Pumpkin Dive, Winter Dock, Wolfe Island ON			N 44° 12.9', W 76° 25.5'
Dive Number 67		Buddy Sylvain	Surface temp 14°C	Starting pressure 2850psi
Depth 14ft	Visibility fair	Time 23m	Water temp 15°C	Ending pressure 2200psi
Notes:	This was the first year that Sylvain or I participated in the club's annual pumpkin dive. Expecting that we would make foolish mistakes anyway, we tempted fate by choosing the largest pumpkin available, but finessed our experience (or cheated, depending on your point of view) by puncturing two small holes to drain the air from it before descent. We timed our dive between dockings of the ferry, took down ten extra pounds of lead to weigh ourselves and the pumpkin down, and brought a pumpkin carving tool and a bag (to bring up bits). Sadly, we lost the lid to our underwater lantern when our bag everted and the bits floated away. Nevertheless, we managed to carve a striking pumpkin with a menacing smile, and a dive flag etched into the back of it. We assume that we won lots of prizes, but had to leave the reception to catch a 1:15 ferry back to Kingston, so will have to find out later. This may have been my last cold water dive of the year. There's Cuba at the end of next month, though...

Maple Glen, Kingston ON			N 44° 8.7' W 76° 37.2'
Dive Number 66		Buddies Sheila, Steve C	Surface temp 15°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 67ft	Visibility good	Time 41m	Water temp 12°C	Ending pressure 1300psi
Notes	With eleven divers on our weekly club charter, Steve and Sheila and I were the only unmatched divers, and elected to dive together as a threesome. Since Sheila is legendary in our club for her conservative air consumption, I had been eager to dive with her to see how I measured up. Since the mooring had been removed from the wreck called the Queen Mary, we were diverted to another nearby wreck, which I was told at the time was the Titanic, but the club website now indicates was the Maple Glen. The wreck was interesting, and although we descended by daylight, we all required our lights and ascended by night. As I said, it's a good thing we all made a tour by twilight, since you should never dive a site by night that you haven't seen by day. After getting home, I went through my dive profile and worked out an average depth of between 50 and 52 feet. Using an online Surface Air Consumption (SAC) calculator, I worked out my own SAC at just less than .5 cubic feet (about 12 litres) per minute.

Dead Man's Bay, Kingston ON			N 44° 14.0', W 76° 26.9'
Dive Number 65		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 13°C	Starting pressure 2500psi
Depth 15ft	Visibility fair	Time 37m	Water temp 18°C	Ending pressure 1700psi
Notes:	Today was my third dive day in a row - this may be a record for me! Jason and went down to Dead Man's Bay for a clam and shallow dive. There was no visible buoy on the wreck, but we left by compass heading to the place where I thought we'd find it. I steered us far off course, so when we were confident we'd gone too far, we took a look up and found ourselves across the bay. We returned, and navigated under the breakwater to the ramp up to the parking lot, but not before I spied a small mottled fish that I think was a small muskellunge. The dive was not exciting, but was relaxing, and Jason and I both did fine.

The Comet, Kingston ON			N 44° 08.35', W 76° 35.1'
Dive Number 64		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 17°C	Starting pressure 2700psi
Depth 74ft	Visibility fair	Time 22m	Water temp 16°C	Ending pressure 1700psi
Notes:	With the overcast weather, and a storm threatening to arrive, I was surprised and pleased to go to our scheduled dive at the Comet. To be sure to not hold anyone up, Jason and I entered the water last and descended the line gently, to allow ample chance to acclimatize to the depth. Arriving at the bottom of the line, the cold and dark conspired to make Jason a little uncomfortable, so we climbed to a depth of 40 to 50 feet, and just swam overtop of the big paddle-wheels. With air running down, we surfaced early, but gently and safely with our usual 15 foot safety stop. The rain spittled as we rode back to Kingston, and Jason and I enjoyed a tasty supper at Curry Original afterwards.

Pumphouse, Kingston ON			N 44° 12.6', W 76° 30.6'
Dive Number 63		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 13°C	Starting pressure 2800psi
Depth 29ft	Visibility fair	Time 33m	Water temp 17°C	Ending pressure 1900psi
Notes:	For our second dive of the day, Jason and I planned to return to the pumphouse for a night dive. Our distance was much less, and Jason was troubled by some equipment failure - his pistol light flooded so he converted to his backup light and we stayed close. Navigation was trickier for us becuase of the ease of disorientation, and we also got turned around when Jason got a cramp. There were plenty of perch, and lost of catfish. We both saw a medium-large drum, and I caught a glimpse of a medium pike as well.

Pumphouse, Kingston ON			N 44° 12.6', W 76° 30.6'
Dive Number 62		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 13°C	Starting pressure 2800psi
Depth 38ft	Visibility fair	Time 31m	Water temp 17°C	Ending pressure 1500psi
Notes:	Jason came to town so he and I could get a couple dives in. Since he would be coming on the club dive the following night, he was keen to get his feet - and everything else - wet with a refresher dive with me. We braved the spittle and distant thunder to descend the usual route at the pumphouse, where the barge afforded a view of a few bass. We managed to navigate back to the launch to exit at the bend in Ontario Street. The swim was longer than he had intended, but he did well for someone so far out of practice, and we both enjoyed a good dive.

Robert Gaskin, Belleville ON			N 44° 35.4 W 75° 40.6'
Dive Number 61		Buddy Kim	Surface temp 22°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 67ft	Visibility good	Time 39m	Water temp 19°C	Ending pressure 850psi
Notes:	I had been on the Gaskin last year with Jason and Sylvain; tonight, Kim and I were both unbuddied when our respective buddies had to bow out because of colds. It was a shame for them, the visibility was pretty good, the wreck was alive with abundant fish (including a couple large pickerel and a pike or two). The ship permits easy penetration, and we swam through the stern after once around. Kim and I held out for 39 minutes on the wreck, rising last to bring up Chris Columbus' line beacon.