Mark Nash, Raphael Santore, Denis Finnegan, and Mick Cagney had come up to the 1000 Island for an extended weekend of Diving Goodness! On Saturday, Steve and I decided to join them for a dive to the Keystorm and then the America. It had been a while since we have done those wrecks, and we decided to bring the scooters along for a fun ride.
We arrived at Caiger’s, and were greeted by our friends. Of course, I had to snap a pic before loading the boat.
We loaded the boat, and we were off! Customs, here we come!
No matter how many times I see Boldt Castle, I never get tired of it.
We cleared customs, then geared up for some Diving Goodness!
Raphael, with a big smile!
Mick, splashing in…
Denis.. also with a big smile!
..and Mark, splashing in!
The first order of the day was a dive on the Keystorm. It had been a while since we had done this one. As Steve and I entered the water, I didn’t really feel 100%. There was a bit of wave action, and since I do get seasick, we didn’t waste alot of time on the surface. Usually, once I’m down, I’m fine. I don’t normally get sick on the River though, so this was a bit silly (that is what was going on in my head). Once we got down onto the wreck, we peeked into the bathroom, and then had planned on doing a little penetration. I really felt “off” at this point, and signalled to Steve that going inside wasn’t for me, today. We did a bit of a tour, and then decided to scooter around, looking for other interesting things, off of the wreck.
At this point, I started fighting my gear, was underweighted, and just felt like it was my first ever dive. Time to thumb it. This was the first time that I have ever felt so dumb in the water, and was a little surprised that I had a day like I did. I was wearing different gear as well, which is probably why I sucked so badly. Oh well.. chalk it up to a crappy day in the water, and try again next time.
Bottom Time ~ 46 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 105′
Water Temp. ~ 59F
Vis. ~ 20′
On a nicer note, our friends did enjoy their dives, and it was a lot of fun being in the water with them. I am looking forward to seeing some of them at the Invasion! w00t!
Important things to keep in your Save-A-Dive kit…
On board, we watched as a freighter carrying windmill props went by…
It even had a launcher!
There were also some boat races going on, which got a little rocky at times. As we were heading back in, we were almost right in their line of fire, in their turning position. Thanks to Captain Steve for avoiding that craziness!
This boat has two jet engines, and was absolutely flying. I have no idea how I got lucky with this shot!
So, even though my dive sucked, it was still great to be on the water, and with some really wonderful people. 🙂
Yippee! Fred and Angelica were in town! We decided to head to a Vietnamese restaurant for some delicious cuisine and some great chats. We ended up talking for quite a while, and with the restaurant’s closing time at 9pm, we realized we were a little over our time. Time to go back to our casa for a tour, a beverage, and some more hang time. 🙂
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2011 ~
We were a little behind schedule, thanks to some gnarly construction on the 416, but we were on our way to Centeen, where we were meeting Mike, Michel, and our special guest star, Fred! When we finally got there, we put our gear together for some Diving Goodness!
Fred, in the background, putting his fins together…
It was nearing dusk as we got into the water, which we knew was going to turn into a night dive. Sweet!
Gear checks, dive plan, and away we went. We hit the trigger, heading upstream, then dropped into the channel at the park bench. The visibility was pretty stinky on the way out, but it did get better as we hit the channel, apart from the darkness.
Our plan was to bring us back to the Gaskin, where we did a couple of passes over and through, before heading back in. It had been a while since Steve and I had done a night dive here, and everything did look so different. Especially not being able to see farther than your light would shine. It was alot of fun! Fred even stayed warm in our “frigid” waters! 😛
Bottom Time ~ 78 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 94′
Water Temp. ~ 55F
Vis. ~ Stinky, until we got a bit deeper into the channel
After the dive – Michel, Fred, Steve, Mike…
After we packed up, we had to do the Canadian thing, and hit Tim Horton’s. Fred went to pick up Angelica, and we met for something to eat. Before we knew it, it was 1 am on a “school night!” Time flies when you’re having fun. 🙂
Fred and Angelica.. Now THAT’S Canadian!
Fred, Me, Steve…
Sunday, June 5th, 2011 ~
I requested the day off of my Fundies Filming duties that I had been on on Saturday, and was able to join Fred and Jen for some more Goodness in the River, Sunday! We met at Jeff’s, and since there was a charter heading out to the Kinghorn, we were able to hop on it with our scooters, and scooter back in to shore. Angelica came with us on the boat too! We did our gear checks on the boat, as there is usually a nice surface current here. We jumped in, tied onto our “turbos,” and down we went. It has been a while since I have taken a boat here, but since it is high boating season, diving off of the dock is not permitted until the late fall. So, it was jump in off of the boat, and scooter back, getting back onto the boat as we get back in.
As we got to the wreck of the Kinghorn, we drifted along the top of the deck, to show Fred the wreck, then went for a tour inside, taking time to look at everything. We did another tour around the outside of the wreck, then came back around the starboard side, where we picked up the line, heading back. Along the way, we saw a few really large carp! I came upon a rather large crayfish, and played with him a little. As he scurried backwards, Fred got behind him. As he was going to greet him, I signaled to Fred to look behind him… An extremly large carp was sneaking around us. Jen also saw quite a few of her “little guys” along the way, and showed them to Fred.
Bottom Time ~ 48 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 91′
Water Temp. ~ 55F
Vis. ~ Not bad at all!
Jen, Fred, and I, taken by Angelica!
After packing up, the four of us went for a nice lunch at the Boathouse Restaurant, overlooking the water. It was really great to see Angelica and Fred, and also getting in some fun dives. Thank you, Fred and Angelica! See you soon!
Me, Angelica, and Jen, taken by Fred!
After lunch, Jen and I lingered for a little while, then went to top the day off with some dessert!
Well, the weather wasn’t all that great for a Sunday afternoon in October, but a group of us met at Centeen Park, to fix up the line to the Gaskin. Someone had vandalized the line that Steve, Leigh, and Francois had laid about 5 years ago, and we were on a mission to fix it. We had posted for anyone that wanted to help us was welcome.
Steve and I headed to the river, and met with Mike, Jen, Andy, Cory, Adam Kulczycki, Julie, and Stephane.
Steve, Mike, and I scootered out to the wreck, running a reel from the wreck, back to the stop sign, as a reference. Mike had the new line, and proceeded to run it out, following the reel. From there, Steve put the stakes in the ground, leaving Julie and Stephane to push them in.
Of course, Steve had to push a couple in, with his fancy stake hammer. ;o)
Cory, Adam, Jen, and Andy were collecting the myriad of lines that ran in many different directions. Some of it was really good line, that we can reuse. Good thing, as we did run out of new line to run to the Gaskin. We will probably run back out next weekend to finish it up.
Bottom Time ~ 1 hour, 41 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 65′
Water Temp. ~ 53
Visibility ~ 20′
There was quite a bit of line picked up!
It was cold and rainy, but we all kept smiling, and we had a fantastic time!
Thank you to everyone that helped, and to Marc G. too!
Here is a video of some of the dive!
We capped off the day with a meal at Santa Fe, which seems to be the new favourite spot to eat. Fajita Goodness, with homemade tortilla wraps, that you can watch being made. Absolutely delicious!
Thank you so much to all that helped. It was a grand day to play and dive!
Time for some more scootering adventures! Steve and I met Claudia, Oren, and Jen down at Centeen Park, and had planned to hit the little “Unknown Hull” that Steve discovered a few weeks back.
Jen, getting her gear together…
Our plan was going to be a bit different from our previous treks to the wreck, but we had hoped to still come upon it.
On the previous weekend in Kingston, Jennifer had told us of some Jelly Fish that she had seen in the water. I was completely mesmerized, and was a little bummed that I had not been on the boats, so that I could see these little guys.
We did our pre-dive checks, and started to make our way out. The park was busy, as there were a couple of Open Water courses going on, so we made sure that we were out of their way. As we ventured out, I was absolutely wide-eyed when I saw a little clear creature in the water column, with mini tentacles, and a round shape, moving rather “jellyish-like.”
I saw one!! Then another.. and another.. Holy smokes! These little guys were so neat looking! I can’t believe they are in the St. Lawrence! They were in about 20′ to 30′ of water, and we saw a bunch of them along the way.
We headed 30 minutes upstream, on the trigger, dropped into the channel, then drifted for 30 minutes amongst the periwinkle shells. Before ducking into the channel, I actually let go of the trigger a couple of times, to allow the jellies to pass through.
As we drifted, we came upon some more very old wreckage. It was in about 65′ to 70′ of water, and just had some ribbing left to it. It was all wood, with ladder-like rungs through the ribbing. There were big metal pieces strewn about one side of it, and it was hard to tell what they once were. It was still very interesting to check out.
We left this wreckage, and went in search of the “Unknown Hull.” It seems we had overshot it, as we didn’t find it this time. Oh well.
We made our way back to the Gaskin, where there were some charters moored to it. We motored around the wreck, where there were some folks a little mesmerized by motorized machines passing by. We swam around the wreck for a bit, then decided to head home. As we moved in the direction of the line, we were saddened to see that it had been cut. Someone on shore had mentioned that the line was gone, and that they had driven four hours to do that dive from shore, for the first time, and it was missing. They had been to the stop sign on Friday afternoon, and the line was still there. It was gone by Saturday morning.
Steve, Leigh, and Francois had laid that line about 5 years ago, and you could tell that the line had been cut. There were no anchor marks, and there were still bits here and there, that you could see a definite cut mark. Sad. There were even parts of it balled up, underneath a rock.
So, we still had a great dive, and it was good to get back out into the channel!
Bottom Time ~ 116 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 104′
Water Temp. ~ 71 (the river is starting to cool a bit)
Claudia and I…
Sunday, August 29th, 2010 ~
Eric came down to join in the fun today, and since we all had the burn time, we were going to follow the “usual” path to the “Unknown Hull.”
We would head upstream for 40 minutes, drop into the channel, drift for 40 mins, then head back up to 75′, where the wreck sits. As we headed out, there was a noise that made us all jump. It didn’t sound like any boat or sea doo that we’ve heard before. It was extremely loud, and actually felt like someone was firing missiles into the water. We looked around, but didn’t see anything. Of course, our first reaction was wondering if a scooter had blown up behind us…lol. What it was remains a mystery. We saw many more Jellies as well.
Along the way, we found even more remnants of a really old wreck. There was a huge chain buried in the periwinkle shells, that was very long. There were also chunks of wood and metal, as well as a bunch of bottles in just about every direction. Another bit of goodness to explore on another dive.
We also made it to one of the horse carriages. There were so many weeds on it, and the horse harness is pretty mangled now. You can still see the metal wheels, with big spikes in the middle, and other parts that are difficult to distinguish.. for me, anyway.
We managed to get to the Unknown Hull again, and showed it to the rest of the gang. There’s not much left to it, but it’s old, new to us, and very cool. I decided to leave the camera at home, but should come back with it next time.
It was around here that Jen must have come into contact with some kind of clear petroleum. It was after her gas switch so she wondered if it was her gas.. which it ended up not being. We had turned the dive anyway, to be sure. Whatever kind of oil it was had completely encased her back up regulator, neck seal, and part of her wing. You couldn’t see it, but you could definitely smell it. I think Jen has now mastered the art of oil clean up.
On our way in, we met up with Chris P. and Allan in the shallows. Chris had his camera with him, and took some pics of us.
Me, taken by Chris Phinney…
Bottom Time ~ 118 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 100′
Water Temp. ~ 71
There were two OW courses going on, and I spoke with one fellow that was so pleased that he had finished his course, and had succeeded with the mask removal/replacement. He said he had tried it last year, but just couldn’t deal with the mask, until now. Practice, practice, practice… Congratulations!! W00t!
It was great to partake in another weekend, filled with friends and Diving Goodness!
w00 h00! A year’s worth of planning, and the Invasion was finally upon us. Time to see friends from last year, some of the “usual suspects,” and make some new friends.
I had loaded the DGTU on Thursday, so I was ready to roll on Friday morning. We were meeting at Jeff’s, to dive the Kinghorn.
Some of the gang had arrived on Thursday evening, and some were arriving today.
A good sized group were hitching a ride on Jeff’s boat, while some of us were going to scooter out to the wreck. Since it it not permitted to dive off the dock during boat season, we were given special permission for the day, and promised to stay away from the boat docks, picking up the line off of the customs dock, instead of the usual spot.
As we were getting our gear together, we got dive bombed by a military plane… about 5 times. I caught it once, as it had already passed…
Once we got sorted out and did our gear checks, Eric V., Ralph, myself, Chris Mal., Piotr, and Szymon headed out on our “turbos,” in search of the line. I had never picked up the line here, and hoped we would find it quickly. Alas, there it was. We got to it quite quickly and headed out.
Chris Mc., Mark N., Bob and Brian P., Erin A., Stephanie and Carmine B., and John Bailey went out on the Shaleka J, with Jeff at the helm, and we met them on the wreck.
Ralph, Eric, and I did a couple of tours around the outside of the wreck, then headed inside. I had my little Go Pro camera with me, and although it was a bit dark, I did get a little bit of footage with it.. that is, until it leaked a bit.
Erin got a little ride on Ralph’s scooter, which I know she enjoyed! We decided to get back on the line, and head back in. Once back at the docks, we found a good spot to leave our scooters, and tied them off. We were coming back for a second dive, so figured the best place for them was in the shallow water, tied to the dock.
Max. Depth ~ 91′
Bottom Time ~ 48 mins.
Water Temp. ~ 73
Vis. ~ 30’ish
Lunch time! We all walked over to the pub for some grub – drysuits and all. I had given them warning that there would be about 18 of us for lunch. They were very happy with the warning. We had alot of fun with the girl serving us. She was joking right alongside of us, and made our meal that much more enjoyable. They were ready for our sogginess, and had set up tables for us in the outdoor, covered area.
Then.. the bill came… Holy smokes… Yes, it is the real thing…
We then made our way back over to Jeff’s for Dive number two. We picked up our gear from the ledge, and once again made our way out to the Kinghorn.
Me gearing up, taken by Andy H…
Chris.. doing some gear maintenance.. with a saw???
I didn’t bring the camera out with me this time, so I didn’t get any shots, but we had a very similar dive. Scootered out, swam around, high-fived passers-by, played inside the wreck, played outside the wreck, then made our way back.
Max. Depth ~ 90′
Bottom Time ~ 41 mins.
Of course, there had to be Kool Aid shots!
After our dives, we headed over to Caiger’s, so the rest of us could check in and get sorted out before dinner.
Dinner was a choice between chicken and steak, and a myriad of other deliciousness. We had two tables, with over 30 people for dinner!
After dinner, some of us made our way upstairs, where we had some karaoke fun. I made a few friends…lol.
Saturday, August 14th, 2010 ~
Saturday, we boarded our charters, with a packed lunch, and headed out for some Diving Goodness!
One group of divers boarded with 1000 Island Pleasure Diving, for some Keystorm and America Goodness, and another two groups were bound for the Jodrey.
A couple of pics from our Jodrey charter…
We met up with everyone at Boldt Castle (Customs). Of course, there were pictures…
Chris McMullen and I were buddied up for some Jodrey Goodness. We made our descent down the wall, played around the bow for a bit, then made our way back in. This was the first time Chris and I had dived as a team, and we were in pretty good sync. Thanks for the dive, Chris!
Total Run Time ~ 62 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 179′
Water Temp. ~ 73
Cap’n. Jeff…
This year’s Invasion was moved to keep from the interruptions of the Poker Run. Instead of that, we had Pirate Day. There were many boats out, with pirate flags on their boats, and zipping back and forth. Needless to say, that we had quite a few waves crashing over our heads in the little mooring bay. It was for this reason that I opted to hang out in the water, while waiting for the rest of the gang to surface. My tummy and boat rockin’ just don’t mix.
Once they were back, I took even more pictures..
After we were allowed entry back into Canada, we unloaded, and headed to the patio, for some pre-dinner chatter about the day’s dives!
We joined again in the Caiger’s Dining Room, and had another fantastic dinner. There were many laughs, and alot of discussion about corn. One of the servers got in on it as well, and even brought me a little cup, with a few kernels of corn.. Priceless.
After dinner, some of us gathered around a bon fire, and enjoyed the beautiful evening. Thanks to the family that joined us, and brought marshmallows!
Sunday, August 15th, 2010 ~
Sunday, one group was headed to the Vickery, and for a cool drift dive, near the Ash Island Barge, and the tech boats headed back to the Jodrey. Dan MacKay, Jen, and Jeremy joined us for today’s dive as well.
Jen and I teamed up together, with Chris Mc. and Dan as a team alongside of us. We played around the bow some more, and although the visibility wasn’t very stellar, it was still a fun dive.
Bottom Time ~ 64 minutes
Max. Depth ~ 177′
Water Temp. ~ 73
This year’s Invasion was a little different, in the respect that it was an all-inclusive weekend, apart from drinks. The charters, room, dinners, lunches, breakfasts, T Shirts, and prizes were all included in the cost of the trip. I think this way works out very well, and I will definitely arrange it this way for next year as well.
It was really amazing to see some of the people that we only see once a year, and also great to have some new faces along!
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