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!

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!

Friday, December 04, 2009


The Aquarium, Virgin Gorda, BVI N 18° 26.4', W 64° 27.2'
   Dive Number 121 Buddy
Jason
Surface temp
28°C
Starting pressure
3100psi
Depth
24ft
Visibility
excellent
Time
47m
Water temp
29°C
Ending pressure
1450psi

Notes:

Because they had to decompress before Saturday flights, most divers avoided the Friday afternoon dive, but Jason and I joined five others (and divemaster Emily) for a dive on a shallow coral off Virgin Gorda. Jason and I descended near Kevin and Charlie, and made our way to the coral, where we quickly came across a beautiful swimming sea turtle, and I took several pictures. Kevin and Charlie continued farther along the reef, but when Jason made the "turn around" sign, I interpreted that he wanted to end the dive, and swam back in the direction we came. Back on the North side of the reef, he settled and wanted to stay a little longer, and we saw lots more fish, including a large French angel. We also spied Emily and Heloisa, and I was glad to take another picture of her, since she was a recently certified diver, and it's nice to have a souvenir. Jason and I probably ought to have stayed with them, since when he wanted to return to the boat, I led us away toward the place I thought we dropped instead of the line (we hadn't descended the line!), and it was only after he surfaced for a look-see that we reoriented toward the boat. Arriving closer we both ascended again and this time were close enough for me to swim and Jason to get towed in on a rope.

Confusion notwithstanding, it was a great dive to end our trip on.