The Munson, Kingston ON			N 44° 12.6', W 76° 36.5'
Dive Number 27		Buddy Dominique, Olivier	Surface temp 14°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 101ft	Visibility 25ft	Time 26m	Water temp 12°C	Ending pressure 1500psi
Notes:	For my first undupervised dive as an Advanced Diver, I joined four clubmates on tonight's charter to the Munson. On a previous occasion a trip was diverted from the Munson to the Wolfe for me, as I was the only diver unable to descend to it at the date. Although my skill was certified, I had neglected to bring my light with me, and the phenomenon known as light extinction means that it's relatively dark 100 feet below the surface. I had paired up with Dominique and Olivier, and I had the good fortune for Oliver to offer me a light to see better down there. Unfortunately he must have loosened something as he removed his light to give it to me: At the end of our dive as we waited at 15 feet of depth for our 5 minute safety stop, Olivier had the good fortune for me to notice, catch, and return his wrist compass which had come off his buoyancy controller and was falling through the water. It's possible I'll get out next week (for a night dive on the Wolfe), but it's also possible that this was my closing club dive for the year. If it was, it was a good one to go out on.

The Needle's Eye, Brockville ON			N 44° 33.3', W 75° 43.0'
Dive Number 26		Buddy Mike	Surface temp 8°C	Starting pressure 2700psi
Depth 67ft	Visibility ~30ft	Time 38m	Water temp 10°C	Ending pressure 900psi
Notes:	For my first dive as an advanced diver, I returned to the water with Mike for a drift through the "eye of the needle" near the wall's edge on the North shore. Our second dive of the day was more relaxed than the first for me, and my buoyancy control was much better. Mike and I wisely went nice and slowly. After all, why kick when the current is doing all the work for you? This also meant that we were among the last to return to the boats and didn't have to wait as long to return to shore and pack up.

Advanced Open Water Dive 5: Deep Diving
Stovin Island, Brockville ON			N 44° 33.5', W 75° 42.7'
Dive Number 25		Buddy Mike	Surface temp 8°C	Starting pressure 2800psi
Depth 119ft	Visibility ~30ft	Time 29m	Water temp 10°C	Ending pressure 700psi
Notes:	It rained this morning and wind blew - enough so that Mike and I were not sure that the charter upon which we had booked passage would go out, but 11 divers braved the elements, and I took advantage of the opportunity to complete the last dive in my Advanced Diver training - the deep. After some trouble clearing the air from my BCD, Mike and I quickly dropped to about 100 feet, where I quickly completed the tasks of mental and physical dexterity. While I'm glad that I didn't suffer any ill effects of nitrogen narcosis, it creates a false sense of security to not notice any difference. Although we never saw the yellow pipe which apparently alerts divers to the end of the drift, I was glad to complete the dive, and with it, my Advanced Open Water certification. Aboard the boat, Mike congratulated me, we changed our tanks as to be ready for the second dive, and retired the the change room for some warmth, some snacks, and some interval time.

Advanced Open Water Dive 4: Wreck Diving
The Rothesay, Brockville ON			N 44° 42.0', W 75° 31.2'
Dive Number 24		Buddy Sylvain, Mike	Surface temp 15°C	Starting pressure 2800psi
Depth 27ft	Visibility 20ft	Time 33m	Water temp 15°C	Ending pressure 1400psi
Notes:	Despite moderate rain, Sylvain and Mike and I drove to Brockville to dive the wreck of the Rothesay as the fourth in our series of five advanced dives. The visibility was pretty good despite the weather, and I made use of the new compass that Cheryl recently got me as a gift. Sylvain and I became focussed on mapping/measuring the wreck as per our objective, but more advance planning would have been helpful, as would a greater underwater sign vocabulary. Next time we return to this wreck, we'll take a more leisurely approach and enjoy the sights and spend less time with measuring lines. One more advanced dive to go - Deep!

Marine Museum, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.4', W 76° 28.2'
Dive Number 23		Buddy Sylvain	Surface temp 18°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 34ft	Visibility 30ft	Time 49m	Water temp 17°C	Ending pressure 1500psi
Notes:	Rain foiled our third attempt to see the Aloha/Effie Mae,so Sylvain and I head over to the Marine Museum to follow the tied line heading Southeast off the pier. Reputation indicated it would lead to an anchor or something. Scott and Kim joined us and we ventured along it as far as it went, and found... nothing. There were a few medium sized fish to see, and I amused myself by filling a plastic jug we found with air and releasing it to float up to the surface. Since I don't have a matching second layer to my wetsuit, I wore my MEC surfshirt undermeath my 7mm neoprene for an extra thermal layer on my torso. After acclimatizing to the water after the giant stride from the side, I was fine for warmth. I hope this remains true beneath whatever thermoclines we encounter on our deep dive in [hopefully] a couple weeks' time. Also I was tired of looking at the repetitive post titles in the archives, so I am titling the posts by subject instead of just posting the name of the location again. Respek! Addendum - Pat indicates that the line must have been moved, and that it used to be tied to two anchors under there.

Wolfe Islander II, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.5', W 76° 24.9'
Dive Number 22		Buddy Steve	Surface temp 13°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 61ft	Visibility ~15ft	Time 33m	Water temp 15°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	Our club charter was booked for the wrecks of the Aloha and Effie-Mae, but questionable shore conditions forced a shift in plans to something closer, in case the weather should take a change for the worse. I dove with Steve, who had not been to this wreck before. We saw lots of sunfish and perck, and three large drums. In addition, we toured the deck and saw the usual features: motorcycle, bicycle and bowling ball. Since Steve wasn't wearing a hood, we kept just above the thermocline at 61 ft for most of the dive; that's as deep as I ought to be going until I complete my Deep Diver training, anyway.

Advanced Open Water Dive 3: Underwater Navigation
Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.0', W 76° 31.1'
Dive Number 21		Buddy Mike	Surface temp 15°C	Starting pressure 3050psi
Depth 30ft	Visibility 20ft	Time 44m	Water temp 16°C	Ending pressure 1000psi
Notes:	For the third of my five Advanced Open Water dives, I got caught up to Sylvain, who had already completed his Navigation. After the review session with Mike (which was enriched with a discussion of dissolved gases in blood that has been depleted following blood donation), we got over to Portsmouth Harbour (despite the rain) and began. After travelling three times along a 100-foot length of rope, my calibrations are as follows: (20,19,19) kicks over 100ft = 5 ft per kick (73,70,65) seconds for 100 ft = 1.3 ft/sec or 7 seconds for 10 ft Mike was generous with praise for my attempt to navigate a 100 ft square with the compass. My first attempt landed me within 10 feet of the target, which was gratifying. I continue to be weighted in a way that leaves me bottom-heavy. We'll have to try affixing some of the weights to my shoulders sometime. Oh yeah - we also took a surface bearing of the stopsign, from which the tower over Kingston Pen is 60 degrees (Northeast), and the line through a smokestack and right edge of a footbridge is 300 degrees (Northwest).

Advanced Open Water Dive 2: Peak Performance Buoyancy
Kingston Psychiatric Hospital, Kingston ON			N 44° 12.9', W 76° 31.3'
Dive Number 20		Buddy Sylvain, Mike	Surface temp 21°C	Starting pressure 2600psi
Depth 40ft	Visibility 20ft	Time 45m	Water temp 17°C	Ending pressure 1100psi
Notes:	For my second Advanced Open Water Dive, Mike took Sylvain and I to the KPH, where we followed the pipe out to about 30 feet and did some fine tuning of buoyancy. I learned that while 20 pounds is the right amount of weight for me, I ought to carry about 4 of it on my shoulders if possible; else I return to a feet-down position when resting. People throw a lot of junk off the pier at KPH. We saw a computer, a printer, a lawn mower, and several cafeteria trays. Mike also spied a cigarette lighter, and Sylvain picked up a golf ball.

Advanced Open Water Dive 1: Night Diving
Marine Museum, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.4', W 76° 28.2'
Dive Number 19		Buddy Sylvain, Mike	Surface temp 23°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 36ft	Visibility 10ft	Time 36m	Water temp 21°C	Ending pressure 1800psi
Notes:	This was the first of my training dives for my PADI advanced open water dive. I learned that although $9.00 Wal-Mart lights are cheap, they're no substitute for bright underwater lights. Also learned a couple more things that I ought to add to my wishlist: a noisemaker, a light beacon, a whistle (I may have a suitable one of those already). I already knew I needed an underwater compass. We managed to find the line and the wreck, saw a few fishies, including a medium-sized pike (about 50 cm?) which swam right past us. Overall very relaxed.

Stacked Hulls, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.0', W 76° 31.1'
Dive Number 18		Buddy Sylvain	Surface temp 30°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 32ft	Visibility 5-10ft	Time 47m	Water temp 21°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	When choppy water resulted in our evening dive being cancelled, Sylvain and I decided to take another try at getting to the stacked hulls. Our strategies included: surface swimming as far as we could while still seeing the line swimming above the lines instead of on the lines to use less air swimming slowly as to reduce air requirements Our attempts worked to a degree - we made it as far as we had on the first dive, but had overexerted ourselves and were out of breath, so turned around. We'll try again another day. The visibility was miserable anyway, so it will be nice to try again when we can see more.