GUE Day – Centeen Park

24 05 2015

Saturday, May 23rd, 2015 ~

Today, we met up with a whole bunch of GUE friends, and a few GUE-interested friends, for a day of training, skills, and fun!

Steve and I were packed and almost ready to go, the night before, as we had planned on leaving our place at 6:30am. Ok, we were a few minutes late, leaving, but we still got to the park with time to spare.

We set up the big tent, brought out the chairs and coolers, and got our gear ready. It was pretty chilly out (around 4C), and the wind was blustery!

Steve started his Training Day, and I briefed my dive buddies on our dive.

My dive buddies: Nick, Roger, and Matthieu…

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Here is my fabulous drawing, of the Gaskin (yeah, I know – I’m not going to win any awards, here)…

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Andy also came to play, but would dive with Mario, Lisa, and Jen B.!

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Andy…

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Steve, getting started with his Training Day, with Marianne, Denis, and Sylvain!

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Nick, Matthieu, Roger, and I went out to the Gaskin, to do an impromptu Project Baseline dive! I had my camera with me, so figured that it would be a good time to do it!

Nick and Roger, as we made our way to the line…

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Matthieu, to my right. Oops… I caught some of his bubbles!

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We had a nice, relaxing swim out, with hardly any current. As we got to the bow, I took a photo, for PB.

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Poor thing is really falling apart…

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Matthieu, outside the stern, of the wreck…

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Nick, inside the wreck…

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Roger, inside the wreck…

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The stern is pretty badly broken up, too.

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It has deteriorated quite a bit, over the winter. View from the stern…

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Diving Goodness!

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We headed back to the basin, and it occurred to me, that I didn’t see the statues, on the way out. There was the little one, but not the standing ones. Hmmm… Our plan was to check them out, on the way back in.

We surfaced, and Jen, Andy, Lisa, and Mario were doing their gear checks, to do their dive. Apparently, the statues were moved, two days prior! That explains things, and confirms that I’m not completely devoid of my marbles (I know, it’s close, but I do still have a few)!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 6 minutes
Max. Depth: 70′
Avg. Depth: 40′
Water Temp.: 51F (53F, in shallows)

We regrouped, then went back down, to find the new resting spot, for the statues! Lo and behold, there’s the fella, at the desk!

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…and… of course, a selfie, with my statue buddy…

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It was a short one, but it was another fun dive!

Bottom Time: 14 minutes
Max. Depth:  29′
Avg. Depth: 23′
Water Temp.:  53F

Group shot! I was trying to smile, but my face wasn’t cooperating.

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We got out, had a spot of lunch, and the guys went for fills. There were various teams in and out of the water, for the rest of the day, and we had an absolute blast! If only we had a little bit warmer surface temperature, all would have been perfect!

Lisa! Power Ranger!

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Steve’s dive debriefing…

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Sylvain, putting his gear together…

 

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Mario and Lisa, before their second dive!

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Marianne, after her dives! Smiles are good!

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Marianne, Steve, Denis, and Sylvain…

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Denis even got to try out his scooter!

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A great day!

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A big shout-out to SOS – 1000 Islands Chapter, for all of the work that they have done, at Centeen Park, including putting in these benches! They are fantastic!

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They came in handy!

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You can support these efforts, by getting these fancy Centeen Park Diver Tags! They are not mandatory, but very much appreciated, if you dive at Centeen Park (contact us, or a 1000 Islands Chapter member, for tags). $10, for the year!

Also, a Happy Birthday, to Pierli!

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Despite the “wind chill,” it was still an extra fun day, and we plan on doing it again! Come on out, and join us!

 

 





Rollin’ Up And Down The River…

23 06 2014

Saturday, June 21st, 2014 ~

Since Steve and I were the only team available for the initial Project Baseline: St. Lawrence River – Canada dive, we decided to do a bit of a dive, before our station-seeking, on the Gaskin.

We brought our scooters and a camera along, and went for a ride!

We scootered upstream, and before we dropped into the channel, we played around, and took some pictures…
(Pics of me, taken by Steve; Pics of Steve, taken by me – Nikon D200 – playing with strobes)

 

After our “photo session,” we dropped into the channel, and looked for anything “neat,” that we could find!

We did come across many burned planks of wood, that could very well have come from a couple of the wrecks, from the War of 1812. We know that they were burned at the water line, in the area.

Also along the path of wreckage…

More burned wood…

There was a lot of debris along the path that we took, and we are happy that we had the camera along, to take some pics of it.

Once we started to make our way back up to the Gaskin, we readied for our initial Project Baseline: St. Lawrence River – Canada dive. Details of that dive, are in the entry, before this one – found, HERE!

 

Bow of the Gaskin…

If you would like more information on Project Baseline, and how to get involved, in your own community, you can find information HERE!

Doing a little deco, at 30’…

…and a little more deco, at 20′!

Bottom Time: 3 hours, 12 mins.
Max. Depth: 107′
Water Temp.: 60F
Vis.: 5′ to 20′ – milky

I did get a little chilly, near the end of the dive, but it was absolutely wonderful, to be playing out in the channel, again!

 





Project Baseline: St. Lawrence River – Canada ~ Initial Dive

22 06 2014

Saturday, June 21st, 2014 ~

We didn’t have any GUE Ontario members that were able to join us, for the initial Project Baseline dive, so Steve and I went out in search of the best spot, for one of the stations. Our initial station will be on the bow of the Robert A. Gaskin. Our goals will be to monitor the deterioration of the wreck, as well as the water temperatures, visibility, and any obvious changes (eg. fish, eels).

The ship was originally launched in April, 1863, in Kingston, Ontario.

Since we were the only two divers, we decided to go for a scooter up the St. Lawrence River, and end up at the Gaskin, on our way back. Steve had the camera, in hand.

As we approached the Gaskin, the visibility was not the best. The camera would make it appear better than it was, but it was still tough to get shots, where the camera could focus very easily.

A few different angles:

Taken from 49’…

From above the deck, with the bow to the right…

Taken from 59’…

Water temperature: 60F (top to bottom)
Visibility: 25′ (a bit milky – camera makes it look clearer)

We have established a natural station, for the bow, and will do others on the aft starboard side, as well as the stern, where there is noticeable damage to the wreck. We did see a few small fish.

Project Baseline Dive #1 = Complete!