Dead Man's Bay, Kingston ON			N 44° 14.0', W 76° 26.9'
Dive Number 36		Buddies Dominique, Mike, Steve	Surface temp 10°C	Starting pressure 2900psi
Depth 16ft	Visibility ~30ft	Time 27m	Water temp 6°C	Ending pressure 1800psi
Notes:	For my first local dive of the year, I joined Dominique, Steve, and Mike at the club, and we headed over to Dead Man's Bay. I had picked up a few new things which I made use of today: My new items included: a new 5mm full hood new MEC boots (made for kayaking, firmer than my old scuba boots) a new MEC surfshirt a used (but new to me) dive computer I picked up at Dive Tech this week The water was 6 degrees (a new record cold for me), so I only stayed under for 27 minutes overall, for a viewing of what we had previously suspected was the Regent, but we now think is the Charlotte (or is it the Queen Charlotte or Princess Charlotte?). For what it's worth, my trunk remained warm. I'll still be happy to find a solution that results in more warmth for my fingers and feet, but the water's only getting warmer at this point anyway. Another season begins!

Punta Perdiz, Bahia de Cochinas, Cuba			N 22° 5.9', W 81° 6.4'
Dive Number 35		Buddy Uli	Surface temp 29°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 70ft	Visibility ~50ft	Time 45m	Water temp 26°C	Ending pressure 900psi
Notes:	This dive was similar to the last one, although we also had a swim-through of a gap in the reef (photo op for the tour operators), and an old wreck to see as well. When one of the divers in our group lagged and tried to get our attention, I swam back to see what he was looking at - an enormous lobster. As I caught up with the rest of our group, I was unable to get their attention myself, and ended up being the only one to catch a glimpse of a solitary barracuda.

Punta Perdiz, Bahia de Cochinas, Cuba			N 22° 5.9', W 81° 6.4'
Dive Number 34		Buddy Uli	Surface temp 29°C	Starting pressure 2800psi
Depth 75ft	Visibility ~50ft	Time 40m	Water temp 26°C	Ending pressure 900psi
Notes:	As I was hoping would happen, windy weather on the norh of the island meant that our diving expiition on my second dive day meant that we had to travel across to the south of Cuba to the famous "Bay of Pigs", which was reputed to have more spectacular diving. I got paired up with a German diver in the "advanced" group and enjoyed my first ever "wall dive" with beautiful coral and planty of tropical fish and lobsters and crabs.

Monkey Reef, Varadero, Cuba			N 23° 10', W 81° 7'
Dive Number 33		Buddy Cal	Surface temp 28°C	Starting pressure 2900psi
Depth 40ft	Visibility ~50ft	Time 50m	Water temp 26°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	For our second dive of the day, we descended on a reef off Varadero. The reef was not in great shape, but we managed to see a few interesting fish, and several green moray inside it. I was distressed to see one of the divers prod the tail of he moray until it emerged from its hiding hole. After surfacing, we dined on fresh lobster that was bought from a fisherman in a passing boat on the way out to sea.

Russian Frigate, Varadero, Cuba			N 23° 10', W 81° 7'
Dive Number 32		Buddy Cal	Surface temp 28°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 90ft	Visibility ~50ft	Time 40m	Water temp 26°C	Ending pressure 500psi
Notes:	The name of the Russian Frigate we dove as our first dive from Varadero is not known to me, but photos at the dive shop suggest that it was purposefully sunk for diving in this location. Missile launchers and anti-aircraft guns visible on the deck made this wreck a little different from the ones I am accustomed to seeing in Kingston.

Dead Man's Bay, Kingston ON			N 44° 14.0', W 76° 26.9'
Dive Number 31		Buddies Mike, Joan, Nancy	Surface temp 13°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 14ft	Visibility ~20ft	Time 61m	Water temp 8°C	Ending pressure 1250psi
Notes:	I arrived at the dive club just in time to join Mike, Joan, and Nancy for a trip to see the Psyche and the Prince Regent(?) in "Dead Man's Bay", accessible from Arrowhead Beach Park, on CFB Kingston. The weeds were abominable, and they are reported to have greatly improved compared to the same site earlier in the year. For the most part, Mike and I tried to swim in the metre between the top of the weeds and the water's surface. Animal wildlife was scarce - I saw a big carp and lots of gobies on the wrecks, as well as a small bass; others reported seeing a couple catfish. The wrecks themselves were interesting, and Mike shot a little video of the dive. The swim was my coldest yet, my shallowest yet, my longest yet, and my latest in the year. I'd be interested to see these sites again when the weeds are gone or if the water is warmer, but probably these conditions will not exist at the same time...

Cora W Post, Howe Island ON			N 44° 14.7', W 76° 18.4'
Dive Number 30		Buddy Mike	Surface temp 10°C	Starting pressure 2800psi
Depth 39ft	Visibility ~30ft	Time 31m	Water temp 9°C	Ending pressure 1500psi
Notes:	Frost was on the car this morning, but the weather for our dive this afternoon was beautiful. Mike and doubled back once across the South shore of Howe island before finding the line to the Cora Post, sunk in 1891 with a full load of bricks, many of which are still visible on the wreck. We saw lots of gobies on the wreck, and a big old carp and [we think] some bass inside the wreck. My body temperature seemed to hold firm for the half hour underwater, and I got undressed afterwards without too much shaking and shivering. If the timing works out next week, we'll hopefully get out again.

Marine Museum, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.4', W 76° 28.2'
Dive Number 29		Buddy Domenique	Surface temp 4°C	Starting pressure 2800psi
Depth 38ft	Visibility ~25ft	Time 55m	Water temp 9°C	Ending pressure 900psi
Notes:	We returned to the Marine museum with a few members from the club (Lee, Mike, Sheila, Eric, Domenique and me). Mike brought a camera and took a few pictures (including the one now in the diver profile upper left), but the fish were not quite as plentiful underneath the Alexander Henry as he was there were on Wednesday. I am in uncharted ground - as an undergrad student, I would sometimes swim in the lake into October. Having already had snow, and well into November, this is later in the year than I have ever been in the water. How late will I go in a wetsuit?

Marine Museum, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.4', W 76° 28.2'
Dive Number 28		Buddy Mike	Surface temp 10°C	Starting pressure 2800psi
Depth 38ft	Visibility ~25ft	Time 46m	Water temp 9°C	Ending pressure 1100psi
Notes:	When Mike proposed a dive this afternoon, I wasn't sure I'd be up to it win the November weather. He has a drysuit after all! We took giant strides over the edge at the Marine Museum, and the cold on my mask area was uncomfortable at first, but became tolerable as the dive went on. Lured by the possibility of seeing the resident eel, we went out to the barge, and then with ample air, returned to the Alexander Henry where we saw about 50 [large mouth?] bass under the hull. A short swim east afforded me a view of a pike as well. For reference, the water being cold was not a big problem (even with me only wearing a single layer and MEC surf shirt), but getting undressed out of wetsuit in the cold and wind was unpleasant. I'll try and sort out a better changing option if I go again - possibly on Saturday.

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.