So, we made another attempt at looking for the elusive truck. The old Chevy truck that seems to hide from us, every time we look for it. We have been looking for this thing for about 5 years, and although we know we are all around the right area, we never seem to actually find it. Many other friends have found it, although I am starting to wonder if it actually exists, or if people keep photoshopping into their pics and videos, just to tantalize us. đ
We arrived at Centeen Park, brought our scooters to the water, geared up, and in we went. The visibility was horrible, and there was a ton of green river snot (algae), floating everywhere. I actually caught a piece of it on my upper lip, as we scootered along.
Jenn E. even came by to say hello!
We have had a couple of friends try to help us in our quest, including the directions they follow, as well as another friend giving us GPS coordinates (thanks, Dave). I guess they would be more helpful if we actually plugged them in somewhere. Mike says that would be cheating, if we did that, but at this point, I don’t care. Lol… We’ve been looking for such a long time!!! Today, it did feel like we were getting close. We didn’t see the milk jugs that were supposed to be around the truck, but we did find an area where it was more flat, and what looked like a roadway. A truck should be near a roadway, right???
Oh well.. I guess we will have to continue our search on another day. We did see a fancy pike, though, and it was still a rather fun dive. As long as we still get to play in the water, it is a good day!
Bottom Time: 63 mins.
Max Depth: 96â˛
Water Temp: 46F
Vis.: Gross, with bits of green fluff.
Mike, James, and Jen B.
James and I! Me, with some serious dive hair! It looks like I also got a bit of sun, a neck seal rub, and cold water face! đ
We topped the day off with some All You Can Eat Fajitas, at Santa Fe! Thanks for the torts, Penny! đ
This year has been another wonderful adventure, and we were blessed with some really amazing new and existing friendships.
We usually do a New Year’s Day dive, which we did, but it ended up being on the 2nd, instead of the 1st. There was not much snow on the ground, and the quarry was still open!
It did not take long for the quarry to freeze, and Ice Diving Goodness Season was upon us. I was very fortunate, to be able to test the DUI Heated Undergarment, too!
Then there was the release of the movie, Sanctum. A group of us went to see it, on its second night of showing, and decided to do a parody of it, the following day. We had quite a bit of fun, filming Sanked ‘Em. There were so many tears of laughter had, and thoughts of a sequel. Thanks to Chris Phinney, for his handy dandy camera work, and editing while being a passenger, on the way back home!
Then… Jacob came to visit, and try this ice diving thing! He was just in time, as this was the last weekend of an ice-covered quarry!
We were even able to take him down to the river, for some Scootering Goodness!
John Bailey got a bad ass tattoo!
We also hosted a GUE Meet ‘N’ Greet, which brought some new faces, and shared some information about GUE.
Andy and I, at the quarry!
Fred and Angelica came to town, too. It was really great to be able to share some of our dive sites with Fred, and to spend some time with both of them!
Raphael, Denis, Mick, and Mark came up for a visit too, and we went out for some St. Lawrence River diving!
We spent some more time doing some exploring, in the St. Lawrence River. We did some nice three hour dives, with our scooters.
Becky and I had threatened on many occasions to go diving together, and did not seem to be able to coordinate. Then the stars aligned, and Becky came up to dive with us! We had a blast!
I could have sworn that I saw David on one of the dives…
Becky took some shots of us, too (Below pics by Becky Kagan Schott)…
We then had the 2011 Brockville Canadian Invasion. This was the biggest group to date (50 people), and everyone was just absolutely wonderful. Thanks to all for being so wonderful!
I was also very fortunate to get one of the first Light Monkey wings, in which I started diving at the Invasion. This is a really nice wing, in which I have tried a few different tank combinations with.
*Thumbs up!* Thank you, Light Monkey!
Forest Rothchild did a write-up of his thoughts on the Invasion. Thank you, Forest!
Then came the Kingston Invasion, which was smaller this year, but still much fun!
After the Invasions, we were finally able to meet Heleen and Sander, who came to visit us from Holland. They had been to Alberta for a week, before seeing us, then we took them out for some dives, and to see the infamous plane! We had been looking forward to meeting them for a few years, and the time finally came! w00t!!!
Here are Heleen’s videos, from the Quarry, Kinghorn and the Back Mine!
I then took a trip to Seattle, while Steve left for his RB80 training, where I met some of the coolest kids on the block, and the “AGGAST” sisters were born! Leg Number One of the AGGAST (All Girls GUE All Star Team) sisters world adventures. This was the first time I had been in salt water, since before I had any GUE training. That is, apart from below the halocline… đ What an amazing place to dive, and a really fantastic GUE community. I can see why people love diving here! There are octos and wolf eels, and so much life! Anyone hiring in Seattle?
We even witnessed an octopus riding a wolf eel!
Laurynn’s video of the underwater rodeo!
My videos of Keystone Jetty (GUE day)Â and the Day Island Wall…
When Steve got back from his RB80 training, he hit the water with Blake and Steve S.
I ventured out with some other friends, too.
At the end of October, a group of us headed down to Mexico, for two weeks of Cave Diving Goodness. A few were taking Cave 1, a few taking Cave 2, and a few of us just going diving! We did some absolutely amazing dives, and each day, the dives seemed to be even more amazing, topping it off with a dive at Ox Bel Ha, on our last day.
One of our favourites was going to the Boa Restriction, in Grand Cenote/Sac Actun. Gorgeous cave and a lot of fun! Another highlight was Tux Ka Paxa, where we saw Mastadon bones. Just an absolutely incredible trip! That is, when we finally got there, and finally got our rental car. đ We even saw a Puma cross a jungle road, but still no “Tadantulas.” Well.. at least Steve and I didn’t see one. It seems everyone else did!
Me, in Dos Ojos…
Back to Canada, we went, where the water was significantly chillier than in the Mexico cavezzz… We still managed over an hour on the triggers!
Throughout the year, we made a couple more attempts at finding that darn truck, including the beginning of December.
We still haven’t found that thing, which brings us to the end of four years of looking for it. I think the other people that have seen it are photoshopping it into their pictures. Either that, or they move it, every time we go looking for it! đ Maybe next year! At least I got my new Santi undergarments in time for winter diving!
That brings us full circle, preparing for our season of winter ice diving. We recently went out to the quarry, to put in some “permanent lines,” for easier ice diving reference!
In between all of these adventures were also Fundamentals classes, in which Steve was teaching, and I was helping. Allan came up to intern, too!
I also had two photos chosen by National Geographic, in their Daily Dozen. At least one of them was supposed to have made it into the magazine, but I have no idea which issue. Two of them were made into Nat Geo wallpaper downloads. Thank you, Nat Geo! w00t!
A Year In Video…
If Steve and I have half of the adventures in 2012, that we had in 2011, we will be very lucky! *Cheers* to happy and safe Diving Goodness in 2012! Let the planning begin!!
So.. we decided to have another look for that darn truck… The one that people must be photoshopping into pics, as we still can’t find that stoOpid thing…lol. We have been searching for that thing on and off, for about 4 years.
Steve, Eric, Cory, Raluca, and myself went on the hunt. Although, today’s hunt would be shorter than other attempts, as the water was getting colder. We decided to go to the Gaskin first, then head south, and drift…
Gearing up…
Guess what??? Yeah.. we didn’t find it. We did have a fun dive though, and I was trying my new Santi undies, which were extremely warm. They would have been even warmer, if my suit didn’t flood, I’m sure. I was pretty much soaked, from head to toe, and it seems that I did not have enough weight with my new undies. At the end of the dive, I was extremely floaty. I guess a couple of extra pounds are needed with these babies!
Bottom Time: 1 hour, 3 mins.
Max. Depth: 101′
Water Temp.: 44F
Visibility: Not great, at all
Steve and Eric, with a hand action shot!
I guess I moved a bit too quickly on this one, and caused a bit of blur.. Doh…Cory and Raluca were tough, seeing as they only just got back from the warm cavez of Mexico. Congrats on your course, guys!
I was even a bit blurred with my self portrait.. sheesh…
At least I got a decent shot of the entry, as the sun was going down, behind the clouds…
Today’s dinner = Santa Fe!
It seems I will be reporting from the quarry, for our next dives! St. Lawrence, we’ll see you in the spring!
Steve and I headed down to the St. Lawrence River, to meet Blake and Eric. We know there aren’t going to be many St. Lawrence dives left in the season, so we want to make the most of our time, before the deep freeze. We met at Teapot Island Bay (it has many names; this just happens to be what I’ve known it as), and planned on scootering over to the Rockport Wall, drifting for a while, then scootering over to the wreck of the Kinghorn, then in at Rockport. We placed cars at each location, to make life easier.
Entry…
We took our gear into the water, changed, then went to drop a vehicle off in Rockport. As we got into the water, there was so much mud, that it made putting fins on a bit of a challenge. We very slowly made our way into slightly deeper water to do our predive briefings and gear checks. The mud was so bad, that we had to go right up into each others’ face to verify our stage bottles and do bubble checks.
We surface scootered over to the bowl to avoid mud, weeds, and bad vis. Once we got there, we went four across, until we got to the wall. We made our way down to 100′, where it was quite a bit darker, and enjoyed both scootering and drifting across the wall. We saw a few big fish, and directed ourselves toward where we thought the line to the Kinghorn would be. Voila… we found it, and continued on to the wreck. We played around a little, and once inside, Eric asked me if I was cold (since I usually get cold). I signaled that I was good to go! Then.. I guess I had it in my head, and I began to feel chilled.. Bahh! *Signal*… er.. Eric? I think I might be a little chilly, now…
So.. we turned and headed for shore in Rockport, with Steve and Blake coming along shortly after. Eric and I did notice that we had to dial back a bit on our scooters, as Steve and Blake’s RB80s did seem to cause a bit more drag in the water. Interesting note!
We definitely had a really fun dive! I did get some video, but it was quite dark…
After a crazy day of work, I filled up the Dive Gear Transportation Unit, and headed to the airport. I only had to do two circles around, and I found my passengers! Our friends from Holland were here! w00t! I finally got to see them in person, and would be spending the next few days diving and talking about everything under the sun!
Our first stop was the Quarry, directly from the airport, as the plane was a must-see for Heleen!
I brought my camera along, for some pics, and we jumped in the water. We went straight to the plane for some pics, then to the boat, sub, and back to the plane for more pics and most excellent Diving Goodness fun! It was definitely fantastic to finally get in the water with Heleen and Sander!
Off to Boston Pizza, for some delicious dinner, and to meet Steve!
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 ~
Today, we were heading down to Rockport, to go for a scooter run to the Kinghorn (thank you for the extra scooter, KR). We had a few errands to run in the morning, and I cooked us a big breakfast, so it was early afternoon before we got to the shop.
We made our way to the wreck, played around on the outside, then headed inside, to swim around the core of the wreck. It seems that the wreck has deteriorated even more, and it appears that there have been a few deck beams that have fallen in. I still never tire of seeing the view of ambient light, up through the inside of the wreck, through the wheel. We made our way back, and back up, onto the boat. What a fantastic dive! I think Heleen and Sander liked this one!Â
Bottom Time: 64 mins.
Max. Depth: 90′
Water Temp.: 69F
Visibility: Not too shabby
Yummy… Kool-Aid…
After our dive, we topped it off with some ice cream, from the upstairs shop! Mmm.. Rolo…
Jeff and Sander were chatting, so we grabbed Sander an ice cream, too… or.. did we?? đ
We headed back, and were able to make it back in time for the last 10 minutes of Steve’s Final Hockey playoff game! Way to go, Steve!
When we got back, we unpacked, and had some fun with the neighbours…
Thursday, September 1st, 2011 ~
Today, we had planned on going down to the river, for a scooter dive, but decided to go a little closer, so we could do some tourist stuff, after our dive. Quarry? Meh.. went there on Tuesday.. Hmm.. How about Back Mine? Steve and I hadn’t been there in over a year, and this would be a great time of year to go. The water is always extremely cold, as this mine was built into a mountain, and the water does not see sunlight. Although there is a covered dome overtop of the site, there is a large area of open water, where we dive. There is a mine shaft that starts at about 120′ deep. It is an absolutely beautiful dive, but as I said… is cold.
We took the ferry across to the Quebec side, and once we arrived, we took a bit of a jaunt up to the top, to take some photos.
 There happened to be a photographer there, doing a photo shoot, and he was gracious enough to take some shots of us, too! Thank you, Rick!
Once we entered the water, we made our way to the other side of the open water area, saw the old truck, old line, and other interesting formations. There was obviously not much ambient light, so it was a bit murky… and crisp. We surfaced on the opposite side, had a chat and a laugh, then headed back down. We showed Heleen and Sander the grim reaper sign, then made our way back in. Â
After we packed up, we made our way downtown, to the Byward Market, where we grabbed a snack from the Chip Wagon. We just had to introduce Sander to poutine! We did a bit of a tour of the Parliament buildings, the lock system, and a few other cool buildings.
On the way back, we stopped to pick up some BBQ and sweet corn!
What a fantastic day!
Friday, September 2nd, 2011 ~
Well.. today was the day that we were all departing for different places. Heleen and Sander were on their way home, Steve was heading to Florida, and I was going to Seattle, for the Team AGGAST adventure.
It was so amazing to finally meet our friends from overseas, that we have been corresponding with, e-mailing, and sending so many pictures back and forth with. We were able to give them a little taste of Canada (besides their adventures in the Rocky Mountains, before they got to us), with Tim Horton’s, Kool-Aid, hockey, poutine, the Parliament buildings, maple syrup, and some of the diving we have to offer. What an amazing time for us, too… please come back!! See you next year!! đ
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