The Rothesay, Brockville ON			N 44° 42.0', W 75° 31.2'
Dive Number 165		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 6°C	Starting pressure 2850psi
Depth 27ft	Visibility fair	Time 46m	Water temp 13°C	Ending pressure 1300psi
Notes:	For our second dive, Jason and I returned to the wreck of the Rothesay in Prescott which we last dove in the summer, with a surface temperature of 29°C and water temp of 20°C. Jason had a new housing for his GoPro, and was keen to see the pike that eluded him last visit (I previously thought this to be a muskellonge). Despite cool dressings and undressings in the wind and rain, we were treated to the usual good dive, with abundant large bass, the largest walleye I have ever seen, and we both got to see the resident pike, pictured here. Afterwards, we returned to Kingston for hamburgers at Five Guys. Since this is almost certainly my last dive of the calendar year, it was a nice one to end on.

Round Lake, South Frontenac ON			N 44° 24.9', W 76° 25.6'
Dive Number 164		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 14°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 44ft	Visibility fair	Time 52m	Water temp 10°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	Jason made the drive from Toronto for a fall dive today. We head over to round lake and braved the chilly water to go for a swim over our usual shoal, and were treated to views of plenty of sunfish, a few walleye, and what we think was a large Northern pike. Below the 40 foot thermocline, the ground was covered with some sort of red algae, and as we exited, we saw a little snapping turtle. Enjoy! Where shall we go for supper?

Round Lake, South Frontenac ON			N 44° 24.9', W 76° 25.6'
Dive Number 163		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 24°C	Starting pressure 3200psi
Depth 33ft	Visibility good	Time 56m	Water temp 14°C	Ending pressure 1400psi
Notes:	With the morning available to us, Jason and I went over to Round Lake with Chandra for a dip in Round Lake. We overcame technical difficulties [his wetsuit, my tank attachment, his BCD purge valve], but when we finally got underwater it was worth it. We saw the carcass of a medium sized snapping turtle, several dinner-sized bass, and the usual curious sunfish. I found a good rock for watching and Jason took a few pictures of me and the fish taking each other in. Everyone returned home safely and we finished an enjoyable visit together!

Cornwall, Kingston ON			N 44° 08.2', W 76° 37.2'
Dive Number 162		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 25°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 70ft	Visibility good	Time 53m	Water temp 20°C	Ending pressure 700psi
Notes:	Our second dive of the afternoon was the Cornwall. It has two great paddlewheels, two big boilers, a few intact portholes, and a little garden-ornament captain. We also saw a dead eel - about 80 cm by my reckoning. We both surpassed our no deco time, and spent about ten minutes on the line for a decompression stop on the way up. We returned home, picked up Chandra, and rounded out the day with supper at Casa Domenico for supper. Success!

Glendora, Kingston ON			N 44° 8.6', W 76° 38.1'
Dive Number 161		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 25°C	Starting pressure 3200psi
Depth 72ft	Visibility good	Time 47m	Water temp 23°C	Ending pressure 700psi
Notes:	Jason and Chandra came to the weekend, and when we booked a couple dives with Northern Tech for Saturday, we had the good fortune to find that Adam Rushton was our captain! We were joined by another advanced diver and his buddy, an open water diver with about ten dives experience. Although the wrecks we chose weren't deep, they were enjoyable, and we enjoyed longer bottom times! Our first wreck was the Glenora, which I hadn't been on in some time. We had warm temperatures, and a thermacline about 40 centimetres off the bottom, too low to cause any discomfort! Good views of the props and lots of swim-throughs. Here's a picture of a Goby with Jason swimming in the background.

Round Lake, South Frontenac ON			N 44° 24.9', W 76° 25.6'
Dive Number 160		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 25°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 27ft	Visibility good	Time 43m	Water temp 17°C	Ending pressure 1700psi
Notes:	I arrived home from work in time for Jason and I to log a dive in Round Lake before he had to return to Toronto, and before my parents arrived. We donned our gear and were pleased to swim down with hundreds of curious [but not too curious] sunfish. I had brought a little deli meat hoping to feed them, but they were not so brave as to eat out of my hand. While underwater, there was another burst of rain, and returning to shore, we swam through a thick dark cloud on the way out. The rain cleared as we undressed and returned home.

The Rothesay, Brockville ON			N 44° 42.0', W 75° 31.2'
Dive Number 159		Buddy Jason	Surface temp 29°C	Starting pressure 3300psi
Depth 29ft	Visibility poor	Time 50m	Water temp 20°C	Ending pressure 1800psi
Notes:	Jason drove from Toronto to meet me after work and we drove together to the site of the Rothesay, where we realized I had no computer, no weight belt, and also the rain started as we parked at the dive site. to minimize my weight needed, I dove without noeprene, and not to be discouraged, we entered the water, and followed the line out to the wreck. From the wreck, we saw lightning flashing overhead, and we were rewarded with several large bass, [including a mottled one I think was a shoal bass], and a large muskie that Jason was better able to appreciate on the GoPro video of the dive than during our fifty minutes underwater.

The Fearless, Peter Island, BVI			N 18° 22.4', W 64° 35.5'
Dive Number 158		Buddies Martin, Terry	Surface temp mild	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 81ft	Visibility good	Time 48m	Water temp 24°C	Ending pressure 800psi
Notes:	With about 20 hours before my scheduled flight, I decided I had time to catch one more dive, the wreck of the Fearless, a wreck in good shape where we saw lots of small banded crab and arrow crab, and a crab inside the hull as big across as a serving plate. There was lots of coral life, and I saw a little squid at the end of the dive, but the learning lesson for me came at the end of the dive. While I was removing my fins to enter the boat, I dropped my flashlight in about 40 or 50 feet of water. The right thing to do would have been to let it go, make a plan and probably to recover it if enough dive time remained, complete with a new safety stop if indicated. Without thinking, I swam down, thinking I could catch it. I did eventually catch it, but ended up swimming down deeper than planned, probably about 30 feet. At that point, without adequately thinking, and worried that my mates would be worried, I surfaced more rapidly than I ought to have. I was uninjured, but I gave Maddy a fright, and spent a long time afterwards reviewing what happened in my mind. Thankfully, there were seared tuna steaks and chocolate truffle pie to distract me when we got back to the boat. Hooray for learning! Hooray for a great vacation!

The Aquarium, Virgin Gorda, BVI			N 18° 26.4', W 64° 27.2'
Dive Number 157		Buddies Martin, Terry	Surface temp warm	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 30ft	Visibility excellent	Time 50m	Water temp 26°C	Ending pressure 1500psi
Notes:	After our Friday beach bar-b-cue lunch, divers and snorkellers alike took a swim at this site, one I remembered being rich with lots of fish and turtles. From above, Cheryl was able to appreciate schools of sergeant major and yellowtail, but didn't see cowfish or porcupinefish or French angels [last two pictured]. She was also spared having to see a resting nurse shark or the pair of octopus that we saw together nestled in a nook in the reef [also pictured]. Normally I don't get too excited about nurse sharks since they "don't really do anything" and usually they're mostly out of sight underneath some low shelf, but this one was open enough to see all at once, and I also shot some video of it swimming away [I may get around to including this].

Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda, BVI			N 18° 30.2', W 64° 25.0'
Dive Number 156		Buddies Martin, Terry	Surface temp warm	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 37ft	Visibility excellent	Time 47m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	The morning dive wound us around the rock that makes the Northwest tip of Long Beach, and we got to see plenty of jellies, I saw a few high hat, Maddy found a sun hat [pictured]. Thick schools of parrotfish were visible around the tip of the point, I have a closeup shot of one [pictured], and I managed to snap a reasonable shot of a queen angel [also pictured].