Visiting The Old Man

1 08 2020

Saturday, August 1st, 2020 ~

I was having some water withdrawal, so we packed up our gear, and went down to play in the Rivaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Gear, loaded up!

We met at Mike’s, got Zeus (our pony dog) comfy in his digs, and headed out for some Scootery Diving Goodness! We took a bearing of Old Man Island, accounted for some current action, and made our plan. As we scootered in the shallows, we eventually turned south, toward the island. We came upon some really neat formations, and the water got quite shallow. We decided to surface, to see where we were.

Well, would you look at that??? We were right in front of the island (another 10 minutes of scooter time,’ish – 45 to 50 minutes on the trigger, to get there)! Back down we went, and we hit our mark. We scootered around it, then caught the current to come back in .

As we drifted, we found a giant piece of a prop, that looked like it broke off of something almost as large as the Jodrey (640′ steel freighter, for those that don’t know of this most awesome tech dive). We played frisbee with some discs, found some sort of pump, and of course, a few bottles. We drifted along the periwinkle shells, then came up to 60′, where we met up with the bow of the Gaskin.

Weird, that the line has been cut back. Not sure why someone would have done that. We scootered back to 30′, where Steve and Mike rotated their bottles (they were on RB80s), then up to 20′, where we did our deco.

I was convinced that my sac rate was going to be higher than normal, since being out of the water for a bit, but it appears not. I spent an hour and 6 minutes on my stage bottle, and surfaced with 1200 psi in my backgas (double 80s). Deco was on 02.

Bottom Time: 2 Hours, 30 minutes, on the nose.
Max. Depth: 107′
Avg. Depth: 78′
Water Temp.: 80F, near the surface, 77F on the dive.

Gear… loaded up, again!

When we surfaced, we packed up our gear, and went back to get Zeus, then went for some Boston Pizza! w00t w00t!

Zeus, the pony dog! ❤
Steve and I. Mike was loading his car!




Friends, Feast, and Finning… Part 1

1 04 2009

Saturday, March 21st, 2009 ~

On Friday night, a bunch of our friends came from as far west as St. Catherines and as far east as Quebec City. We were having another gathering of friends from afar, for some diving goodness!

Francois and Eric were the first to arrive, followed by Jen, then Jay. We were all hanging out in the dive garage, and helping Jen with her new scooter. After some catching up and nibbling on pizza, we hit the pillows.

Saturday morning, we were up bright and early to go to the quarry. The ice will probably be gone soon, so this weekend would be one of the last couple of ice dives of the season.

When we arrived, there were another three groups of people there to dive. It was a busy day for the watering hole, and there was a large opening above the plane too! We also met up with Jeremy.

We had brought our short body scooters to play with, so that Jen could try out her new toy! We didn’t all have them, so we took turns handing off scooters.

Jen…

Jay…

I handed mine off for a bit, so that I could take some shots, and it was even left to the plane for a bit…

Jay’s little scooter…

Steve, sending me the secret hand shake signal…

Jeremy…

Frankie…

Steve, mid barrel roll…

We had a heckuvalot of fun!

Bottom Time ~ 38 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 38′
Water Temp. ~ 40
Vis. ~ Great!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so a few of us decided to go for a second dive! I left the camera behind, so that I could play around with my scooter. Jen took some shots from the surface, and since there was a gaping hole above the plane, she got some shots of us below!

Jen also got a video clip with her camera…

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We weren’t in for long, but it was fun to get back in!

Bottom Time ~ 21 mins.
Max. Depth ~ 57′
Water Temp ~ 40
Vis. ~ Great!

I think this one is the picture of the day… Jay got a little crabby…

We headed over to Jean Burger for a quick nibble, and then headed back to our place.

We tinkered with gear for a while, then I uploaded the pictures from the day’s adventures. Then it was time for BBQ! Jen had brought up the most succulent sirloin steaks, fresh from the butcher, and fresh bacon to wrap around them. Holy smokes, we were eating like kings and queens tonight! While I played around with the pictures, Jen and Steve got the food together. We had filet mignon, baked potatoes, and.. well.. we forgot the veggies, but we had other add ons! Kevin and Jenn E. also joined us for dinner.

After filling our bellies, it was time to sit back, relax, and watch the “WKPP Push For The Connection” DVD. What a way to wind down a most excellent day of diving goodness and fun with friends!

Stay tuned for Part 2!





Sunny Day For A Dive!

16 02 2008

February 16th, 2008 ~

A couple of friends came down from Quebec for the weekend, and we were anxious for a dive! Steve, myself, Leigh (Woofybeotch), Francois, and Eric headed over to the Quarry for some fun. When we loaded the van, it was a balmy -17 degrees outside, but the sun was “shining brighter… oh yeah… that’s great!”

We stopped at the dive shop for some fills, and away we went! We went through the normal routine… shovelled, cleared, and made a hole in the ice.

Ta Daaaaaaaaa… they were done!
(Woofy and Steve)

Woofy and I…

Frankie and Eric getting ready…

We geared up and in we went. Steve, Leigh, and I were a team, and Francois and Eric were a team. We did our valve and S Drills, and headed for the plane. Leigh was running the line. I was working more on my back finning, and played paddy cakes with Steve. Leigh and I made funny faces for the video camera, that Steve brought along. We tooled around for a bit, worked on some skills, and well… just like clockwork, I started to get cold after 30ish minutes, so we signalled to the other two, that we were going in, and headed back. I exited… and it was slightly more graceful than I’ve exited in the past, and I’m proud to say that I didn’t have any boy help getting out.

Frankie and Eric came back not far behind us, and were still under when Steve realized they didn’t bring the reel in, so back Steve and Leigh went to retrieve it… I went back to the van for the camera, and couldn’t help but take a self portrait…

Frankie coming in again…Yes.. the secondary tie off got knocked off when someone came in.. and nope.. it wasn’t me…

The boyz.. from left to right…

Eric, Francois, Leigh, Steve…Err.. and the reel kinda fell apart coming in, you’ll notice a couple of pieces beside it…

Woofy and I after the dive…

Steve…

Frankie and Eric…

I can’t resist posting this one… Just guess… Lmao

Bottom Time ~ 36 minutes
Water Temp. ~ 39
Max. Depth ~ 21′
Vis ~ Awesome!

We packed up and headed for Jean Burger.. The boyz had Club Poutine, and I had a Grilled Cheese with a Poutine… can’t resist that stuff after winter diving… Even though just looking at the stuff clogs my arteries, and causes my butt to grow…

We then headed to the studio, where Leigh showed us the progress in the two impending “We Go Down” videos. All I can say is… unfreakin’ real… He’s brilliant. The next two are going to be incredible. I am a human alarm clock in one of them…

Steve at the finger board…

Leigh showing us the footage…

It was another fun filled day with our friends, and I hope to have more of our adventures to write about tomorrow!