Morton's Wharf, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.0', W 76° 30.3'
Dive Number 200		Buddy Mark	Surface temp 25°C	Starting pressure 2900psi
Depth 25ft	Visibility fair	Time 32m	Water temp 19°C	Ending pressure 1700psi
Notes:	Mark and I managed to schedule another quick shore dive before Games night. Last time I dove with him on Morton's Wharf, I had forgotten my weight belt and dove with no wetsuit to try and compensate. Guess what I forgot again this time! This time, Mark had a couple pounds to spare for my pockets. Also I think my aged dive computer may be dying: It didn't turn on at first descent, and also it claimed the dive was over part way through. On the plus side, no wet neoprene smell int he car afterwards! I had kind of been expecting I ought to do a more noteworthy dive for my two-hundredth (and Mark's tenth!), but the water was fine and we saw a few bass and a large collection of gobies near the wharf when practicing buoyancy before exiting. Post-dive supper was Darbar, and Neva joined up with us for games night over at Andrew's place. [Coloretto, Shadows Over Camelot]

The Rothesay, Brockville ON			N 44° 42.0', W 75° 31.2'
Dive Number 199		Buddy Mark	Surface temp 22°C	Starting pressure 2850psi
Depth 29ft	Visibility fair	Time 40m	Water temp 15°C	Ending pressure 1700psi
Notes:	COMPUTER FAIL! Data are estimates For Mark's 9th and my 199th dive, we drive down the St Lawrence the Rothesay, a site I expected to be familiar to me and simple for him. I had read that the line was hidden but figured we'd have an easy enough time orienting ourselves and finding it. We managed to swim about a third of the way to the wreck on the surface and a short distance further on the bottom before Mark thankfully found it. The wreck was in good shape, and we found a few bass and a muskie at the stern. We also found the line back but in ended abruptly without getting close to shore. No wonder navigating out was so challenging! Packing up, I found an epic note on my windshield from someone who admired my new car but did not approve of my parking job! Mark and I had lunch in Kingston - another Reuben for me!

Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.0', W 76° 31.1'
Dive Number 198		Buddy Mark	Surface temp 24°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 40ft	Visibility good	Time 36m	Water temp 14°C	Ending pressure 2100psi
Notes:	Having postponed our dive from a couple days earlier because of weather, Mark and I joined up on Friday afternoon to make use of the new gear he's picked up it Dive Tech and have another easy shore dive. We found the pipes, found the line, the anchor, the chair and followed the "Stacked Hulls" line until we both started getting cold. We had both gone for a 7mm suit only (ie without second layer), and had worn hats instead of hoods. I have still never made it all the way to the Stacked Hulls, but it was a successful fun dive!

Centeen Park, Brockville ON			N 44° 35.5', W 75° 405.6'
Dive Number 197		Buddy Mark	Surface temp 23°C	Starting pressure 3400psi
Depth 36ft	Visibility good	Time 28m	Water temp 13°C	Ending pressure 2100psi
Notes:	Mark and I swung by Dive Tech to get his some gear. He got a wetsuit, fins, boots, gloves and a BCD, and I picked up a new outer layer for myself. We were keen to try everything out and had planned on hitting up the Rothesay, but we were feeling tight about making a 5pm return after the dive, and we took the suggestion to try Centeen Park instead. This turned out to be great. Our entry was easy, the dive was simple and we saw a few large crawfish and enjoyed seeing the statues. Mark and I returned to Dive Tech to drop of his rental gear and took another suggestion - to stop for supper at the Rapid Valley restaurant, conveniently located in a at the gas station a little farther West on Highway 2. I considered my options and tried the corned beef on rye, which turned out to be the same thing I ate the last time I went to Centeen Park (with Neva for Dive number 181 in 2015) . Authentic local experience success!

Dos Sombreros, Costa Rica			N 10° 27.2', W 85° 50.9'
Dive Number 196		Buddy Neva	Surface temp 30°C	Starting pressure 2900psi
Depth 55ft	Visibility good	Time 40m	Water temp 15°C	Ending pressure 1100psi
Notes:	Our secod dive was pretty similar to the first. Several eels, several puffers, several rays; a couple needlefish (Neva particularly liked seeing these), and one spotted moray and one fancy frilled looking blue nudibranch. Her buoyancy was great for someone who hadn't been diving in over a year, and we were back ashore in time for lunch!

Isla Santa Catalina, Costa Rica			N 10° 28.9', W 85° 52.2'
Dive Number 195		Buddy Neva	Surface temp 29°C	Starting pressure 2900psi
Depth 60ft	Visibility good	Time 42m	Water temp 15°C	Ending pressure 1100psi
Notes:	Neva and I had two dives booked on the first of our three days in Flamingo Beach. She had forgotten her dive certification and I had forgotten my computer, but we contacted the dive company and also PADI and got her certification sorted out. The boat trip out to the dive site involved seeing a few jumping jack, and a flying fish, and the dive itself featured lots of round rays, puffers and a few large green moral eels. Visibility was good (but not great), and the divemasters were friendly, but the sights were somewhat monotonous. A brief surface interval took place before our second dive.

Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.0', W 76° 31.1'
Dive Number 194		Buddy Mark	Surface temp 22°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 30ft	Visibility fair	Time 36m	Water temp 19°C	Ending pressure 1800psi
Notes:	Mark and I decided to make another dive on a fall day - It's been a while since I was at the Portsmouth Dive (other than a try-SCUBA experience last year with Mark and Cameron). I figured that I'd have no trouble finding the line and swimming out to the stacked hulls, etc. We couldn't find the line, but instead just swam out into the deep which gave us a chance to navigate back by compass (not challenging but good practice). There were a couple bass and one large drum. Success!

Morton's Wharf, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.0', W 76° 30.3'
Dive Number 193		Buddy Mark	Surface temp 26°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 23ft	Visibility fair	Time 22m	Water temp 22°C	Ending pressure 2250psi
Notes:	My pal Mark who I know from board games nights completed his open water certification this summer, and I had been hoping I'd get the chance to dive with him. Last week we put together a plan to get out today and he proposed a location that I had never tried before: Morton's wharf, just offshore from the Tett Centre on King Street. We met in the parking lot and as he arrived, I worried that I'd forgotten my dive computer, but was prepared to dive without if necessary. Emptying the gear from my car, I realized I had remembered the computer, but forgotten something more essential: my weight belt. Mark and I went through a quick problem solving brainstorm. We could try and find another weight belt (but where?), go to my place and dive there, or scrap the dive? In the end I decided I'd try diving without my wetsuit to make myself less buoyant - the water was going to be warm and I wouldn't need much weight at all without it, and if I couldn't get down we'd scrap or postpone the dive. With a couple small rocks from the shoreline in my BCD, I got in the water and easily descended. During the dive I stayed a few feet off the bottom (good practice anyway, but especially when not wearing neoprene in the zebra-mussel infested water), enjoyed swimming around the wharf, and seeing one large bass. I also took care when slightly inverted to prevent stones from falling from the pocket of my BCD - I wouldn't want a runaway ascent! I would be poor practice to recommend others try beltless diving, but I was glad my bungle did not cost me my first dive with Mark! Here's to more in the future!

The George A. Marsh, Kingston ON			N 44° 7.6', W 76° 36.2'
Dive Number 192		Buddies Jason, John	Surface temp 25°C	Starting pressure 2400psi
Depth 80ft	Visibility fair	Time 28m	Water temp 18°C	Ending pressure 700psi
Notes:	Our second of the day went a bit better. There was a long surface interval since rebreather divers from the first dive took a long time under the water, and we rode up on the Comet, but found several other divers there and decided to press on. I didnt write down the replacement wreck at the time, but if this is right, my dive log suggests that this is my first time here! A large sailboat was moored on the line, but detached so we could tie up. Our dive went well - there is an impressive bowsprit is at the front and a thermocline at about 60 feet was just right for me to stay slightly warmer and conserve air at the same time (recall that my tank was only starting with about 80% capacity). George and Jason and I had a successful dive before returning home. Chez Piggy for supper!

The Munson, Kingston ON			N 44° 12.6', W 76° 36.5'
Dive Number 191		Buddies Jason, John	Surface temp 25°C	Starting pressure 3200psi
Depth 105ft	Visibility poor	Time 22m	Water temp 14°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	It took some effort, but Jason and I managed to sort out our details and booked ourselves onto one of Kingston Dive charters for two wreck dives today. Seven divers were aboard including two pairs of techy appearing divers (double tanks, rebreathers), one novice diver and us. Consensus was to dive wreck of the Munson first, a cold dark, deep sttel wreck that I've done a few times before (although not for a couple years). We inherited odd-man-out John as an extra dive buddy and got in the water, once the techy divers went ahead. There were a couple imperfections for me before we even went down. I had forgotten to bring any flashlight and was using one of Jason's. The tank I had mounted had only 2400 psi in it, so we swapped it to use in dive number two and took a full one for the deepest dive. I also had a free flow on my regulator when waiting to descend at the buoy, but took Anne's advice that it might right itself at depth (it did!). We were warned that the visibility would be poor until we got to the depth of the boat, approaching 100 ft. Unfortunately, at the bottom of the descent, the visibility was so poor that I hit bottom before I could see it, yet still could not spy the wreck along the short swim. In short, I became anxious that maintaining visibility might be difficult. I also stressed that we might not find the line if we let it go. I suggested we ascend, and no one seemed to object, so we took it slow and took a long safety stop to make up our 22m underwater time. It's possible that the bottom visibility was made worse by the other divers kicking it up before we got there, but either way, I'm glad we called it as we did. Too many things already seemed to not be right, it felt like continuing might be unsafe. Survival!