Sunday, September 28, 2008

Big weekend for open water divers


Today was the final dives for 11 divers on the recent open water course. A total of 15 divers completed two dives at the marine museum. This was the first group that has been completing their pool and classroom work. All of the divers are keen to get out and dive more and are looking forward to interacting with the existing club members. I am sure they will find the club members more then happy to help them gain more experience and tell them about the numerous dives in the area.

Outing to the William Jamieson...

Nine divers made it out this morning to the wreck of the William Jamieson at the far end of Amherst Island. The weather was a mixed bag. Occasional patches of sunshine were interspersed with light rain. None of that affected a good dive on an interesting wreck. The visibility, except where bottom disturbance played a role, was about 40 feet. Despite the fact that, elsewhere, the thermocline is now at about 55 feet, the water was a pretty reasonable 64℉ (18℃) from top to bottom. I almost regretted the hood and gloves I'd donned in anticipation of a colder, bottom layer. There wasn't a lot of fish life, but that's not unusual just now - especially in broad daylight.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Night visit to the KGH wreck...

Despite light drizzle and an overcast sky, Kevin, Jim and I ventured into the water this evening for a gentle tour of the wreck off Murney Tower. This was Jim's first visit and a night dive was the only one he was going to fit into a busy schedule this weekend. There was a light current flowing downstream, which made the transit slightly longer than usual. There wasn't a great deal of fish life either. A large Drum was seen in the weeds on our return and a couple of catfish were lurking in the dark. Jim seized the opportunity to try out a new reel from Whatworks. It performed flawlessly - even with drygloves in use. Water temperature, with a thermocline at 55 feet again, was just 64℉ (18℃). Curiously enough, this was the air temperature too.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Back to the wreck at Murney Tower...

Responding to a request from a visitor who'd looked unsuccessfully for the guideline previously, we provided a conducted tour of the wreck today. Conditions - visibility aside - couldn't have been better. The Sun was beaming down and the water was comparatively calm. There wasn't as much fish life as recently, but bright, clear conditions don't favour the fishies. It's worth noting that the thermocline today was right on 55 feet, which makes it just above this wreck's sides and superstructure. At the bottom, the temp was down to 62℉ (17℃). The return journey was used to clean up the line a little and to bring it back to the surface in the few places where the silt threatened to hide it.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Twice the fun...

Two dives today. The first was an attempt to re-locate the STOP sign from the old line to the Stacked Hulls. The intention was to put it at the edge of the second ledge that lies on the path followed by the new line. The only problem was that 100 lbs of lift didn't do the trick. So.... we moved up to the ledge and followed it from the old line to the new one - only about 5 minutes swim along. Then, we moved out along the new line. To our surprise and delight, we discovered that someone has 'jumped' the gap that had appeared last week. After a few minutes work to remove weeds, we headed back for Portsmouth, picking up the old line and following it in.

The second dive of the day was with Cory, a recently qualified diver, who has excellent skills. We parked below Queen's on Collingwood St and entered the water in the bay East of the PUC complex. Despite battling in the shallows with awful weed growth, we enjoyed a good swim around the wreck off the pier and along the breakwater below the far edge of the dock. Lots of fish were present, albeit in viz of only about 20'. The water temp for both dives is dropping away slowly - showing 66℉ (18℃).

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Diving the discards...


Today's dive was a return to the Gan River for a spot of gentle exploration. Entry was once again from the Canoe Club's docks. This time though, in the spirit of adventure, a right turn was taken to investigate the area to the North. It was immediately interesting to note that there are many rock ledges and outcrops around - all evidently granite. The waterway narrows towards the bridge on Machar Drive. As you would expect, the river bottom is littered with the debris of human civilization. We counted at least 4 bicycles, two parking meters (one complete with mounting post), dozens of bottles of all ages, two traffic cones and various other items. Add to that some very large, old, dark-coloured Bass and it was an entertaining experience. Perhaps the highlight for me was the moment when my buddy, preoccupied with some task or other, looked up to find a big old Bass just inches from her mask, staring intently at her. I am now quite clear about a diver's ability to recoil physically from something under water. The final section of the dive followed the gentle current downstream to the deepest section - about 39 feet with your wrist buried... Here there was less to see, but the enjoyment was just as great. Visibility in the 30 foot range was good - and the temperature showed a cooler than expected 63℉ (17℃).

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Stacking up another dive...

After sailing plans were cancelled by high winds and an ominous weather forecast, and a quiet afternoon at home proved too quiet, the decision was made to go and check out the Stacked Hulls again. No bad thing, as it turned out, because the line had parted about half way out to the wrecks. Whether this is the result of an unintended anchor strike, or pressure from accumulated weed proving to be too much for the line at its weakest, most extended point, it turned out to be easy to by pass and temporarily address. The dive was otherwise unremarkable. That said, the number of fish seeking shelter in and around the hulls was considerable. Oh to have a video camera on days like this. Visibility was average, probably about 30-40 feet. Interestingly, particularly since I had elected to dive wet (Hyperstretch 7mm), the water temperature was down to 66℉ (19℃). If anyone is keen to make this new, line-guided trip to the Hulls, and considers their air consumption better than average (this dive was 63 minutes long and brought home 600 psi), give me a call.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Members turn out for Preserve Our Wrecks...


Several members of the Club attended the Dive 'n Dine event held by Preserve Our Wrecks this evening. A dive outing to the Wolfe Islander was followed by a delicious barbecue. Despite relatively poor visibility on the wreck, the dive was enjoyed by everyone in attendance. It was an opportunity for many to see the recently parked second motorcycle, a Yamaha and to play, 'count the gnomes'. A special treat for a few of the 14 divers was a rare sighting of an American Eel. For the record, there was no discernible thermocline and the water temperature was 68F (20C).

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Testing the line...

So it's not the most exciting image, but when you enter the water in moderate surf, after several days of rough seas, it's really good to see that lines laid recently are still in place and unaffected. Tonight three of us made our way out to the KGH wreck simply to see that the line had remained intact. There's no doubt that the great work done recently by James and Kevin (who was along tonight) to stake it down has paid off. Surprisingly, with so much wave action and surface commotion, the visibility was pretty good - at about 30 feet. In places, weed had gathered on the line, but we removed it. It was also noticeable that accumulation of growth on the line is dulling what began, just a couple of weeks ago, as a hi-viz yellow finish. Once again, a light touch brightens it up quite well. It's likely that, at least until the colder weather sets in, a weekly maintenance swim will be a worthwhile endeavour. There was a lot of fish life on the wreck. A large Sheepshead was seen in the shallows and drifted in and out of sight as we swam along the line. Bass were busy on the wreck itself. The water temperature was 68℉ (20℃).

Monday, September 15, 2008

Wilderness Battleship - Public Lecture - September 30th

Anyone interested in the naval history of Lake Ontario should pencil in September 30th at 7 pm to attend a public lecture in Kingston's Memorial Hall (inside City Hall). The lecture, celebrating the '25th Anniversary Archaeology Public Lecture' series will be given by Timothy J. Abel, Director of the Jefferson County Historical Society in Watertown , New York. The title 'Wildnerness Battleship' will tell the story of Lake Ontario's Forgotten Naval Shipyard.

Admission is FREE...

Stacked....

Tonight presented the first opportunity to check the line laid last week, in the dark, from a boat, between the Stacked Hulls and the shore near the Psychiatric Hospital. The delightful outcome was a 75 minute dive that began by picking up the cross line leading to the main one in less than a minute. Look out for details of the location very shortly. But be aware, this dive is not for the inexperienced or those who are a bit heavier on their air...

The swim out to the wreck took 20 minutes - the same as the testing run last week. One curious observation - since the line has been in the water only about 5 days - was the huge amount of weed that has drifted into it and accumulated on it. Perhaps not so surprising given the high winds and big seas experienced over the preceding 24 hours. Out on the two wrecks (are there more ?) the fish life was abundant, a mix of Perch and Bass. There was plenty of time to have a look around the whole site before heading back to shore - clearing some of the weed on the way to reduce strain on the line.

The low temperature on the wreck was 68°F (20°C) and the visibility about 30 feet.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Lucky Seven...

This evening's charter went directly to the wreck of the Cornwall. This is a point worth making, because so often we get blown off the intended target and diverted to the Wolfe Islander. Conditions were near perfect for the seven divers along for the ride, with just a gentle wind, practically no waves and good visibility. Most of the party had not visited the wreck before and this always makes for a good experience. The wheels on the wreck were starkly evident close to the descent line. They and the massive boilers are really signature equipments for the site. Another really neat feature to spot is the the line of small portholes that can be seen on the Port side forward. There wasn't a lot of variety in the marine life on show. Shoals of Gobies were flitting around whenever divers approached, but just a handful of fairly small Bass were also present. The knack this evening was to find the thermocline (at about 58 feet) and hover just above the top of the boilers in the 'warm' while enjoying a view of the wreck from above. For the record, the bottom temperature was 52℉ (11℃) and the visibility about 50 feet.

Second Kayak raised for Gan Canoe Club...

Following up on Monday's first successful trip to Gananoque to find and recover sunken kayaks, today's expedition continued the movement. It took just 20 minutes of focused search to discover the second missing kayak in 32 feet of water. It was then an easy exercise to lift it and take it to shore. The picture shows one of the Canoe Club staff inspecting and commencing the clean-up of the craft.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Stress Relief on the Munson...

So, tonight it was a run to the Munson to blow off some of the work day blues for Kevin. Going off the Collins Bay Pier, the trip is less than 10 minutes and just 2 miles running distance. The weather was clement, with the wind out of the North West and the Lake surface was showing just small waves. Mind you, when our dive flag fell in the water and had to be retrieved, it showed a pretty fair wind-driven surface current to be present.

The dive was everything you expect of the Munson. A dark descent into a cold environment that only slowly reveals the details of the wreck. Lights were an absolute must. After passing the thermocline at about 60 feet, the temperature dropped quite significantly, but not as low as recent experiences would have suggested. The minimum temperature was 52℉ (11℃). Visibility - though hard to judge beyond the range of our lights - was probably about 40 feet. One unpleasantness was moving through a 'soupy' layer of green gunky algae in the first 40 feet of the dive or so.

But, as a way to blow off the day's cares, this was a classic...

Monday, September 8, 2008

Lost and Found ...

Today was, finally, good deed day. I had promised the Canoe Club in Gananoque some time ago that I would get across and see if I could locate and raise a kayak that they had lost earlier in the year. Well, today was the day. It was a fascinating exercise. Those of you who have done Search and Recovery will understand the need to define a clear aim, identify an appropriate search pattern and execute it faithfully.

Well, the good news is that, having done all that, Dianne and I spent 70 minutes in the water - and found and raised the two-man kayak concerned. It's a great feeling when it all works out. That keeps up our 100% record of recoveries on request.

For those who are interested, the Gan River gets down to 36 feet in the middle of the stretch by the Canoe Club and viz was a very reasonable 15 to 20 feet. Water temperature 70F (21C). The bottom is largely weed free, though there are occasional deadheads and other timber debris to watch out for. It's typical river mud most of the way, but a hard, granite shelf is present on the West side.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Leisure Show and the Stacked Hulls - all in a diver's day..

Today started with representation of the Club at the Base Fall Leisure Show. This seemed to draw a decent attendance and Dianne and I were certainly kept busy answering the questions of many visitors to our stand. It seems likely that we'll pick up about half a dozen new members who are already certified - and likely as many or more people who want to take training.

This evening there was a golden opportunity to hit the Stacked Hulls from a boat and take a really leisurely tour of this interesting site. The fish life was incredible, literally dozens of Perch and Bass. We were out there, once again, beyond the onset of darkness. It's a magical experience to enjoy a dive on a calm lake with the lights of the City on the skyline and the various navigation beacons twinkling out on the darkness of the water. Difficulty in getting divers to join us made it impossible to fulfill an ambition to run a line ashore from the site, but we'll get that done very soon. These wrecks are deserving of more visits. Thanks to Adam for making his fine dive boat available - and to Tom and the team aboard Seadeucer, who gave us numbers that put us right on the wrecks in short order...

Friday, September 5, 2008

Blown off course - we're at the quarry again...

Given the impact of the tail end of Hurricane Gustav on the lakeshore, it was more prudent today to head for Brule Road. The picture of Kevin LeBlanc was taken by an AOW student completing their Underwater Photography Adventure. Pretty good results in murky water. The quarry was warm and sunny - with the rippling surface causing no significant disturbance below. Bluegills and Bass were around in large numbers - and very approachable. Great training - even if it wasn't raining...

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Aloha !


This evening's charter went out in fairly heavy seas - heading for the Aloha and the Effie Mae. Despite a certain amount of apprehension, the decision was taken to enter the water on the site, avoiding another trip to the Wolfe Islander. As it turned out, and as our trusty skipper (Steve) had suggested, the conditions improved during the dive and exits were much less exciting than they might have been. Eleven divers made the trip, which enjoyed reasonable visibility of about 40 feet at depth and water temperatures in the high 60s F (High teens C).

Great new pics of the KGH Wreck..

Tom Rutledge dived on the KGH wreck yesterday and got some excellent shots of the location. They can be seen on his Flickr site. For anyone who hasn't made it out there yet, they give a great idea of what to expect.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Getting to know you... Pics on the 'KGH' wreck

Can't believe it...! It's a holiday weekend and the weather's beautiful. Five of us made our stately way out to the 'KGH' wreck this morning under a flat calm lake bathed in brilliant sunshine. It was a first trip for some - others of us were intent on documenting the wreck a little better with still and video coverage. There are some shots on Flickr that will allow you to judge whether or not we are succeeding. Some great video taken by Kevin LeBlanc can be reached on You Tube by clicking here.

If you haven't been out to take advantage of this new shore dive opportunity yet, what's holding you back ? Go get wet !