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!
Look at that spread! That homemade choco cake was fan-freakin’-tastic!
We had a most excellent day, and thanks to Trista, for putting it all together!
Please become a member of Save Ontario Shipwrecks! Take only pictures, leave only bubbles!
Packed and ready to go! I started off toward Ivy Lea, making a stop at Dive Tech (thank you for the prizes!), then to the Capricorn Motel Royale, where I met Bill and Moira, who were most excellent hosts! Bill showed me around, gave me the instructions for the sat TV, showed me the kitchen, BBQs, and was ready to welcome our group with open arms. Great start!
Dev was the first one to arrive, and most others followed pretty quickly. I handed out goodie bags, assisted with the sat TV instructions (I got pretty good at it, by the end of the day), and we made our way to Smuggler’s Run. Chris Muffin Man Malinowski and Damian also came by to have dinner with us, which was a nice surprise. The food and service was very good, and the convenience factor of it being right across from the Capricorn was excellent!
The dock, near the hotel and restaurant…
Really cool little car, parked outside of the restaurant…
Friday, August 17th, 2012 ~
Up and out early, for breakfast, at Caiger’s. Boats were loaded, and our departure was around 9:30am. For the Rec boat, we had The Arrow, which can house 22 divers. We had 19, plus one bubble watcher. The Arrow was headed for the Keystorm and America! The two Tech boats were River Diver and Run Time, and we were headed to the Jodrey. It was grey and a bit rainy, but that didn’t stop us.
The Arrow, almost ready to go…
Loaded up, on River Diver…
…and on Run Time!
Happy faces! Look! Jenni M is going diving!
Our guest speaker was revealed, since Fred was joining us on the Jodrey!
Let’s go diving!
We went through customs, then made our way to the mooring tree. Moe’s boat was there, which meant… so were Raphael, Tyson, and Mark! After our gear checks, and we were ready to descend, we saw our three friends, who had left from the US side. “Good to see you, friends!” 🙂
Run Time folks, ready to go!
(Vinny was hiding, but at least the sun came out)…
For this dive, we had two groups of three, but would all be staying together, to descend down the wall. Myself, Eric, Fred, Dev, Marc, and Frankie. We made our way down the wall, and the wreck eventually came into sight. The visibility was horrible, so we didn’t really see too much. Once on the wreck, our group of six split into two groups of three. We stayed around the bow, did a circle of the wheelhouse, and stayed close, since the vis was so bad. The current was down, too. There was hardly anything, and even the swimming folks went around the port side of the wheelhouse, where the current is usually famous for wanting to flip you over, and throw you up from 150′. Today, it was kind! So, due to the vis., we didn’t get to tour too much, but it was still good to get down there!
On deco, Eric, Fred, and I got to our 20′ stop, where Fred showed us some new deco tricks. We also played around, writing in wet notes. We learned that “Deco,” in Spanish, is “El Deco.” 😛
Bottom Time: 64 mins.
Max. Depth: 173′
Water Temp.: 75F
Vis.: 5′
Current: Very low
Clockwise, from the back: Dev C., Frankie F., Kevin A., Neil M., Marc H., Chris McM., Eric B., Fred D.
…and me, at the far left. 🙂
Frankie… Rock on, dood!
Once we returned to shore, cleared customs, and unloaded, people dispersed for fills, and Steph had brought us a present, thanks to Brian Ross, of Banner’s Plus!
I headed back to the hotel, to hang up gear, charge scooters, and my light, and I think I actually got a 15 minute nap!
Dinner was planned for 6:30pm, at Caiger’s. The dinner was amazing, and the service equaled it. Thank you, Mary (and the rest of the staff, too)!
I gave away a few prizes, then Fred Devos began his presentation on the Mexico Cave Exploration Project, which was top-notch. Some really great information, as well as video from some very unique cave. Thank you so much, Fred! It was great to have you here! It was also great to have a few extra friends come by for dinner, as well as the presentation. Bob Sherwood, I didn’t get a picture of you! :O
After the presentation, a bunch of us headed upstairs for some karaoke fun. Steph showed us how it was done, and I sang a few, too!
Saturday, August 18th, 2012 ~
Early to Caiger’s, to hand out breakfast tickets, then loaded the boats! The Arrow headed to the Vickery, then for a drift dive, and River Diver and Run Time were back to the Jodrey!
Steve, loading up!
Steve was here for this dive, and he and Frankie were diving together. Marc and Dev paired up, and Eric and I. The six of us descended together, and Steve was going to lead the way, to show us a penetration. I have been diving this wreck for four years, and had yet to go inside it. I was number 6, and I have to say, that I really did not see much. The visibility was already pretty crappy, and being #6… well… there was quite a bit of percolation, which got in the way (No, I am not blaming my dive buddies.. they were all great!). We got to the end of the line, and it was time to turn around. It was up to me to navigate the line out… which was not the easiest task, with all of the stray lines in there, but we got to our exit safely. 🙂 I really enjoyed this dive, and would really like to go back there! Perhaps with just one or two buddies. 🙂 Kevin A., Neil M., and Chris McMullen had also buddied up for the dive, and went for a tour around the wheelhouse.
Bottom Time: 69 mins.
Max. Depth: 203′
Water Temp.: 75F
Vis.: 8′
Current: Very low
After our dive, a few of us went up to Tek Div, to say hello to Stephane. It was the first time that I had been there, and it is a really nice set up! Thanks for helping us out, Stephane!
Back to the motel to charge, hang gear, sneak in a 20 minute nap, then back to Caiger’s, for our group photo, then dinner! We had some more friends join us for dinner, and laughs. Tonight was prize night! Thank you to all of our friends, who donated prizes: Liquid Productions, Whirling Girl, Dive Tech, Rockport Dive Centre, Hi Def Pictures, 2 Beez Training, In Depth Scuba Services, Exploration Promotions, and GUE Ontario!
We also had a few special prizes for the friends that have been to all 5 Invasions, and one for Jenni M, who has attended 2 as a bubble watcher, and this one as a diver.. finally!
Pic taken with Becki’s camera (not sure who took it)…
Thanks also, to Brian Ross/Banner’s Plus, for the awesome banner!
Sunday, August 19th, 2012 ~
Today, the Tech boats were picking up at Mallorytown Landing. We were going to go over to the Daryaw, and do a drift off of it. The surface current at the Daryaw mooring was crazy.. as always. We had a tag line set up, as well as a few gear lines, so that we could tie in, to get our gear on… and not drift away. Eric and I splashed in, got our gear on, and were joined by Marc and Dev. These are the times when I am extra thankful for my scooter. 🙂 We descended down the line, on the trigger, and proceeded to the underside of the wreck, where we were mostly sheltered. We tied off our stage bottles and scooters, and ran a line, to go into the wreck. I ran the line, and as we were going in, Steve and Frankie were coming out… followed by quite a huge amount of silt. Apparently, as they went in, there were a ton of eels that retreated, and stirred everything up… I will give them the benefit of the doubt. 😛 So.. we waited for them to pass, and I was trying to make a call on whether we kept on, or turn around.. wondering if the “dust” would settle. It didn’t. I signaled to turn around, and went to go another way, which was also silted out. There had also been a few boats on it before us, as we pulled up to the mooring.
Hanging onto the tag and gear lines, in the crazy surface current, about to descend (taken by Rick Lymer, with my camera)…
So.. back under the wreck, we went.. Picked up our gear, then ascended into one of the holds, where we surfaced and waved to each other, in the air pocket. There was quite a big pocket, which does grow throughout the summer, from all of the divers’ bubbles. We came back down, did a tour of the outside of the wreck, then went for a drift. We stayed on the North side of the wall, and there wasn’t a whole lot of current where we were, in most of the areas. I did see the biggest sturgeon that I had ever seen in my life.. 6 feet long! There were a few big carp, a lot of baby walleyes, and even more bass. It is nice to see that the fish are doing well! I even saw a couple of the fresh water jellies, which I didn’t see, last year!
There were some pretty cool rock formations along the wall, but then we got to an area where there was just a lot of dirt. We weren’t exactly sure if we were getting close to our target (the big white channel marker), so we drifted for a while longer, then Dev blew a bag, to let Rick know where we were, to pick us up. Due to a lack of current in the area that we were in, we weren’t that close to the marker…lol. Oh well.. still fun. 🙂
Bottom Time: 75 mins.
Max. Depth: 88′
Water Temp.: 73F
Vis.: 20”
Current: Very low
Apparently, Frankie found a nice pink clip…
The sky got a bit dark as we made our way back, but we were still all smiles…
…and Neil passed out the Deco Cookies… Yumm… Maple Cookies….
Once we returned, we unloaded, said some goodbyes, then a few of us went back over to Caiger’s, to relax… and for me to pay up! 🙂
James and Leslie came over, after James did a triathlon (along with a bunch of our other friends)…
I can’t get over what an amazing group of people that come to the Invasions. I have met so many wonderful friends and dive buddies, and cannot wait until next year!
Andy, Kate… Kate, Andy!
Our group shot (even though there were a few missing)…
Also, a small video that I put together of my weekend’s pics! Thanks again to everyone! See you next year! w00t! 🙂
Today’s dive was at the quarry… an extremely busy quarry. There were cars as far as the eye could see! Well.. at least into the upper parking lot, as well as a full house, up by the toilets.
Today’s dive was a Fundies Tech upgrade checkout dive. I hadn’t been in the water for a couple of weeks (stoOpid work..lol), so I was happy to get in the water!
I got to play the role of “buddy,” which was also much fun! Fundies Dive 6! w00t! 🙂
Bottom Time: 28 mins.
Max Depth: 30′
Water Temp: 57F
Vis.: Not great – There were also an incredible number of OW checkout dives.
From there, we headed to Jean Burger, for lunch, then home! By noon!!! :O
Sunday, June 10th, 2012 ~
Today, Steve and I headed down to Centeen Park. Steve was taking a couple of fine folks out for their GUE DPV 1 Experience dive, in the St. Lawrence River, and I went along for the ride!
It was pretty busy at the park, although not crazy. For this dive, I used my “Big Girl Tanks (my 130s), which I have not used since the fall. Yes, they were still a little heavier than my AL80s. 🙂
A little boat that passed by the park…
We also had some visitors, who obviously didn’t care about the pretend foxes around them, as well as did not pay attention to the “police” tape that was put up for them, as a barrier!
My Big Girl Tanks, with my Purple AL80s in the background (I have my fancy Light Monkey wing on those!)…
We got in, did our checks, and our plan was to scooter upstream at about 30′, drop into the channel, drift, make our way back up to the Gaskin, play around for a while, then come back in.
The guys did a fantastic job, and as we came back into about 20′, they were congratulated with handshakes!
Way to go, guys!
Bottom Time: 78 mins.
Max Depth: 94′
Water Temp: 60F
Vis.: Not great in the shallows, opening up in the channel.
This is one heck of a dive mobile!
After the dive, Eric came to meet us, too. We had planned on doing another dive, so we switched our gear over to our AL80s, and grabbed a stage each. We also switched scooter bodies, so that we would have a longer burn time.
So… I can still report that there was no truck to be found… I swear, I think it must get moved when we dive. We did manage to find some wreckage that I swear we have seen before. It is an old piece of a wooden bow. I know it is the same one that we had seen on another occasion.. although, the current was very mild this time around, and I got to actually take a look at it! Once we got to a couple of small shoals, near the 3 Sister Islands, we decided to turn back towards shore. We stayed at depth for a while, hopeful for a truck sighting, but.. alas.. today was still not the day!
We passed by a bottle jug that we had passed on the way out, so we knew we still weren’t going to find that darn vehicle!
Still an excellent dive, and a lot of fun!
Bottom Time: 71 mins.
Max Depth: 99′
Water Temp: 60F
Vis.: Not great in the shallows, opening up in the channel.
Eric’s new camera!
Eric took a couple of pics of us, with his new camera! Taken by Eric Bourque…
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… 😛 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) 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. 😉 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! 😀 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!
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