Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Lillie Parsons, Brockville ON N 44° 33.3', W 75° 43.1'
   Dive Number 229 Buddy
Jason
Surface temp
27°C
Starting pressure
3100psi
Depth
72ft
Visibility
good
Time
35m
Water temp
20°C
Ending pressure
500psi

Notes:

For our second dive, Jason and I dove the Lillie Parsons whch is both a wreck and also a drift. He managed to swap his tank for another diver's steel 130 which allowed enough time for him to complete the drift and also last longer than me with his air.

Post dive meal was at Dianne's fish Bar in Kingston, and then we went to Toronto with Chandra for supper at one of their favourite Chinese places!

Muskellonge, Brockville ON N 44° 36.1', W 75° 39.1'
   Dive Number 186 Buddy
Jason
Surface temp
27°C
Starting pressure
3100psi
Depth
85ft
Visibility
good
Time
25m
Water temp
24°C
Ending pressure
1100psi

Notes:

Jason and Chandra came up for a single night stay and a double dive day. We hoked up with UnderWhere divers who took us out with two other divers for a couple Brockville dives.

The first dive of the day was the Muskellonge, which sounded familiar to me, but about which I could remember no details. The wreck is an overturned vessel with a wide swim-through with walleye, sturgeon, and eel (conservation status August 2016: Threatened!)

I managed to catch a glimpse of an American eel just before finding the boat, and we passed through the swimthrough, but the air reserve in Jason's steel 80 tank was waning and we turned without exploring the bow.

Logging this dive this morning, I realize that we attempted this dive 100 dives ago but at that time were unable to complete the descent. Improvement! Success!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Turtle Heaven, Kona N 19° 39', W 156° 2'
   Dive Number 185 Buddy
Neva
Surface temp
26°C
Starting pressure
3000psi
Depth
66ft
Visibility
excellent
Time
59m
Water temp
29°C
Ending pressure
1200psi

Notes:

On our last Hawaiian dive, Neva and I had a rare treat - a pod of dolphins that play near the boats in the marina swam by as we started. This was a first for Neva and also for me! The dive was calm and relaxing, and we hung out for a while at the end near an octopus hiding in one of the corals - we both got to see a couple impressive colour changes! We got a sign from our divemaster I was unfamiliar with - we had to end the dive not for low air, but because of of the timing. Neva uses as little air as I do!

Eel Cove, Kona N 19° 39', W 156° 2'
   Dive Number 184 Buddy
Neva
Surface temp
26°C
Starting pressure
3000psi
Depth
61ft
Visibility
excellent
Time
59m
Water temp
29°C
Ending pressure
1200psi

Notes:

For the first of our dives on Kona, Neva and I took a shuttle boat from cruise to shore, and kitted up with a local company. Our first dive was on Eel cove. Neva was given equipment with an unfamiliar regulator configuration - secondary air source on the BC inflation hose - so we switched. Equipment notwithstanding, we had a long warm enjoyable dive. A school of triggerfish was interspersed with a bunch of raccoon butterflyfish. Our guide told us that one was feeding on the eggs of the other (I can't remember which). Here's a picture of one of the eels for which the site is apparently named.

Friday, August 14, 2015

The Nautilus, Honolulu N 21° 16', W 157° 50'
   Dive Number 183 Buddy
Neva
Surface temp
26°C
Starting pressure
3000psi
Depth
46ft
Visibility
excellent
Time
38m
Water temp
28°C
Ending pressure
1200psi

Notes:

Our second dive was at a site known as "The Nautilus". There were plenty more tropical fish, and our guide found a white tipped reef shark under an outcropping of coral.

It's great to dive warm and great to have Neva as a buddy!
Turtle Grove, Honolulu N 21° 16', W 157° 50'
   Dive Number 182 Buddy
Neva
Surface temp
26°C
Starting pressure
3000psi
Depth
35ft
Visibility
excellent
Time
31m
Water temp
28°C
Ending pressure
1400psi

Notes:

We had a couple days in Honolulu before departing on our cruise, so Neva and I booked two dives with a local company, and joined up with a third diver and went out to a couple local dive sites. This first one features a turtle cleaning station. My camera battery was depleted, but we got some great pictures from our divemaster. Here's one of Neva with a sleeping turtle. There's no evidence, but I caught a glimpse of the official fish of Hawaii, the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a!

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Centeen Park, Brockville ON N 44° 35.5', W 75° 405.6'
   Dive Number 181 Buddy
Neva
Surface temp
23°C
Starting pressure
3300psi
Depth
33ft
Visibility
fair/good
Time
46m
Water temp
20°C
Ending pressure
1700psi

Notes:

Neva and I were keen for her to log a dive both because it was a requirement before she and I dive next month in Hawaii, but also for the genuine purpose of refreshing her skills a little. We reviewed some basics while driving to Dive Tech, and picked her up a 7mm Scubapro suit while getting our tanks filled.

There has been an aquatic park set up in Brockville with easy entry, and benches and some underwater statues. Neva and took a leisurely swim around, enjoyed the features and practiced regulator sweeps and mask clearing.

Postdive lunch was at the Phoenix Eatery! Montreal Smoked Meat on Rye!

Friday, July 03, 2015

Round Lake, South Frontenac ON N 44° 24.9', W 76° 25.6'
   Dive Number 180 Buddy
Jason
Surface temp
21°C
Starting pressure
3000psi
Depth
35ft
Visibility
fair
Time
42m
Water temp
10°C
Ending pressure
2100psi

Notes:

Jason investigated and failed to locate the owner of the access point but found no one who objected to us diving there and also found no sign indicating "NO TRESPASSING", so we returned to this familiar site for a third dive. We found our usual cars, usual sunfish, and made it out in time to get changed and head into Kingston.

Postdive supper was at Wooden Heads. Garlic, capers, pancetta and gorgonzola!


America, New York N 44° 27.1, W 75° 48.6'
   Dive Number 179 Buddy
Jason
Surface temp
21°C
Starting pressure
3000psi
Depth
74ft
Visibility
good
Time
38m
Water temp
17°C
Ending pressure
1150psi

Notes:

Jason and I had a less eventful dive for our second. I have never dove the America before, but it's not much to have missed. It's entirely upside down, so there's little to see. It is possible to swim under the hull, but none of us did. We saw bass and walleye and a few gobies. We returned home and got ready for a third dive (and dinner)

Keystorm, New York N 44° 25.8', W 75° 49.3'
   Dive Number 178 Buddy
Jason
Surface temp
21°C
Starting pressure
3000psi
Depth
106ft
Visibility
good
Time
46m
Water temp
17°C
Ending pressure
850psi

Notes:

Jason came up for a couple dives and we got on a charter for two dives this sunny Friday. Jason arrived on the boat to realize he left his wetsuit at my place (checklist!), but he managed to get to Dive Tech and back with a rental suit and we narrowly avoided a dive-failure.

We got paired up with a friendly Manitoban who was a novice diver, and did a round of the Keystorm together. Our new buddy dropped a flashlight and burned through a fair amount of air going down to get it, so we took him back to the line, and did a little more exploring ourselves.

A short safety stop and then back onto the boat for dive number two.