A Different Route

20 11 2013

Saturday, November 9th, 2013 ~Ā 

For today’s dive, we were getting in at St. Lawrence Park, then drifting and scootering to Centeen Park.

Entry…

Gear at the entry…

We decided to go upstream a little bit, to the little wreck that we came across, a few years ago. Steve had rebuilt the motor in my Little Red Rocket, so we were testing it out, along with another one that he had rebuilt, that he was using. We had an extra one, for back up.

Very short video of the little wreck, from a previous dive *WARNING* VERY POOR QUALITY* šŸ™‚

https://vimeo.com/32125823

We had a quick look, and then made our way south (thanks to Mike, for turning off my back-up light). We dropped into the channel, and back up to the other side, where we started to drift. There were a couple of spots where there wasn’t much current, so we hit the triggers for a bit.

We found a few new spots that we had not been to before, and there were some really neat rock formations. We have seen horse harnesses in the river, but not as many as I saw, today (they were to the right of me, so the others didn’t see the first few). There were three harnesses, all within about 50′ to 100′ from each other. Sadly, I’m sure that it did not end well for those horses (from the “olden days”). We also saw an air stack that appeared to be from a very large ship (freighter, perhaps). We also noticed that they may have tried to recover it.

There were a lot of really cool places along this route! A definite redo is in order!

It seemed that both of our rebuilt motor scooters were in most awesome form, and as we hit our turn time, we made our way a bit more shallow, until we reached the “Unknown Hull,” where we had a little look. It has been a while since we have been to this little one, too! Then, onward to the Gaskin! Mike had found a little leprechaun Halloween figurine, and after having some fun with it for a while (sticking it in Steve’s scooter strap), Steve passed it to me. As we got to the Gaskin, I placed it outside the wreck, for good keeping. He shall guard the wreck, now. At least, I hope he does. That poor wreck is falling apart.

We hit the triggers for home, did our deco stops, and as we were heading in, I noticed a very small gar pike. It may have been the same one that I saw a few weeks ago. He gave us a little show with his mouth. They are such neat looking fish!

Bottom Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Max. Depth: 113′
Water Temp.: 50F
Vis.: Decent, but dark. No sunlight to light up our day!

Thanks to Chris, who gave us the Santi Panties Dance, in his undies that he won at the Invasion!

Yes… I did show him a few of the moves, but he had some good ones of his own, too!

Well, I couldn’t get a pic of the exit, but you may have seen some Centeen Park pics, in previous Bloggy Thing entries. By the time we retrieved the vehicles (we had one at Centeen), loaded them, and got changed, it was a bit dark.

With that, I leave you with a selfie, at the entry!





Another Day At Mo’s Quarry – Camera Day!

29 09 2013

Saturday, September 28th, 2013 ~

We met David J. at the quarry, with Hugh, so that Dave could do his Fundies Rec to Tech upgrade, which went really well! We also did some rescues, which were a lot of fun.

Congratulations, Dave! You have worked very hard, and come a long way! w00t! *Clap Clap*

First Dive
Bottom Time: 51 mins.
Max. Depth: 58′
Water Temp.: 55F (below thermocline)

Second Dive (Rescues)
Bottom Time: 20 mins.
Max. Depth: 13′
Water Temp.: 64F

Steve and I had a little snack, then got back in. We recently upgraded our camera system from Tom W.’s old backup system, to the system that he had upgraded to, when he sold me his old one. We now have both generations of Tom Wilson cameras. Thank you, Tom! If I can only shoot half as decent as Tom, I will be a happy camper. This would be my first time ever using strobes, so it is a totally different ball of wax, for me! Shooting with ambient light, for the last 5 years (wow… I can’t believe it has been almost 5 years, since purchasing the Nikon D100), and switching to the Nikon D200, with…. STROBES, is going to be just a little bit different!

We got in on the far side, and we each took a couple of shots.

Me…

Steve…

We swam across the quarry, towards the plane, where we kicked on the strobes. We each took a few shots, that didn’t exactly turn out very well. We will need to work on positioning the strobes, and getting them to a good place, using a wide angle lens.

One, that turned out, of Steve…

I notice that in the above picture, my habit of using ambient light is still there. šŸ˜›

Me, in front of the boat…

Steve, in mid-water, as we made our way down to the sub…

Time to play…

I spy a Steve, hiding in the Shark Sub’s mouth!

Then, it was my turn!

Out, I come!

w00t!

We made our way back up the wall.

In this pic, it looks like I am about to do a somersault. I have no idea what I was doing, here…

Steve…

Bottom Time: 35 mins.
Max. Depth: 61′
Water Temp.: 55F

Well, there is a wide margin of improvement to be made, with regards to the camera settings, and I am really looking forward to some fun winter shots, this year!





Weekend Of Skillz – Day 3 – Scooter Time!

3 09 2013

Monday, September 2nd, 2013 ~

Ok… We just cannot have a weekend of skills diving, without including one fun Diving Goodness day! We packed up and headed to the River!

The van was a little loaded. What you don’t see are two sets of 130s, an RB80, and a few stage bottles.

Eric, with his bed and pillow in a bag!

Dave was wearing his Scuba Steve shirt!

When we arrived, there was a little boat going by. The folks moored up to the Gaskin are in for a bit of an earth-shaking!

 

Dave and I, before the dive!

Our plan was to go upstream for about 40 minutes, drop into the channel, drift, then come back up to the Gaskin, before making our way back in. We had seen some neat things on our last dive out there, and wanted to try to find them again.

So… we did just that! We dropped into the channel, and it was drift time! We found an old wine bottle, a motor, tea cup, metal disc, and Eric and I saw a long, round, painted yellow piece of metal, that was very heavy. We had no idea what it was.

This is one of my favourite dives, and you just never know what you will see on each one. We do leave out of the same place, but every dive is different, depending on how long we go upstream, and where in the channel we start to drift. I don’t think I could ever get sick of this one!

As we neared the bow of the Gaskin, Eric signaled me. I turned to see that his right post was free flowing, and I went to have a look. It appeared to be non-fixable (after two attempts to repair it), so I shut it down. Eric was still on a stage, and we had plenty of gas. No playing on the Gaskin, today! Time to go, and out came the thumb. I guess we did skillz, anyway!

In the shallows, we did a little deco, then in!

Bottom Time: 2 hours, 12 mins.
Max. Depth: 109′
Water Temp.: 73F

More cheese!

Julie, Steph, Carm, and I!

We packed up, then went to the Barley Mow, for some dinner! In the parking lot, we saw a very noteworthy license plate…

It was a great way to spend the long weekend! Diving Goodness and friends! w00t!

 





Weekend Of Skillz ~ Day 2

1 09 2013

Sunday, September 1st, 2013 ~

We planned on two dives for today. The first dive, we were going to see Morrie the shark, take some pictures, and have a little fun (with all of our bottles on, of course). The second dive was reserved for more skillz.

Steve approached the unsuspecting shark, and got some rare footage! šŸ˜›

He did not want to push his luck, so Steve moved away. Morrie looked pretty hungry!

Karen and Dave both moved in for a look, but didn’t stay long, as Morrie was looking for lunch…

We let Morrie be, and headed over to the boat. Karen wanted to go for a ride…

Seeking more adventure, Karen then wanted to take the Ski-Doo out!

Ok, Ok… Time to get back down to skillzzzzz.

Back over to the plane, we went…

We did a few more valve drills and rotations, and I parked my camera out of the way of the newer OW divers, so that it wouldn’t get knocked.

Steve, in his new suit!

We then came back in for some lunch!

Bottom Time: 54 mins.
Max. Depth: 38′
Water Temp.: 66F

We even shared Maple Cookies, with Flat Laurynn…

For the second dive, Eric B joined us! Our T2 team was together! Our team name has been dubbed, “Team: I Got Nothin’.”

We went back in, and went back to bottle rotations and valve drills… bottle rotations and valve drills.

Steve, Dave, and Karen…

Dave and I…

Eric, loaded up…

Some bottles were then dropped, and it was time to go see Morrie, again…

What’s this? Morrie is trying to take my spot on the team???

I think not!

Of course, it just would not be a day of Diving Goodness, without Le Princessi coming out to play…

Bottom Time: 54 mins.
Max. Depth: 38′
Water Temp.: 66F

Fun group shot!

Team: I Got Nothin’!

From there, we went to Ha Noi Pho for some most excellent Viet cuisine, and of course… Baskin Robbins.

Two days of ice cream, in a row. I think that means more gym time, this week!





Weekend Of Skillz ~ Day One

31 08 2013

Saturday, August 31st, 2013 ~

My Arizona sista came to town, to work on skillz for our upcoming Tech 2 course. Dave M was also visiting, to work on rotations and skillz, too! Steph, Carm, and Julie also joined us, for skillz, skillz, skillz. David J also met up with us, for skillz. You may notice a theme, here. šŸ˜‰

After filling tanks and loading vehicles, we made our way up to the quarry. We unloaded too many tanks (that’sĀ  how it seemed), and were off to the races.

I had a bit of an ankle injury going on, and wasn’t sure what finning would be like, but I figured I would give it a try. Steve, Karen, Dave M, and I loaded up with three bottles each. We were using 130s on our backs, which is complete overkill for the quarry, but we wanted to use what we would be using during our course.

I had my camera with me, but set it down, while we worked on Valve Drills, S-Drills, Bottle Rotations, and Steve even brought out his bubble gun, to surprise us with some scenarios. After our drills, I took some pictures! My foot was sore, from my fin squeeze on the swelling, but I was managing.

Karen, loaded up!

Dave M’s bottles were a little heavier than ours. While peeking through the flaps of the plane, he may have been searching for lighter bottles? šŸ˜›

Steve!

Steve took a pic of me, too!

David J, after some excellent valve drills!

Julie and Steph…

Carm, while moving a bottle around!

I decided to come in, since my foot started to get pretty sore. At least I was able to bang out some drills! Steve, Karen, Dave, and Dave followed me in, then went back for more!

Bottom Time: 1 hour, 5 mins.
Max. Depth: 23′
Water Temp.: 69F

Dave M. and Steve…

Karen and Dave J…

Julie, Steph, Me!

When the others got out, we packed up all of our gear, then headed to Jean Burger. Dave M just had to have the poutine experience (even though he didn’t order it, he still got to taste it)! There was a little bit of ice cream talk, so we had to stop at Baskin Robbins, for some Ice Cream Goodness!

Normally, I am all about the chocolate, but I opted for pink and green, this time!

We headed back for fills, and prepared for the next day!