| Wolfe Islander II, Kingston ON | N 44° 13.5', W 76° 24.9' | ||||
| Dive Number 131 | Buddies Scott, Kim | Surface temp 21°C | Starting pressure 3300psi | ||
| Depth 75ft | Visibility good | Time 46m | Water temp 18°C | Ending pressure 1000psi | |
Notes: | Tonight's club dive was a night dove to the Wolfe Islander. I've been out far too little this summer, but didn't want to miss a night dive to one of the best known wrecks in the area. Eleven divers were guests on the Proteus, and as the odd man out, I happily joined Scott and Kim, who had offered to let me join them. The dive went off without a hitch, following Kim's plan - one lap around the bottom, once around the deck, and then explore around the salon area until time to ascend. I was one of a few lucky divers who spied not one but two American eels on the dive (one on the port ramp and one at the starboard lower deck beside the salon). The sighting was a coup for me, but made me lament leaving my camera at home. After the ascent and a quick change we returned to shore under the light of a nearly full moon, with Jupiter hanging like a pendant underneath. Great times! | ||||
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
| Round Lake, South Frontenac ON | N 44° 24.9', W 76° 25.6' | ||||
| Dive Number 130 | Buddy Jason | Surface temp 20°C | Starting pressure 1700psi | ||
| Depth 19ft | Visibility good | Time 27m | Water temp 24°C | Ending pressure 1100psi | |
Notes: | For our night dive, I remembered my camera and Jason and I returned, hoping to catch another look at the multitude of sunfish in Round Lake. Sadly, we ran into technical trouble when his C8 light began turning off intermittently. Deciding to venture a little further to the shoal, we discovered that the fish population had thinned out anyway. We still managed to see a few large fish, including a catfish on our return to the entry point. I'll make a point of returning to Round lake by day if I can find others to join me. | ||||
| Round Lake, South Frontenac ON | N 44° 24.9', W 76° 25.6' | ||||
| Dive Number 129 | Buddy Jason | Surface temp 24°C | Starting pressure 3000psi | ||
| Depth 32ft | Visibility good | Time 45m | Water temp 13°C | Ending pressure 1700psi | |
Notes: | Jason and I have often had trouble being decisive about where to go for a dive, and ultimately decided to take a dip in Round Lake today. Last time I went in [August 6, 2008], I recall it was very cold and also that there were tons of sunfish. the temp was warmer today than it was two years ago, but the sunfish were just as plentiful if not more so. We also saw a pike and some bass and a perch or two. We returned to the entry point with enough air to come back for a night dive, when I could try and remember to bring my camera. | ||||
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
| Titanic, Kingston ON | N 44° 08.6', W 76° 37.2' | ||||
| Dive Number 128 | Buddy Jason | Surface temp 23°C | Starting pressure 3000psi | ||
| Depth 69ft | Visibility fair | Time 39m | Water temp 22°C | Ending pressure 1350psi | |
Notes: | After a couple dives to warm up under our belts, Jason and I decided to brave the Lake Ontario waters for the club's weekly charter dive. When head out to the Titanic, Neither Matt or I could remember if we had been on it ever before. It turns out that this was the dive that Jason and I made last summer with Anne [Dive # 95, June 25, 2009]. Unaware that we were tracing our steps/kicks from a year ago, we descended the line and had a warm and peaceful dive. The Titanic is big. I see from last year's post that we left some of it for another dive. We still haven't seen it all after last night. Same as last year, we retired to Wooden Heads for some post dive dinner. | ||||
| Brule Road Quarry, Westbrook, ON | N 44° 17.0', W 76° 38.9' | ||||
| Dive Number 127 | Buddy Jason | Surface temp 21°C | Starting pressure 2000psi | ||
| Depth 27 ft | Visibility good | Time 49m | Water temp 24°C | Ending pressure 650psi | |
Notes: | With both of us sporting half tanks from the previous night's dives, Jason and I met up after my morning shift, downed a tasty soup at Siem Reap restaurant, and after picking up a towel for him at Zellers, went over to the Brule Road quarry for a starter dive. The water was warm, and the dive was uncomplicated. I found a 4lb lead weight near the newspaper stand. Had it remained unclaimed, Jason was going to keep it (having paid $5/lb for 20 lbs lead from his Toronto dive shop, he was feeling a little stung, I think). I planned to ask the two other divers in the water with us, but they had disappeared by the time we exited our little swim. We ran into them at Northern Tech Diver when we went over there for air fills. As I suspected, one was Tom Rutledge of Preserve Our Wrecks who I hadn't met before. He reported that the weight wasn't his, but he thought it might belong to Northern Tech Diver. I asked the guy there, and he confirmed it was his, giving Jason a few free clips to say thanks for returning it. I also bought a couple belt clips to keep my lead in place. | ||||
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
| Loughborough Lake, South Frontenac ON | N 44°, W 76° | ||||
| Dive Number 126 | Buddy Jason | Surface temp 26°C | Starting pressure 2800psi | ||
| Depth 8ft | Visibility poor | Time 41m | Water temp 25°C | Ending pressure 2000psi | |
Notes: | Jason and Chandra arrived mid-Tuesday afternoon, and after a supper of hamburgers and garden-fresh zucchini, Jason and I donned our gear for a swim in the lake. The water wasn't deep, or clear, but it made for easy swimming, and in addition to seeing lots of bluegill pumpkinseed, we several medium size bass as well as a pike that I imagine was a half metre in length. Chandra was kind enough to illuminate the single floodlight near our lake pump, facilitating the navigation home after the sun set. | ||||
Saturday, June 26, 2010
| Olive Branch, Kingston ON | N 43° 57.9', W 76° 46.2' | ||||
| Dive Number 125 | Buddies Mario, Andrew | Surface temp 18°C | Starting pressure 3000psi | ||
| Depth 89ft | Visibility good | Time 27m | Water temp 9°C | Ending pressure 1100psi | |
Notes: | I managed to dry off [mostly] and warm up between the second and third dive of the day. I also ate my Tim Horton's sandwich for lunch. I think this helped make this dive feel warmer, even though the water remained a chilly nine degrees. The Olive Branch is one of the farthest wrecks that Kingston charters will travel to, and it was my first trip to it. It features a well preserved wheel and a pump. We managed to tour it a couple times before bottom time elapsed and we surfaced. Topside, I quickly changed into dry clothes, warmed up and browsed Mike's videos with him before retiring for a brief nap during our two-hour voyage back to Portsmouth Harbour. | ||||
| Kattie Eccles, Kingston ON | N 44° 0.6', W 76° 44.6' | ||||
| Dive Number 124 | Buddies Mario, Andrew | Surface temp 18°C | Starting pressure 3000psi | ||
| Depth 97ft | Visibility good | Time 26m | Water temp 9°C | Ending pressure 1100psi | |
Notes: | Our second dive of the day was to the Kattie Eccles, a wreck to which I had not previously been. The interval between the dives was short, and by the time that Matt sagely suggested that I consider removing my wetsuit and warming up between dives, I was reluctant to catch any wind chill since I'd be donning it again in a few minutes anyway. [Plus, putting back on a cold wetsuit? unpleasant!] Starting chilly was a shame, since the second dive of the day was also objectively colder. The Kattie Eccles is also an impressive wreck, featuring a bowsprit in good shape. There's also an intact wheel sitting on top of the steering column. Mike showed me a photo of it later - We must have missed it [despite seeking it] because we were too low. I did get this cool picture of a lantern on the stern!
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| City of Sheboygan, Kingston ON | N 44° 4.6', W 76° 44.1' | ||||
| Dive Number 123 | Buddies Mario, Andrew | Surface temp 18°C | Starting pressure 2950psi | ||
| Depth 94ft | Visibility very good | Time 27m | Water temp 11°C | Ending pressure 950psi | |
Notes: | The first dive of our club's three dive excursion [a great experience through Proteus Diving] was to the City of Sheboygan. Of the thirteen divers on board, Andrew and I were the only wearing wetsuits (I'm beginning to feel like an endangered species in my club). We joined Mario, who was attempting his first drysuit dive from a boat. The water was chilly but the wreck was enjoyable. We passed twice, and got a good view of the infamous prism before rising up the line. The fact that I didn't attempt to adjust my camera settings until in the water with two pair of thick gloves on means that I got some unintentionally blurry photos, like this trippy shot of Mario. | ||||
Sunday, June 06, 2010
| The Munson, Kingston ON | N 44° 12.6', W 76° 36.5' | ||||
| Dive Number 122 | Buddy Donovan | Surface temp 14°C | Starting pressure 3100psi | ||
| Depth 107ft | Visibility good | Time 23m | Water temp 9°C | Ending pressure 850psi | |
Notes: | This was my first dive in six months, and my first dive on the Munson in a year. Preserve Our Wrecks (P.O.W.) had been doing a free dive for members today courtesy of Kingston Dive Charters (c'mon Anne - no url?), so I joined up. I checked my gear this morning, and it turned out well I did - my first stages were both malfunctioning, so I took an extra trip to Dive Tech where Dan sorted them out (they hadn't been used since the service there over a month ago). So everything had been double-checked before getting to Collins Bay. The dive with new buddy Donovan went well and smoothly (he and I were the only wetsuited divers on our boat). Another season is off! | ||||

