General Sherman, Myrtle Beach SC			N 33° 43.7', W 78° 32.4'
Dive Number 91		Buddy Matt	Surface temp 19°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 49ft	Visibility poor	Time 35m	Water temp 23°C	Ending pressure 1600psi
Notes:	The real excitement happened during the surface interval before our second dive of the day. While we were waiting topside, the divemaster on board with us [Dan] noticed some surface diver activity at the bow of the boat [as usual, the normal surface was to take place astern]. I followed after him as he jumped up on the bow to find the divemaster candidate Randy at the surface with one of their open water students. Although Randy said they were fine, the student appeared to be in less than perfect condition as they approached the ladder. Randy was encouraging him to take some deep breaths, but the student wasn't responding to suggestions that he place his foot on the ladder - in fact, he wasn't really responding (or responsive) at all. By this time, Dan was leaning over the ladder and starting to remove his BCD, the other divemaster [Jeannie] had appeared in the water and had removed his weight belt, and with these gone my buddy Matt and I quickly intervened and hauled him up the ladder ourselves. Supine on the deck, he was breathing, and his heart was beating, but he failed to respond to questions. Randy continued to offer encouragements to take deep breaths, while relating the story to us - The student had a problem with his fin at about 30 feet and about 20 minutes into their dive. As Randy fixed it, the student started to panic and shove his reg out of his own mouth. Randy tried to replace it, but the student would have nothing of it. The two ascended and a controlled fashion, according to Randy. The student seemed dazed, but otherwise alright. I asked him some questions and got no answer. I asked him to blink his eyes if he could hear me. He did. Jeannie and Dan managed to assemble the oxygen and started giving him some of that. By the time they were ready to get some to him, he was starting to speak, but was still feeling woozy. He denied any chest pain or dyspnea, and indicated he had normal sensation and motion in arms and legs. After what seemed to be about ten minutes on the deck, he started to perk up, had a couple sips of water, and eventually sat up. Jeannie suggested to Matt and I that if we wanted to go on our second dive, that we could. I wasn't sure if she wanted me to stay with the victim, but realized that although I had been chatting with my buddies about what we all did for a living, she didn't know that I was a physician who worked in the ER [hopefully she didn't just think I was a nosey and bossy person!] She said he seemed to be coming around well and I agreed, so Matt and I went under for our second dive. Ron deferred - I know the vis wasn't what he hoped, but I'm not sure how much the rescue experience topside had rattled him. The dive itself was also more enjoyable. We stuck to the wreck and the visibility was still pretty poor - about ten feet. We were treated to large schools of spadefish and amberjack, as well as lots of minnows and a few barracuda. We found lots of urchin, as well as a starfish or two. When we saw Jeannie down with her students for their second dive, I knew that our patient had been doing better. Naturally, he had not gone down for a second dive. Surfacing after the dive, I was happy to see him up and walking around, feeling pretty much perfect [if a little sheepish]. I overheard him ask if there were more charters in the next couple days, so it sounds like he won't be out of it for long! It was a pleasure to dive with Matt, satisfying to practice my rescue skills, and a pleasure to be out with the folks from Coastal Scuba. If I make it back to Myrtle Beach, I'll look into getting out with them again.

General Sherman, Myrtle Beach SC			N 33° 43.7', W 78° 32.4'
Dive Number 90		Buddies Matt, Ron	Surface temp 19°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 50ft	Visibility poor	Time 32m	Water temp 23°C	Ending pressure 1650psi
Notes:	Since I was taking a week's vacation in Myrtle Beach with my family, I decided to check out a local outfit called Coastal Scuba, situated in North Myrtle. I had been looking for a couple aluminum 80 tanks, and they saw fit to sell me a couple at a significant savings (relative to Canadian prices), as well as place me on a charter today for two dives to try them out. I arrived at 8am as directed, in time for the 8:30 am departure. The sky was overcast and the seas were a little choppy, and our original plan to travel to "Barracuda Alley" was changed to the wreck of the Sherman, a civil war era blockade runner which sunk while in use as a merchant vessel after the war. There were five basic water students on the boat finishing their basic water certification, as well as two divemasters and one divemaster candidate. My two buddies were the two other licensed divers: Matt, a sheriff's department officer from Virginia with twenty something dives in cool or cold fresh water in the past few months, and Ron, a radiologist from North Carolina who finished his basic open water 18 months ago, and had not been in the water since. We managed it down the line ok, but promptly lost the wreck at the bottom. Figuring we had to find our way back or bear the shame of having lost the wreck and make a free ascent in the choppy waters, we reversed direction and took a compass bearing. After about a minute we found a big school of spadefish, figured we couldn't be too far off, and since we all had ample air, we followed them back to the wreck. We found the line up just in time - Ron was down to about 1000 psi, so we ascended and boarded the boat. We had thought our dive was adventurous enough, but more adventure followed.

Wolfe Islander II, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.5', W 76° 24.9'
Dive Number 89		Buddy Steve Chew	Surface temp 18°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 76ft	Visibility good	Time 41m	Water temp 20°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	Tonight, the Preserve Our Wrecks (P.O.W.) crew boarded the SPV Proteus, and sixteen divers dove the Wolfe. This was fortuitous for me, since I had not been on this wreck yet this year. Mike and Adam both reported seeing an American eel tonight, which continues to elude me. Steve and I discovered an entry through the floor of the salon which I hadn't used before. The water was warm, and we got back in time for me to meet Cheryl and head out for dinner at Darbar afterwards.

Cornwall, Kingston ON			N 44° 08.2', W 76° 37.2'
Dive Number 88		Buddy Sylvain	Surface temp 18°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 70ft	Visibility good	Time 27m	Water temp 12°C	Ending pressure 1800psi
Notes:	As we head out on a clear night to the Cornwall, Steve let us know that the lake had "flipped": That the storm sufficiently turned up the water to cool it and as a result,we'd find a higher, cooler thermocline. His predictions were right, and many of us enjoyed a great dive around [or slightly over] the wreck. Few of the seven on the boat had dove the Cornwall before. The 1854 vessel had a steel hull, which is largely intact, and someone has placed a salty captain garden figurine near the centre of the vessel. Fun!

Aloha and Effie Mae, Kingston ON			N 44° 09.8', W 76° 34.1'
Dive Number 87		Buddy Sylvain	Surface temp 25°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 54	Visibility good	Time 38m	Water temp 21°C	Ending pressure 1600psi
Notes:	They exist! Over the past two years I have been on at least three or four charters to the Aloha and Effie Mae which have been diverted [usually to the Wolfe] as a result of choppy water or storms. Tonight, Steve braved the waves and we made it out to the pair of wrecks. Sylvain and I had a warm and comfortable dive with about eight other club divers before retiring to the Portsmouth Tavern for some post-dive refreshments.

Robert Gaskin, Brockville ON			N 44° 35.3', W 75° 40.6'
Dive Number 86		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 23°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 69ft	Visibility good	Time 25m	Water temp 23°C	Ending pressure 1600psi
Notes:	Success. Jason and I descended the line and despite trepidation, we left the bottom of the line along the chain to the wreck. I watched my computer carefully to follow the depth, and was pleased to see Jason manage so well as we passed deeper than 60 ft (beyond which I count the dive as "deep"). After a quick tour of the wreck, I was distressed to see my right wrist bare, void of computer. I attempted to communicate this to Jason, but he didn't understand. I retraced our path over the wreck, but didn't find it. Returning to the bottom of the line, I managed to communicate my dilemna to Jason, but with only 1400 psi in his tank, we decided not to return for another look. Frustrated, I ascended, and boarded the boat. Happily, another diver had found it, and returned it to me. And so the dive was saved - good descent, good wreck, and the computer was found! Jason and I stopped at Dive Tech on the way home, where Dan tied a couple of bungees into the computer to replace the broken strap.

Muskallonge, Brockville ON			N 44° 36.1', W 75° 39.1'
Dive Number 85		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 22°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 84ft	Visibility good	Time 26m	Water temp 22°C	Ending pressure 2100psi
Notes:	Although it makes for good dive planning, it was unfortunate that our first dive of the day was the deeper of the two. Jason's dive anxiety seemed to influence him leading up to our entry and descent. The haphazard allocation of buddies on the boat probably didn't help, either. We let everyone else go down ahead of us, and then made our way down the rope. Jason did admirably, slowing down, stopping and ascending slightly when feeling stressed, but ultimately descending down the rope to a depth of 87 feet (watching from slightly above, I made it to 84). I didn't actually see the boat in a little over 90 feet of water, but Jason did. Nevertheless, we communicated well, no one lost control, and everyone ascended safely. We'll put this dive in the win column.

KGH, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.3', W 76° 29.3'
Dive Number 84		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 21°C	Starting pressure 2100psi
Depth 37ft	Visibility fair	Time 65m	Water temp 21°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	Jason and I set more reasonable expectations for our second dive of the afternoon: swim straight out, stop if either of us felt at all unwell, swim back underneath with no free ascent. We proceeded very gently, and descended to a well-lit 37 feet. We saw several large drum, bass, as well as catfish, and of course lots of gobies. A school of perch swam past before we finished our 65 minute dive - I think my longest ever. Jason and I felt much better about the way the dive went; hopefully a sign of good things to come as we continue to dive together.

KGH, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.3', W 76° 29.3'
Dive Number 83		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 21°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 49ft	Visibility fair	Time 25m	Water temp 21°C	Ending pressure 2200psi
Notes:	Since Jason and I decided to make a trip the the Great Barrier Reef next year, we planned to do some diving this weekend so that we could become accustomed to each other's behaviour underwater. Since I had two boat dives booked for Saturday, we figured that a couple shore dives would get Jason comfortable back in the water (he hadn't yet been out in 2008). Since I'd recently read about the wreck off the KGH , we decided to give that a try. Our first attempt was difficult - we navigated by compass, and had no luck finding the line, but Jason got panicked at about 50 feet and insisted on a free ascent to the surface. Although stressful and disorienting without references, we did this together safely, and then swam back to shore and rested before our second dive, which was to go better.

Georgina Island, Rockport ON			N 44° 12.6', W 76° 30.6'
Dive Number 82		Buddy Sylvain	Surface temp 24°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 77ft	Visibility good	Time 32m	Water temp 22°C	Ending pressure 1600psi
Notes:	Sly joined me for a "walk on" with Thousand Island Diving. It was his first dive of the year. Although we had both drifted in the St. Lawrence before, we were both caught off guard by the turbulence of the current through the channel on the south side [clockwise] of Georgina Island: we both got washed a little upstream when entering the main channel before getting swept back to the island. This meant a few disorienting moments without island where we expected it, and we were both briefly tempted to surface, despite the sounds of boat traffic overhead. Luckily, we soon spied the edge we were supposed to be following, and things started going a little more according to plan. We surfaced after a little while in an eddy, in sight of the Thousand Island International Bridge. The dive wasn't "by the book", but I think we both learned a lesson on the subject of handling a small crisis. The best thing was to stop, assess the situation calmly, and proceed slowly and safely.

Eagle Point, Rockport ON			N 44° 12.6', W 76° 30.6'
Dive Number 81		Buddy Matt	Surface temp 24°C	Starting pressure 2750psi
Depth 66ft	Visibility good	Time 34m	Water temp 23°C	Ending pressure 1100psi
Notes:	The third dive of the day was billed as a drift, but the current in this part of the river was negligeable. I hd planned on bringing down a bit of leftover subway sandwich to feed the fish, but remembered this after having descended about 20 feet. Matt and I swam downstream along the edge, and were rewarded with sightings of several large carp, catfish, and bass. The highlight, however, were the curious sunfish that closely followed us, circling our masks, and swimming right into our hands. It was almost like they knew I had planned on bringing them food. Thus ended our third of the three tanks. The weather cooperated, the dives were great, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Singer Castle, Dark Island NY			N 44° 27.1', W 75° 48.4'
Dive Number 80		Buddy Jean-Yves	Surface temp 23°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 61ft	Visibility good	Time 48m	Water temp 23°C	Ending pressure 900psi
Notes:	I hadn't been particularly chuffed about doing a "scavenging" dive": I don't really have any interest in changing dive sites or bringing home souvenirs. Nevertheless, the site at Singer Castle is a good one for this. With proximity to the Canadian border, and having been used for rum running during the prohibition, there are plenty of bottles to be found. A few of our fellow dives returned with artifacts. Jean-Yves and I took a leisurely swim up current, and while we didn't find any collectibles, we were the only divers in our group who spotted what appeared to be a metre long muskellunge. There were also plenty of bass and a big carp (more of those would follow on the third dive of the day). The dive finished with a free ascent and a reference free 15ft safety stop, which was good practice.

Keystorm, New York			N 44° 25.8', W 75° 49.3'
Dive Number 79		Buddy Jean-Yves	Surface temp 21°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 112ft	Visibility good	Time 36m	Water temp 23°C	Ending pressure 1100psi
Notes:	Since our club had an odd number of divers, I paired up for the first of our three-tank day with Jean-Yves Latour, a divemaster originally from Montreal now living in Connecticut. The Keystorm is a great dive any time, and it was better today for having less traffic than a few weeks ago (I had joked that a Wal-Mart greeter uniform would not have been out of place on our previous trip - Kim may look into getting one for me). Jean-Yves was a pleasure to dive with, and he captured some shots of the wreck (and he tells me, some video of me) before the batteries in his camera died. The dives also took place on the same weekend as the St. Lawrence poker run. I would probably never have made a point of travelling to the water to see the multimillion dollar boating race/event, but since I was there anyway, seeing some of them tear by at 200 mph was impressive. Hearing them screaming by overhead from the wreck was equally so. I almost forgot! The water was warm enough that I dove with no hood, thin gloves, and my 3mm windsurfing shorty. Fun!

KPH, Kingston ON			N 44° 12.8', W 76° 31.2'
Dive Number 78		Buddy Matt	Surface temp 25°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 67ft	Visibility fair	Time 27m	Water temp 19°C	Ending pressure 2000psi
Notes:	The night dive was to the KPH, which I had never seen before. The skies unleashed a small summer shower as we descended, but hey - we were getting wet anyway. Debate continues to take place about the relative safety of lightning striking while underneath. Everyone noticed a thermocline at about 60 feet, but the wreck was clearly visible at deck height without venturing below. Matt and I came up after nearly half an hour and a couple tours of the boat, and felt the warmth of the sun shining as we rode home.

Round Lake, South Frontenac ON			N 44° 24.9', W 76° 25.6'
Dive Number 77		Buddy Lee	Surface temp 24°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 35ft	Visibility fair	Time 42m	Water temp 9°C	Ending pressure 1800psi
Notes:	When Cheryl and the kids took a week at the Parsons cottage, I figured I'd get out on the Wednesday evening dive. Earlier in the week, I had the idea to email Mike and see if he was up or an afternoon dive before the night. It was uncanny when he pre-emptively emailed me to invite me to join Dianne, Lee and him at nearby Round Lake. The dive was good, but I should have more closely heeded the warnings about the thermoclines in small lakes. At 18 or 19 feet, the water became downright frigid, and wearing a beanie and thin gloves instead of my cold water fare, I was happy to ascend into what felt like a bath above the thermocline for a little tour after seeing the cars. A fantastic school of about a hundred sunfish hung around as we returned to the entry point, and I could have watched them for a long time.

Keystorm, New York			N 44° 25.8', W 75° 49.3'
Dive Number 76		Buddy Kim	Surface temp 26°C	Starting pressure 3200psi
Depth 70ft	Visibility good	Time 37m	Water temp 22°C	Ending pressure 1900psi
Notes:	After an hour surface interval and chimichangas and samosas from the Sleepless Goat, I paired up with Kim for the second dive. We descended part way down the wreck, and entered one of the vast cargo bays. On the way up, I misunderstood and thought she wanted to end earlier than she acutally did; we made it to our 15 foot safety stop, then turned and went down to see the underside of the boat (including the scar of the crash that sunk it, I think). Both dives of the day were excellent, and I'll look forward to the three tank dive on August 9th, if I don't manage to get out before.

Keystorm, New York			N 44° 25.8', W 75° 49.3'
Dive Number 75		Buddy Steve Chew	Surface temp 26°C	Starting pressure 3200psi
Depth 32ft	Visibility good	Time 28m	Water temp 22°C	Ending pressure 1600psi
Notes:	The first of our two-tank dive event on the Keystorm was fun: ten of us piled into the small "Island Diver" boat run by Thousand Island Diving; we worried we wouldn't all fit, but the speedy boat got us to customs and we sped through in time to be the second of seven boats on the wreck. Steve and I dove to the base of the steel freighter, and fought against traffic coming up for our surface interval. The wreck was great, but with seven boats diving it, it was a little busy for my liking.

Treasure Hunt Dive, Navy Bay, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.7', W 76° 27.8'
Dive Number 74		Buddy Kevin	Surface temp 20°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 25ft	Visibility fair	Time 41m	Water temp 12°C	Ending pressure 1500psi
Notes:	The yearly opening event of the club diving season is the Treasure Hunt Dive, which last year took place at Nicholson's point, and involved divers searching for numbered golf balls in order to win prizes. The skies opened up and provided torrential dounpour during the hour prior to our scheduled 10am start time, and only eight of us made the trip out to Nicholson's point. In the end, the organizers wisely rescheduled the event for Navy Bay off the jetty at RMC, which started about an hour later and where Kevin and I took a pleasant dive with a handful of other participants. It was a disorienting one, though - My recorded dive time includes two surfaces for reorientation. I ought to bone up on my compass skills!

The King Horn, Rockport ON			N 44° 22.6', W 75° 55.9'
Dive Number 73		Buddy Jean-Olivier	Surface temp 16°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 92ft	Visibility good	Time 24m	Water temp 11°C	Ending pressure 1350psi
Notes:	The Lyn Lee was under repair, so we had a last minute change to our planned dive, and ten divers became six when two opted out and two could not be reached. I paired up with Jean-Olivier for the dive, but he lost about 600psi from his steel tank during a free-flow while swimming to the top of the buoy line. The dive itself was pretty good. Fewer divers meant a shorter excursion, and J-O and I had a leisurely swim to the front of the wreck, coming back through the hull. I think J-O was frustrated to end the dive early because of his low air, but we had a good tour. Dive manuals usually recommend that if a diver feels something's not right prior to a dive, that he abandon the dive instead of going under with a bad feeling. One of our divers got such a sense, and called his dive at the last moment, leaving the remaining three to dive as a group. I know we have good divers in our club, and my opinion of the experienced diver in question rose even higher to see how he handled this situation. Next dive will be the annual treasure hunt dive on Saturday!

Kingston Psychiatric Hospital, Kingston ON			N 44° 12.9', W 76° 31.3'
Dive Number 72		Buddy Rob	Surface temp 18°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 49ft	Visibility excellent	Time 25m	Water temp 9°C	Ending pressure 1500psi
Notes:	Today sees a new category in my dive log: Dry. Adam organized a demo of the new Fusion drysuits from Whites. It's my first time wearing a drysuit, so while I'm unqualified to compare the Fusion to other drysuits, everyone else thought it was pretty good. As for me, I need to get a longer belt (maybe the next one I get will be a colour other than hot pink), and will need fins capable of holding bigger boots if I want to dive dry. I needed last minute adjustments to my weight, and ultimately felt a little bunchy inside my suit, but I think I just need to work on my dry technique. Becuase who's kidding who? Eventually I'll want one of these...

The Comet, Kingston ON			N 44° 08.35', W 76° 35.1'
Dive Number 71		Buddies Jim, Kevin	Surface temp 10°C	Starting pressure 2950psi
Depth 81ft	Visibility excellent	Time 32m	Water temp 7°C	Ending pressure 950psi
Notes:	Today's dive was our club's first chartered dive of the year, and also my first dive of 2008. Of the five divers on the boat, I was the only one diving wet, but managed to stay warm enough to keep up with Kevin Leblanc and Jim Dunfield (Jim was down from Ottawa visiting friends). The excellent visibility was unparalleled, the Comet remains an great wreck. An American eel which has been said to frequent this wreck eluded all of us today. No sign of it was seen. The dive was followed with the traditional Tim Horton's outing, followed for me by a nap.