Save Ontario Shipwrecks | Chanb77's Weblog

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!

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Tags: Bloggy Thing, Brockville, Centeen Park, Chan's Bloggy Thing, DIR Ontario, Diving, Diving Blog, Diving Goodness, Fundamentals, Gaskin, GUE, GUE Day, GUE Divers, GUE Ontario, Project Baseline, Project Baseline: St. Lawrence River - Canada, Save Ontario Shipwrecks, Scooter, Scooter Dive, Skills, SOS, SOS 1000 Islands, St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence River, Suex Scooter, XK1
Categories : Twenty Fifteen

We Are Water – Jill Heinerth

16 07 2013

Monday, July 15th, 2013 ~

Jill Heinerth and Robert McClellan have been cycling across Canada, presenting “We Are Water,” to many different venues, across Canada. Since they were going to be in Ottawa, we were able to schedule a presentation, with SOS (Save Ontario Shipwrecks).

We had approximately 30 people in attendance, at the Orleans Public Library.

Thanks to Robert and a few others, for building a fort in front of the windows, to block as much light as possible, for the video!

Jill started off the presentation by showing us a childhood picture, telling us how she loved the water from a young age, and then moved on to worldwide experiences, throughout some of the world’s cave systems. Who knew that to go cave diving in certain places, that you would need to learn how to use a machine gun? 😛

We then watched a clip from the “We Are Water” video, that included so many little things that we can do, to help conserve our fresh water resources.

I think that this is such a worth cause, and can’t even imagine cycling across the country, like that! Robert even showed us a little bit of his “Cycler’s Tan!”

There were some items available to purchase, with all proceeds going towards the We Are Water project (including all admission fees – the room cost was donated by Steve and I).

We also presented Jill with a Lifetime Membership to SOS. I think we can forgive your membership lapse, Jill! 😛

Picture taken by Robert McClellan…

Yes, there was even a little bit of time for some silliness…

Thank you so much, to Robert and Jill, for taking time out of their busy schedules, to share “We Are Water,” with us!

Thank you very much for the book, too!!!

You can follow their journey, here:

http://www.wearewaterride.com/

More info on the project, how to purchase the video, and make donations, here:

http://www.wearewaterproject.com/We_Are_Water/About.html

Also, Jill’s post about the evening:

http://www.wearewaterride.com/2013/07/16/look-whos-knocking/

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Tags: Diving Goodness, Jill Heinerth, Orleans, Robert McClellan, Save Ontario Shipwrecks, SOS, We Are Water
Categories : 2000 + 13

SOS Daryaw Mooring Moving Day!

6 05 2013

Sunday, May 5th, 2013 ~

We stayed in Cape Vincent Saturday night (thanks to Bob and Chris), then made our way back over the border, for Sunday morning charter. We were climbing aboard Tom Scott’s boat (Under Where? Charters), and were going to help moving the new mooring block on the Daryaw.

We all met in the parking lot, discussed the plan, and loaded up. Each team had a job to do, and almost everything went according to plan. 😉

Captain Ryan, at the helm.

There were 6 of us with scooters, so first, we had to locate the block (Steve’s and my job). Once we found it, Steve blew a bag to the surface, and we showed Team 2 where it was. Team 3 shot up a bag from the old mooring, so that Tom could tie the boat into it, while we worked with the mooring block. Another team attached the shackles to it, then some mighty big lift bags, and we were off to the races.

The boat was able to move the block within 10′ of the intended spot. Not bad, teams!

Bottom Time: 55 mins.
Max. Depth: 93′
Water Temp.: 46F

Some pics from the day!

After all of the teams surfaced, and all of the bags were picked up, we headed back to shore.

You can see the size of the lift bags, here…

My favourite dive buddy, and I. Thanks for a great day, Tom! 🙂

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Tags: Brockville, Diving, Diving Goodness, Gavin Scooter, GUE, GUE Divers, GUE Ontario, Save Ontario Shipwrecks, SOS, St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence River, Technical Diving
Categories : 2000 + 13

SOS AGM, 2013 ~ Port Dover

15 04 2013

Saturday, April 13th, 2013 ~

After a long drive from Ottawa to Port Dover (about 6 hours, on the Friday night), I arrived…. almost… It seems that the bridge that I was trying to get across was closed for the night, and blocked off by police cruisers. Since there was a detour sign, I took the detour, only to be greeted by another officer, closing off the other side. I was pretty tired, and just wanted to sleep, so I walked up to the cruiser, to ask what I should do. She told me that I needed to go back around the way that I came (which was not exactly an easy task, at 11:15pm, after a bunch of twists and turns to get where I was), and ask the officer if I could go through.

So… I did… eventually… after a 5.5 km detour. I finally made it to the hotel, and they had left my room open for me (thanks for arranging that, Chris). After convincing myself that a little bug on my pillow was nothing more than just that (it really was nothing more than that), I crashed out…Zzzzzzz…..

I headed over to the Port Dover Harbour Museum, where I met up with a bunch of friends, and it was not long until we were “off to the races.” Chris Phinney opened up, followed by Ian Bell, giving us some of the history of the Port Dover Harbour Museum. He also manages the Museum.

Chris P…

Ian Bell…

There were a few prize breaks in between the speakers, which was fun… although, I didn’t win anything. Oh, well. 🙂

Bob Sherwood gave his presentation on the Vickery Project, too…

Then, Cris Kohl and Joan Forsberg gave a presentation on Shipwreck Tales Of The Great Lakes.

We then had a lunch break, where we checked out the museum (of course, we had some yummy sandwiches, too).

Warren was at the helm…

…while Krissy was keeping watch for intruders!

Rick Lymer is no stranger to this spot!

After our lunch break, we gave out some very deserving awards. Among them, was Cris Kohl, receiving the Marine Heritage Award – We caught him by surprise. Congratulations!

Then came the AGM part of the weekend, which was an interesting part of the day, and good to discuss items on the “menu,” with members from all SOS chapters.

After the meeting, Ian Bell came up again, and told us about the Shipwreck history of Port Dover and folklore, which was really neat to listen to. Ian had some really great stories. I really enjoyed hearing about the things that happened, and learned a lot about the town of Port Dover.

Capping off the day, were Cris Kohl and Joan Forsberg.

What a great day!

At dinner, of course, there was a little bit of shenaniganry going on. Dar and I had a couple of friends join us…

The Port Dover beach. You can see the lighthouse in the background, as well as the very murky water…

Sunday’s events were workshops, which I would have loved to have taken part in, but I opted to start the journey back home. There were a couple that I was especially interested in:

Primitive SkillsMooring Systems
Historic Artifact Identification

I did get a chance to walk around the pier on Sunday morning, which I am glad that I did!

Next year, the SOS will be in Brockville! Come on out for some excellent information on shipwrecks, and a great place to be!

If you are not a member of Save Ontario Shipwrecks, please consider it. Education about preserving our wrecks is a very important thing!

http://saveontarioshipwrecks.ca/user/register

Dar and I!

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Tags: Bloggy Thing, Diving Goodness, Great Lakes, GUE Divers, GUE Ontario, Lake Erie, Port Dover, Save Ontario Shipwrecks, SOS, SOS AGM
Categories : 2000 + 13

Goin’ Back To Connie…

26 08 2012

Saturday, August 25th, 2012 ~

Today, I was hangin’ with Jenni M and Andy, and we went to join in on the SOS (Save Ontario Shipwrecks) Dive and BBQ! When I arrived, Jenn and Andy were already there, and the majority of the SOS folks had gone up to the Wee Hawk, to drift down to the Conestoga. We decided to get in at the Connie, and have an easy go of it. Jenni M was going diving!!! 😛

We geared up, got in, did gear checks, and down we went. I figured that doing a nice, shallow wreck would be a good opportunity to bring my camera along!

I have not been on this wreck in about 7 years, and it was neat to see it again.

Looking up through the broken stern…

Jenni M, New Diver Extraordinaire!

Andy, giving the moose ears!

A view of the stack, that you can actually see above the surface of the water.

Fancy meeting Luc here!

Lookin’ good, Jenni M! Yes, I think this should be a hair commercial…

We even saw a little pike in the weeds, that did not seem to care that we were there.

We made a few passes of the wreck, dodging the current at the bow, and checked out some of the fish spots (where they were hiding from the current).

Bottom Time: 37 mins.
Max. Depth: 20′
Water Temp.: 75F
Visibility: Not horrible, but the camera made it look much better.

It was then time for BBQ! SOS had reserved the pavillion and the BBQ, and we had all brought goodies to share. Luc was the “Le Chef,” and I have to say, that he did a fantastic job. Thanks, Luc!