ready…

Sean and Oren…

Tom, getting ready to take some shots…

Tom, getting ready to take some shots...

Steve, Frankie, and Eric V….

We had quite a large convoy of people, and managed to all stay together on the ride over. We brought our scooters and stage bottles down to the water and geared up.

Dan, Steve, and I were a team, as were Dan L and George, Oren and Sean, and Francois and Eric. We were going to check out the running of the line, and see what needed repair.

We went down to 20′, and did a sweep, looking for the line. Steve thought he had it at one point, but it turned out to be someone’s spool.. doh… We stopped, took care of the situation, and carried on.

I just happened to be looking down at the right moment, and there it was.. “Look! Look! Steve! Line!” W00 H00!! We had found it. Along we went, and Dan cleaned off alot of it as we went. We reached the wreck, tied off our scooters, and checked out the place. This was the first time I had been here, but not for lack of trying. Last year, a bunch of us took the line out of Olympic Harbour, but never made it to the wrecks.

There was alot of wreckage to see. Not a whole lot of structure left, but still an interesting bunch of things to check out. Alot nicer than just dirt and rock. We did a few passes up and down, and Dan inspected the line further.

We turned back, and the three of us decided to follow the other line, that goes to the harbour, to find out why people weren’t making it to the wreck. Well… apart from the line being in the wrong spot, we surfaced to see that we were quite far out. Repair spot!

We went back down and did a bit of swimming, and weed ducking, then headed back in to meet the others. I was sure liking Dan’s new Mini G… Need more pennies…

We packed up and went to the Pilot House for some grub.

It was a really hot day, and a bunch of us opted to chill out at the shop for a while, as some people went back to the hotel for a nap. Christine and I went out for a few odds and ends, for the barbeque, and got a small taste of free beer at the liquor store. Nice treat. We were on a neverending quest for a few items in Wal Mart, and it seems that they were out of a couple of things we needed. Oh well… carry on.

Once we got back to the shop, we were greeted with big smiles. Of course we were… we had beer…lol. We waited for the remaining boats to come in, then fired up the barbeque! Dan L. was an awesome cook, and our burgers ‘n’ dogs were extra yummy! Thanks Dan!

Some more shots from the BBQ!

George, Frankie, Oren…

Erin and Gerard…

I think Tara’s hiding something… or.. is it someone??? There is photographic evidence that she painted the town with Casey, later that night!

Gerard, Andy, Jamie, Mark…

Zi and Kevin A….

Christine!

Mark, taking a bit out of crime!

Mer…

Dan, in his riding gear!

We had a ton of fun in the sun, and were joined by a few others, whose boat came in later. The more, the merrier. I tried some Swedish Berry Cider, thanks to Pickens! That stuff was really nice! We shared the day’s stories and looked forward to the next!

After cleaning up after the BBQ goodness, we headed back to the hotel, reconvened, then went to White Mountain for more ice cream goodness… Homemade ice cream goodness… I can just hear Homer Simpson now.. Mmmmm… ice cream… *drool*

Sunday, August 15th, 2009 ~

The boats went out once again, and the scooter folk headed out to the river, to get a drifting scooter dive in. Well.. we tried… Our attempts to get near Centeen Park were unfounded, as they were having a triathlon, and had all of the roads blocked off.

We met at Tim Horton’s, and altered the plan. It would be Island 99, also known as Teapot Island. I had been here before, but not in quite a while, and never with a scooter. This had been the site of my first ever long hose dive.

There is a hill with a bit of a steep decline into the water, and a private dock. We step to the side of the dock, so that we do not disturb anyone’s property. We carried stages and scooters down the hill, then suited up. With the extreme heat, it was hard to get suits on, but we quickly went down to the water, to get some relief.

Once geared up and in, we dodged the silt and weeds, and hit the basin at around 60′. We headed west, and followed the wall out, where we saw so much. There were bits of china, a sleigh, pots, pans, bottles, and some really big fish. There was a giant cat fish, nesting below a massive rock crevice. We saw sheepshead carp, a muskie, pike, and even some hungry sun fish. One came right up to me, and when I stuck my finger out, he promptly grabbed it. Good thing I had gloves on. Around the corner, we saw many more sun fish. They were all very curious. I had one right up alongside of my face, and Steve pointed out that I had a new buddy. Oren had one nibbling on his fingers as well. What an awesome dive. We made our way back to the basin, and took a compass bearing back to shore. There were way too many weeds to be able to recognize anything. Along the way, we encountered a giant pike, who seemed to be a bit grumpy that we came near his spot.

When we surfaced, the people that own the dock were there, and their dogs had no idea what to make of these strange looking creatures that had just erupted from the deep. They were pretty funny.

Bottom Time ~ 90 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 100′
Water Temp. ~ 73
Visibility ~ 2′ in the shallows, 50’+ in the basin

We climbed out, made the trek up the hill and packed up. Off to the Family Restaurant we went, to meet up with some of the folks from the charter! We filled half of the place, and told stories of our weekend.

Another excellent weekend of diving goodness.

Being the first year for the Kingston Invasion, I have a couple of things to iron out, but all in all, I would vote it a success. Everyone went diving, and everyone had fun. It was pretty amazing to have so many people from so many different places and backgrounds in diving, come together and just dive and have fun.

Thank you so much to everyone at Northern Tech diver, for all of their help and hospitality. Thanks also to Kingston Dive Charters for all that they did for us too. Anne and Chris McMullen… I never got pictures of you!!

Commander Tom…

Cap’n. Harold…

Cap’n. Vinnie James…

Chris and Mike… two of the best helpers anywhere… Thanks guys!!

Here are a couple of shots of the new fill station that was up and running for us!

Until next year!!!


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Categories : Diving In 2009!, Invasions

Another Kingston Adventure

15 07 2009

Friday, June 26th, 2009 ~

I packed the DGTU #2 with two sets of doubles and a scooter, and made the journey to Kingston. Steve was already there, interning on a Fundies course, and I was going to meet Andy for some diving goodness.

I arrived at the shop early, and attempted to use my little old laptop. Booting it up was painfully slow, and I wasn’t having much success. I finally got frustrated, and James and I took off to the store, to purchase a netbook. I’ve been wanting one of those little guys for a while, and it was the insubordination of my laptop that finally pushed me over the edge.

In our quest for the netbook, James found a purchase for himself, which proved quite humourous, when we returned to the shop. Apparently, the super soaker is 20 years old now, and they’ve come out with an Anniversary Edition…

James caught a rabbit…

…and a Mike…

Since I received news that my dive buddy was running a bit late, I headed over to the quarry, with the class, for a few class pictures.

Steve, and our DGTU #1…

Dan…

Steve, getting his students ready…

I like this one of Guy…

When the class had finished their day, and Andy made it to town, we all went out for some grub, and called it a night.

Saturday, June 27th, 2009 ~

Saturday, we all met at the shop, and tried to get on a boat. The boats were fully booked, so we were contemplating which shore dive to do.

While the boats were loading, I also ran into David and Cynthia, from California, that I had chatted with earlier in the year.

Here’s David, with his left chest clip…

David and Cynthia…

Andy, Jenn E., and I decided to head over to Amherst Island. We packed up DGTU #2, and headed for the ferry.

We arrived at the public dock, and came upon some really nice people fishing, with a ton of questions about diving.

Andy and the entry point…

Exit…

I had never been to this site before, and would really be putting my compass skills to the test. We were given a brief description of what we might find, and that there was a rock wall to follow.

We entered the water, did a briefing, and headed off to explore. The visibility wasn’t that great above 20′, but the water was pretty warm. We were swimming amongst the weeds for a bit, then decided to go down the sloping silt for a bit, to see if we could find the wall. When I say silt… holy smokes… That bottom layer had such loose silt on it, that you could probably put your arm right down through it, and still not feel the bottom. There was a definite thermocline at 21′, and you could actually see the haze of the warmer water above it. The visibility was much better at 21′.

We saw alot of dirt, weeds, the odd little fish, some pipe, and some rather large Sheepshead Carp. There were quite a few of them, although very elusive. We did find a few old pots and pans, as well as a couple of bowls, urns, and bottles. Other than that, not much else. We never did find that limestone wall. After deciding that we had seen enough dirt for one day, we turned the dive, and headed back in. I took a bearing on my compass, and we had a nice swim back.

When we surfaced, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that we were right at the dock, where we started. Wow… those compass things really DO work!

Bottom Time ~ 67 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 36′
Water Temp. ~ 68 above thermocline; 60 below
Visibility ~ 10′ – 40′

Andy and I…

Jenn, playing with my P Valve…lol…

We packed up, and headed back over to the ferry, where we took a ride back over to the main land.

It seems my iPod was following along the same path as my laptop, and would not work. Sorry… no Lady Gaga on the way back to the shop.

We felt like getting back into the water, so we headed over to the Brule Road Quarry, and Andy and I dipped in for some skills.

Bottom Time ~ 38 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 26′
Water Temp. ~ 66
Visibility ~ 5′ – 20′

A big group of us ended up going to Montana’s for some food, then to sleep!

Sunday, June 28th, 2009 ~

There was a charter available for us, so myself, Andy, Kevin, Dave H., Cynthia, Sean, and Claudia joined Anne on Sorobon for some diving goodness!

The lake was pretty flat, so I was good to go.

We went out to the Marsh for our first dive. The Marsh is a three masted schooner, sitting upright, in about 80′ of water. The bow sprit is completely intact, and still has ropes and chains hanging from it. This is one of my favourite Kingston wrecks.

We descended down to the wreck, and made a couple of passes up and down, looking at the dead eyes, then heading to the bow, to get a good view of the front of the wreck. I always seem to do that on this wreck. It’s hard not to, when it is so stunning to look at.

Bottom Time ~ 35 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 79′
Water Temp. ~ 49
Visibility ~ 20′

Seeing as the lake was still flat when we surfaced, my stomach allowed me to do a second dive, which was on the Maple Glen.

I had never done this wreck before, and was pleasantly surprised by how much there was to see on it. We descended to the wreck, and came up to a set of very large boilers. There was wreckage spread out over quite a distance, and really kept my interest. We then came up to a very large prop, which was also pretty amazing to see.

Bottom Time ~ 38 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 69′
Water Temp. ~ 47
Visibility ~ 20′

What an awesome day on the lake, and I did not feed the fish!

We returned back to the shop, where we unloaded the boats, and missed the torrential downpour of rain.

It was another most excellent weekend of diving goodness, and hanging out with friends!

Guy, Dan, and Steve ~ The Dream Team!

Andy, looking sharp in his new “DIR Ontario” jacket!


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Categories : Diving In 2009!

Mooring Day ~ Part Two

13 05 2009

Sunday, May 10th, 2009 ~ 

 

It was Mother’s Day, and I made sure that I called my mum on the way over to the shop. Steve had left a few minutes earlier than I did, as he was starting his ITC this morning, and wanted to get Timmy’s first. Jen wasn’t far behind me… literally… I think we just missed each other, passing in the hallway. We weren’t sure if the boats were going to go out, as the weather wasn’t looking too promising, and the internet told us that there would be possible storms later on, and high winds. 

 

My first thought was that I should probably stay off the boats today, as my tummy really doesn’t like the waves out on the lake. Of course, I thought about it for a while, hemmed and hawed, and without alot of persuasion from Anne and Oren, I loaded up the boat, geared up, and off we went. 

The winds are coming from the North! That’s a good thing! The waves won’t be bad!

We were going to attempt to raise the moorings on the Cornwall, the Glendora, and possibly a third, depending on the weather. Myself, Jen, James Y., Sean, and Nancy boarded  Sorobon once again. Oren and John were aboard Seadeucer. 

James Y. aka Vinnie…

 

Jen and Sean…

 

Nancy…

 

Anne even braided my hair for me…

 

All was well on the ride out, and Anne brought us to the numbers for the Cornwall. Anne said, “Now!” to throw out the shot line, and Sean tossed it in. My tummy was beginning to turn a bit, so I geared up and got in. The waves were really moving now, so the quicker I got in, the better. Once I was in, I was a happy camper. I made my way over to the shot line, where Jen met me shortly after. Instead of descending right away, we waited for Sean to come over, so that they wouldn’t lose sight of the shot line, with the waves rockin’ like they were. Once he was there, we set off.

There was “word on the lake” that this line was a bit entangled, so Jen and I figured we’d check it out before the boys came down to throw it up. Once we got down, once again, we were right at the wreck. Way to go Anne and Sean!!!

(That was for you CMaul)!

We saw the mooring line on the opposite side of the wreck, and made our way over to it. We followed it along, checked it as we went along, and once at the bottom chain, saw that it didn’t look to be in bad shape at all. The boys would be fine.

Since neither of us had done this wreck before, Jen and I decided to take a little tour down the middle of it. We came upon one of the paddle wheels, that was still intact, but fallen over, as well as the intact boilers. We decided to go check on James and Sean, and headed back toward the line. We met them half way, where they gave us the “ok” and carried on with their dive.

As Jen and I made our way to the line, we saw the line that the guys had successfully sent up, and although it was a bit jerky with the water movement, all looked fine and dandy. We continued around to where the shot line was, and it was clear that Jen and I both had the same thought. We noticed how close it had moved toward the wreck, and thought we should move it a bit, so that it didn’t get entangled in the wreck, as it was pulled up. We made our way to it, and Jen moved it over a bit.

Ok… let’s go home…

We went back over to where the line was…

Um.. yeah… it WAS here about 2 minutes ago…

The first thought through my head was that the boat was moored to it, and they were drifting…away. Jen and I looked at each other, and knew that we both weren’t seeing things. It really wasn’t there! Lol…

James and Sean were now on the scene as well, so the four of us headed back over to the shot line, where we ascended, and blew a bag.

When we surfaced… yup… no boat… lol… It didn’t take them long to get back to us though. Anne was going to bring in the shot line, and realized that it wasn’t there. She then realized that the numbers were off, so she immediately headed over to us, where we had a bit of a chuckle, and got back on board. It was a bit “rock and roll” with the waves, but we all got up safely. At least they were able to pull up the entire line, so it can be fixed and replaced.

“I swear there was a line there!”

I guess we can’t chalk that one up to David Copperfield. I don’t think he was in town on Sunday.

Bottom Time ~ 32 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 74′
Water Temp. ~ 42
Vis. ~ 40′

Once we had a debrief and a good chuckle, we headed over to the Glendora.

My tummy had not been too bad until this point, but with the bumping and grinding, I think I went instantly green. Jen said that I was a mix between grey and green. I really wanted to get back in the water, but couldn’t even bring myself to gear up. Argh… stoopid seasick.. pft… At least I didn’t give in to it… this time.

Jen was going to go in with Nancy, but they were not in the water long.

Once the boys came back on board, we headed back to the dock, with me in the fetal position, the entire trip back.

 

I did take a picture of James’ iPhone, where he had marked where we were…

 

I was able to sit up a few minutes before reaching NTD, and Jen noticed that the colour had returned to my face. They were all placing bets on how quickly I would kiss firm ground. 😉

Once back, we unloaded our gear, met the rest of the gang, then went to grab some grub. My tummy was still a bit funny, so I took most of my dinner to go!

Despite my churning tummy, the twisting waves, and the rocky weather, it was amazing to get back to Kingtson, for the diving, as well as hanging out with good friends. I can’t wait to get back out next weekend!


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Categories : Diving In 2009!

Mooring Day ~ Part One

13 05 2009

Saturday, May 9th, 2009 ~ 

 

Steve and I packed up both of our vehicles, and headed for the mighty Ktown, to help out with Mooring Day! We arrived on Friday night, met some of the gang for dinner, then headed to our hotel. Jen was in the room beside us. 

 

Saturday morning, we headed to Northern Tech Diver, and it seemed that Steve and I took the long way… so we got there after Jen did. We loaded up the boat, then headed out to the City Of Sheboygan, to raise the mooring. It was pretty grey outside, and the weather was supposed to get a bit nasty in the afternoon, so we were on a mission! Myself, Steve, Jen B., James P., James F., Oren, and Kevin L. were all aboard, with Captain Annie at the helm.

Anne…


  

The City of Sheboygan is pretty far out, so we had to get to this one early, before the weather turned. There were rumours of some bad weather coming in the afternoon.  

Kevin L. and James F. letting us loose…

 

James Y. and Sean came out in the little boat…

 

Once we arrived at the City Of Sheboygan numbers, Captain Annie lined up, and Jen threw in the shot line. Since I tend to get a little seasick, I got in the water as soon as I could. We gathered around the shot line, descending a bit, and did our bubble checks before going into the blue yonder. When we got down… BINGO!! We were right alongside the wreck. Nice one, Anne!! Steve and Oren sent up the line, and we had an amazing tour around the wreck. What amazing visibility too! This one has always been one of my favourites, and due to my upset tummy, the lake needs to be pretty flat for me to get to it. The lake can turn pretty quickly too.

I did notice that the mooring block had created a bigger crater in its resting spot, since I saw it last year. The hole seems to be getting quite a bit wider.

We ascended, and hopped back on the boat. We were all smiles, except for Jen, who had had a bit of a glove leak… doh…

 

Although,  she still had a wicked dive, with her new 130s and 21w light.

Bottom Time ~ 35 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 96′
Water Temp. ~ 43
Visibility ~ 60′

Steve and Kevin L., hooking and bringing in the shot line…

 

The weather started to turn a bit. It started to really rain, as opposed to the light sprinkling we started out with. Hmm… do we carry on or head in? Doh… that was lightening… Holy crap… that one was close. Yep, we’re heading in. It would still take us about 30 minutes to get back. At one point, we all huddled in the Captain’s quarters, although I’m not sure how safe we were in a metal boat, with tanks for lightening rods. Perhaps it would hit the ladder first?

 

The weather let up a bit, and we had a visitor on our tail…

 

Captain Harold and Seadeucer with their new radar…

 

Harold stopped for a hello, then headed off again. The rain was on and off, as was the thunder and lightening.

We passed by one of the islands, and although the picture doesn’t show how cool it looked, here it is anyway…

 

Jen and I…

 

When we arrived back at the dock, we unloaded and went for some grub.

After lunch, Anne and Harold wanted to go for a splash too. The sun had come out a bit, so Steve, Jen, and I said we’d guard the boat. What better way to get over seasickness, than to just do it…. uh… right…

Anne took Sorobon over to the Munson, as it is pretty close, and sheltered by the bay.

 

James P. and Oren were also along for a splash. It would have been great to jump in, but I didn’t mind being boat guard. On the way out, there were a couple of Sea Doos playing in our wake…

 

James and Harold gearing up. I think they were doing a dance…

 

Anne, about to roll back…

 

While they were gone, we found ways to amuse ourselves…

Steve…

 

Me…

 

Jen, on the look out!

 

Here they come!

Anne…

 

Harold…

 

James…

 

Oren and Jen…

 

On the way back in, I did feel a bit crappy, but I was able to keep my tummy in check.

Rainbow shot…

 

When we got back in, the dock was a-rockin’, so Harold tied the dock and the boats down…

 

Monster from the deep!

 

Although we only got one wreck moored, we still had a ton of fun, and the other boat did get the Douglas and the Frontenac moored.

James Y. back at home base, playin’ a tune…

 

We gathered up and headed to the Rose and Crown, where we discussed the day’s adventures and planned for tomorrow’s.

Stay tuned for Part Two!


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Tech 1 Report!

29 08 2008

Monday, August 25th – Friday, August 29th, 2008 ~

Jacob, Dmitri, and I convened at Northern Tech Diver, in Kingston, to start our Tech 1 course. Dan MacKay was our instructor.

Day 1 ~

We met in the classroom for our introductions, dive planning, risk assessment, line formations, and many other subjects.

We also did dives 1 and 2 at the Brule Road Quarry. Dive 1 was the final Fundies dive, which I led.

~ Descend ~ 1 min. stop @ 10′, then down to 20′
~ Valve Drills, S Drills, Backfin, Heli turns
~ Demonstrate finning techniques, then an emergency/failure
~ Timed ascent to the surface, with third blowing a bag

This dive went really well… but… I’ve been doing valve drills over the last year, not only in our skills dives, but also every night before I go to sleep, I do one in my head… (yes, you can call me a geek)…I swear, it must have been the Dan Effect… This was the first time I had forgotten to switch back to my primary reg, after turning it back on. Yes.. I did it… I shut down my left post while still breathing it… I thumped myself in the head, turned it back on, switched to my primary, and carried on.

Can you say… duhhhhhh? Although I would have loved to have blamed it on doing the “old” valve drill, I came clean and admitted that I had never learned the “old” one. 

I guess I’ll have to follow what Leigh says… “I shall be ridiculed in the locker room for years to come.”

Bottom Time ~ 45 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 24′
Water Temp. ~ 75
Vis. ~ 20′

We surfaced and discussed, then went down for Dive 2. This dive was much shorter, but we went through a couple more emergencies and finning techniques, then another timed ascent.

Bottom Time ~ 17 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 24′
Water Temp. ~ 75
Vis. ~ 20′

We returned back to the classroom, where we duscussed the dives and covered more of the classroom work.

Day 2 ~

We met at the shop again, where we went through Gas Management, Blending, Standard Mixes, Gas Profiles, Physics, Valve Failures, and Line Work.

We went outside, ran some line, and did a land based “no vis” line drill. We practiced some of the valve failures that we would do in water today.

We ventured out to the Marine Museum for dives 3 & 4.

Dmitri laid the line, I tightened it, and Jacob tightened it some more… (we were advised to make sure it was extra tight). D tied the line off to a permanent line, and we swam around a bit. Lo and behold, there were valve failures galore! If I remember correctly, there were about 4 or 5 failures each, and eventually we had some that were not fixable.. sheesh.. we’d better get ourselves some more reliable gear!

The next section was a no vis. line drill. This was an absolute blast… We handed over our masks, one at a time, and had to get back to our starting point. I’m not sure if my buddies heard me giggling throughout this drill, but we freight trained it back down the line! Apparently we made it back down the line in one third of the time it took to run it. Lol… we got our masks back, and headed back out for more failures. This one would be a dive ender, so we headed back in!

Total Bottom Time ~ 107 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 36′
Water Temp. ~ 73
Vis. ~ 20′

We once again went back to the classroom for more scuba school and dive discussion.

Day 3 ~

Today we discussed Decompression and planned today’s dives. We went out to the Munson for three different dives. Each of us would lead one. We were diving 30/30, with 50% deco gas.

First Dive ~ Jacob was the leader. We descended on to the wreck, Jacob ran some line, and oh my goodness, we had a valve failure! We turned the dive, doing timed stops to the surface. We carried our deco bottles, but did not use them

Second Dive ~ I led this one. We descended on to the wreck, I picked up the line and made a couple of placements… Holy smokes… a valve failure! We turned the dive, making our stop and gas switch at 70′, then timed stops to the surface.

Third Dive ~ Dmitri was the leader. We descended on to the wreck, D picked up the line, made a couple of placements, and lo and behold, I had a valve failure! We turned the dive, just as Jacob had an OOA! It’s amazing how all of these failures just happened at the same time! HeHe… Dmitri donated to him, and we started up the line. We did our gas switches, and did a timed ascent to the surface.

I really enjoyed these dives, and they went very well.  Our team worked well together.

Total Bottom Time ~ 82 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 101′
Water Temp. ~ 54/68 above thermocline
Vis. ~ 40′

We went back to the shop, discussed, and planned for tomorrow’s dive.

Day 4 ~

Today we headed to Rockport for Experience Dive 1. The plan was 150′ for 20 minutes, using 21/35, along the Rockport Wall. Jacob was leading. We descended, and made it to our target depth in 3 minutes. We swam against the current for 3 mins., then drifted along the wall. The current was slower in some spots than others, so we had to swim a bit of the way. We came up to our max. bottom time, so we started our ascent, with stops along the way. We did our gas switches at 70′, and started our deco obligations. When we reached the surface, we had big grins on our faces… What an awesome dive!

Run Time ~ 65 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 160′
Water Temp. ~ 72

We headed back to the shop, where we did our exam.

Day 5 ~

Experience Dive 2. Planned depth was 165, using 18/45. We followed the same route as the day before, swimming into the current for 3 minutes, then drift along the wall. The current was moving a little more than the day before, but wasn’t significant. When we reached the end of the wall, there was more of a back eddy as well. We reached our “turn point,” and started the ascent, with rolling stops along the way, gas switch at 70′, and our planned deco to the surface. We surfaced, discussed, and were pretty happy with the dive. I also saw some fish that I hadn’t seen before.

Upon returning to the shop, we went through the exam, and all three of us were congratulated with a pass.

I have to say that I thought this was an amazing course, and would like to thank Dan, my buddies, Jacob and Dmitri, for a fantastic week of diving and learning.

Thanks also to Steve and Leigh for putting up with me, while working on skillz, getting ready this year.

Dmitri, Myself, Jacob…


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Categories : Diving Chronicles Of 2008!

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