Ahh… Jodrey Goodness!

13 10 2013

Saturday, October 12th, 2013 ~

We gathered a few of the troops, and headed down to Caiger’s. Our charter was in the afternoon, so we brought some gear down to the docks, to wait for the morning folks to return. Once River Diver came in, we gave the other divers some time to unload, then we climbed aboard!

We did our usual stop at Boldt Castle, for customs clearance, then made our way over to the mooring tree. The usual branch had been broken, so we settled on another one. We couldn’t figure out why Frankie wasn’t grabbing it, until we noticed that it was just hanging there. 😛

We went through the usual routine… gear checks, pre-dive briefing, etc… then, off we went. Eric V. and Frankie teamed up, and Sofie and Cas joined Steve and I!

Our plan was to stay on the bow, so we got down the wall, and did a bit of a tour. We decided not to go in anywhere, since 4 people would have been a little much for a lot of the spaces. Steve brought the Go Pro, and got a little bit of footage, too.

We had a little bit of bumper car action, on deco. It was nice and relaxing, but since there were four of us, we did catch a little bit of the current, which just made us have to use a fin, here and there. I seem to recall that someone’s bottom timer bungee may have come into contact with my spring strap. My spring strap won. 😛

We also noticed the vacuum cleaner, that we had not seen in a really long time. It used to be near the stool (at 20′), but is now sitting a little bit downstream.

Once most of our deco was up, we scootered around to the bowl – where the boat was anchored, finished up, then made our slow ascent to the surface, where we did our 1 ATA deco stop – Or, chilled at the surface. There were a few smiles. 😀

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 16 mins.
Max. Depth: 187′
Water Temp.: 62F

I think Cas is fitting right in, as he has learned the “Moose Ears” signal!

The one and only… Frankie Boy!

Eric V. …

Rick had a bunch of Deco Cookies for us, too! No, I didn’t eat all of those cookies!

Group shot 1…

Group shot 2…

Once we returned to Caiger’s, we had to stay on the boat, until we cleared customs. We had visions of the sun going down, and us shivering in the dark, but… that didn’t happen. We were cleared in no time, and the unloading began! We were at a pretty far dock, thanks to the very low water levels. Once we had all of our stuff put away, it was Swiss Chalet for dinner, where we met up with even more friends.

Ahhhh… It doesn’t get much better than this… :o)


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : 2000 + 13

To The Power House!

10 10 2013

October, 2013 ~

Ahhh…. an afternoon dive, out of Guindon Park. We unloaded our gear at the water, moved the van and car to a parking spot, and got ready to dive!

We did our gear checks, and away we went. We scootered south, down the “trench,” drifted for a bit, then south again, where we reached the Overflow Bridge. This meant that we had gone a bit too far, for the Power House. Steve had the Go Pro, so as he was tending to something else, I decided to make some funny faces for the camera (it was on a scooter mount).

We changed our direction, and made our way a little further west, and finally found it! w00t! We tied off our scooters, and went inside a large opening. We swam around, checked out a few different spots, and even came upon a very large eel. He didn’t really want to spend any time with us, so we left him alone.

We exited, removed our stage bottles (added them to our scooter bouquet), and went inside a smaller opening. This was a lot of fun, and we came out another hole, which was right below our gear.

Time to turn back! As we got to the shallows, we surfaced to confirm where we were, and we happened upon an absolutely gorgeous red sunset. We were right on track, so we descended again, and made our way through the weeds, back to the boat ramp. There was a boat coming in, so we went to the other side of the dock to exit.

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 58 mins.
Max. Depth: 77′
Water Temp.: 62F

It was a lot of fun, and great to show our visitors some of the sunken villages!

“This is how I roll…”

After our dive, we settled on Pizza Hut as our after-dive nourishment spot… and we noticed that they actually moved it. From there, Sofie and Cas had a date with the border folks, while Steve and I started on our way home, and unloaded gear! Until the next dive!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : 2000 + 13

That Was Some Current!

6 10 2013

Saturday, October 5th, 2013 ~

Sofie and Cas arrived the night before, from the Netherlands, and today we were taking them across the border, to Alexandria Bay! DUI was having their Demo Day there, so we had to stop and say hello to our wonderful friends! It was the tail end of lunch time, and Jimmy tried to feed us!

James had been helping out for the day, and joined us for some Diving Goodness, once we got there.

We also saw Mario and Lisa, who had been waiting for us (sorry we were late… border patrol had something to do with that)!

We decided to go for a scooter dive, along the wall, to see what we could find. We followed the pipe, then out into the channel. We found a few lines along the way, including some gold line, that wasn’t there the last time we were there. We made it to the little car that is against one of the rock pilings, and followed some of the line for a while. Once we got to the wall, it was full speed ahead… sort of. The currents started to get much stronger, and it was as if we were barely moving. I even gave a few kicks, to try and make some headway. The currents went from strong to completely erratic, and were moving every which way but horizontal. As I looked at the others, I noticed that I was not the only one with the nose of my scooter pointed downwards, and we were all scootering with our feet up in the air, to keep ourselves from being thrown upwards. That lasted for about 5 minutes (even though it seemed much longer), and then we let go of the triggers to let ourselves drift. We signaled each other, “Phew!” Yes, there is a signal for “Phew!” 😛 We still all had smiles on our faces, and we had all weathered the wall, safely.

We drifted and scootered back, and reached our exit in no time.

As we surfaced, Cas said something to the effect of, “Now, that was a drift dive! We don’t have diving like THAT, in the Netherlands!”  I think our guests enjoyed that dive! What a blast!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 13 mins.
Max. Depth: 105′
Water Temp.: 64F

Rock ‘N’ Roll!

We packed up our gear, then made our way to dinner, to meet our DUI friends! What a great day!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : 2000 + 13

Anchor’s Away!

16 09 2013

Sunday, September 15th, 2013 ~

Well, since we never go to Centeen Park (a little bit of sarcasm, there), we decided to go for another scooter/drift dive, entering at the park. Frankie was down for the day, and Eric B. joined us, too.

We hit the triggers upstream for a bit, then dropped into the channel. We headed up the embankment on the other side, and started to drift. We found a lot of wreckage along the way, some cool bottles, and a lot of things that we had not seen before. We then came upon a very large anchor, that Steve had seen before. This thing was absolutely massive. The chain links were bigger than Steve’s hand. The current is a little strong in this area, so we didn’t stay long, but it was a really neat thing to see. I hope we can find this one again!

Apart from that, we did have quite a few laughs, made our way back up, did a little deco, then headed back in! Just another day in the Riva!

Bottom Time: 2 hours, 6 mins.
Max. Depth: 108′
Water Temp.: 68F


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : 2000 + 13

6th Annual Brockville/Rockport Canadian Invasion!

21 08 2013

Wednesday, August 14th, 2013 ~

The van was loaded, and I made my way down to Caiger’s, after work. I had a few things to do, before the dives would start on Thursday, so I wanted to be ready, Freddy!

I arrived, and found Dev on the “Upper Deck,” so we sat around for a little while (of course, while I was up and down the stairs, taking care of stuff), until the mozzies were on full attack. We moved inside, and were joined by Mark, Raph, Fern, and Daniel.  w00t!

Thursday, August 15th, 2013 ~

Today, we were going to Centeen, for a shore dive! Centeen is a good place to go, when you have divers of all levels. There is something for everyone to see, the entry is easy, and… it’s fun!

Some of the divers, getting ready to go on their dives. Eric and I stayed behind, in case there were any stragglers, that needed to know where they were going.

Darth Nash and Raph of Kahn, getting ready…

Hong and Dev…

Once it seemed that there were no more stragglers, Eric and I geared up for a dive.

We headed upstream for a bit, dropped into the channel, and appeared to be in a spot that we hadn’t been to before. There was debris everywhere, once we had drifted about 30 minutes. We wanted to drift longer, but we had made our plan, and followed it. I think we need to go back there, if we can find it!

We made our way back in, and had overshot the Gaskin, so just  came back to the shallows, where we hung out for a little bit, then in. Very fun!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 37 mins.
Max. Depth: 104′
Water Temp.: 71F

Andy was stylin’, as he was trying out an E.Motion drysuit!

Daniel, Raph, Mark…

The one and only… Frankie Boy!

Steve…

Becki, Andy, and I… followed by Dan’s fancy cap…

Eric B even had his toes painted, for the event!

From there, we went back to Caiger’s, where we got ready for dinner!

Friday, August 16th, 2013 ~

Charter time! We had four boats going out, with both Rec and Tech divers. We had Rec divers aboard the “Arrow,” and Tech divers aboard “River Diver,” “Run Time,” and “Island Diver!” The Tech folks went out to the Jodrey, and the Rec folks went to the Keystorm and America!

Neil wanted to make sure that Oren knew that he had his passport…

Steve, Eric, and I were aboard River Diver, with Daniel, Dev, Joanna, and Stretch, and were heading to the Jodrey.

We had a great dive, going through swim-throughs, and seeing some of the wreck that I hadn’t seen before (rooms on the third deck). We noticed that someone took the radio out of one of the rooms, which was incredibly sad. Besides that, it was a most excellent dive! Thanks for the tour, Steve! There was also some Go Pro video, in which I am hoping that Steve will edit, soon. 🙂

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 12 minutes
Max. Depth: 186′
Water Temp.: 71F

When we returned back to Caiger’s, we unloaded, chilled for a bit, then had a yummy Fajita dinner, and some prizes!

Thank you very much, to our Prize Donors! Also, thanks to Dave Pickens, who also donated a few boxes worth of goodies! Thanks Pickeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnnsssssssssss!!!

Prize Tables:

 

Table: Team Wet Rocks!

Table: Team Retrieving!

Table: Team #1 Phan!

Table: Team Exploration!

Thanks very much to Chris Phinney, for stepping up, when our speaker could not make it! Chris gave us a presentation on Ship Construction, that is part of the NAS-1 course. THANK YOU, CHRIS!!!

Saturday, August 17th, 2013 ~

Day 3 of Invasion Diving Goodness! Back to the Jodrey, for the Tech boats! The Arrow was taking the Rec folks out to the Vickery, and for a drift dive!

Stretch, Eric, and Steve…

Dev, fixing some gear…

Daniel…

Joanna…

…and Captain Rick!

We met up with the Arrow, at customs!

Then, Samer demonstrates that it is very important to hydrate, so that you can hook up, while diving…

For today’s dive, Steve, Eric, Dev, and I were heading to the stern. I hadn’t been to the stern in a very long time, and I was looking forward to getting there, again. We followed the rail of the wreck down, then back up, and in no time, we were there (it helps that we had current on our side). We did a tour of the outside, through the walkways, and peeked in, a little. I absolutely LOVED this dive!

With some years more experience on the wreck than when I last did the stern, we had a really good time of everything. Doing this dive is scooter dependent, when doing it from the bow. I’m not sure if there is still a stern line on the wreck, or not. Just a fantastic dive!!!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 16 mins.
Max. Depth: 200′
Water Temp.: 71F

Stretch, after rescuing Le Princessi from the evil cave line…

Tonight’s dinner was a most excellent Prime Rib (with a couple of vegetarian options, too), and…. GRAND PRIZES!!!

Of course, the group shot had to come, first! Such a wonderful group of friends!!!

We had two Grand Prizes, thanks to Light Monkey and Santi Canada! w00t!

Congratulations to Dev Clifford, for winning the 45# Light Monkey WIng!

Congratulations to Chris Phinney, for winning the BZ400x undergarment, from Santi Canada!

After dinner, a gaggle of us decided to go to Centeen, for a night scooter dive to the Gaskin! There were 11 of us, so we spread out the teams a little, putting teams that knew the area in the front, middle, and back of the pack!

As we got to the Gaskin, we swam inside, and I have never seen so many eels, in my life! I knew that they were around, but really had no clue that there were this many on the Gaskin. They were burrowing down, left and right, leaving little silt clouds as they dug themselves back into the silt! While I felt like I was on an episode of Fear Factor, I did find myself wildly fascinated, at the same time. 🙂

We spent a little time on the wreck, then headed back in. There were many laughs, and we had a blast!

Bottom Time: 47 mins.
Max. Depth: 65′
Water Temp.: 71F

As we packed up, and were getting ready to leave, it seemed that there was a bit of a key incident. I won’t mention any names, but… we were pretty late getting back to Caiger’s, and I’m sure that the CAA fellow would rather not have had 12 of us surrounding him, as he was trying to do his job! *Giggle* Ah, well… all ended happily, and since there was Diving Goodness involved, it was just another adventure to tell!

Sunday, August 18th, 2013 ~

The last day of our Invasion FUN!

A few folks decided to get on the road early, another bunch went out for a charter to the Kinghorn, and another bunch of us went back to Centeen, for a scooter run!

Ok, so it took us a little longer to get to Centeen, due to the Brockville Triathlon, but… we eventually made it there… convoy, and all!

Thank you! Thank you! No applause needed (Andy)…

Becki and Dan…

Joanna, Eric P., and Stretch…

There were some people swimming out to the Gaskin, and we were taking the scooter folks out to see the old Truck!

Becki’s going DIVING!!!

We did make it to the Truck, and there were a few Happy Dances, as we arrived. There were a few video cameras going, but I haven’t seen any footage, yet!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 55 mins.
Max. Depth: 103′
Water Temp.: 71F

You must be “this” tall, to ride this ride… But, at least there is Kool-Aid – Thanks to Dan Humble, for the Kool-Aid packs!

Stretch and Daniel, photobombing Joanna and I! Love it!

Steve, Dan, Daniel, Becki…

Eric B., Frankie, Eric V.!

Thank you to everyone, for making this year such a blast! I can’t wait to see you all, next year!!!

w00000000000000000000000000000t!

 

 

 


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : 2000 + 13

« Previous Entries Next Entries »