Sunday, November 30, 2008

Stacked Hulls Metered and Measured...

Kevin and I had the opportunity, at dusk today, to get out and complete the staking of the line to the Stacked Hulls. The stakes start from the edge of the shelf and are carefully placed at 100' (30m) intervals. There are 7 of them, which given that they start at 380' (116m) - and the last stake runs 80' to the wreck itself, makes the total distance 1260' (384m). For safety's sake, the halfway stake is marked by a white, plastic jug. If you get to this and you're not sure about your air for the rest of the dive, it's time to turn around.

It's always interesting to enter the water as a storm is growing. Today, the waves were growing as the wind got up - and when we emerged from the water there was a snowy squall sweeping across the grounds of the Providence Care Facility. Ah, the deep joy of Winter diving. Water temperature - 42℉ (6℃). Visibility - despite the turbulent inshore waters - about 50'. More than sufficient to see the large Bass that were haunting the wreck in the half dark...

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Exercising Stakeholder Privileges...

Work on enhancing the line to the Stacked Hulls was the order of the day today. As well as checking and cleaning the line, it's amazing how much algae and gunk accumulates in just a matter of days, today's aim was to put in some long-planned stakes and take some measurements.

For interested parties, take note - the swim to the edge of the shelf from the start point close to the beach is 380' (116m). We then installed the first three stakes - at 100' (30m) intervals. That took us to roughly half way to the Hulls. We'll finish the staking - and measuring - very shortly, but my guess is that the total swim is going to come out to about 1300' (396m).

Water temperature today - 42℉ (6℃). And the visibility - 60' or better, I think...

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Guide to the Stacked Hulls now available from Preserve Our Wrecks...

Preserve Our Wrecks has prepared and provided a guide to finding the Stacked Hulls dive site using the new guideline the Group participated in laying earlier this year. Although this development comes late in the year, now that the charter boats are all laid up, but the ice is still awaited, this can be the perfect time to make some more shore dives. The visibility is great just now.

One word of caution. Even though the new guideline leads more directly to the dive site, the Stacked Hulls remain a daunting swim for most divers using a single Aluminum 80 cylinder. If you intend to give it a try, ensure that you pay close attention to your air consumption and turn back in good time, if you suspect that you will run low.

You will find POW's new guide by clicking here.

The Gloves are off... No ! on...


I promised myself on the last dive - on the wrecks in the harbour - that it would be the last wet glove diving of 2008, and I kept the promise to myself today. When three of us made our way out, yet again, to the wreck off Murney Tower, I was in dry gloves. Not that they make the slightest bit of difference to the persistent, minor leak I've been suffering from, and cannot trace and cure, in my drysuit. Oh well, who wants to be completely comfortable?

The dive was a good one, with excellent visibility - about 50' horizontally on the wreck, and the surface waves perfectly clearly visible 60' above. There were again large numbers of lazy Bass around the site. Kevin played with them - and amused himself photographing little Gobies too. He was wearing his new Aqualung Drysuit, which is a great garment, with excellent features and, so far as one can tell, first-class construction and finish. Thank you Gaetan for the great shore-side shot above..

There was evidence of a slight thermocline at about 50', with water that had been steadily 45℉ (7℃) dropping suddenly to 43℉ (6℃) on my gauge at least.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Guenter's photo expedition...

This late in the season every chance to get a special dive in has to be seized with enthusiasm. An opportunity to get out and visit the much discussed Guenter's Wreck arose today and we grabbed it with both hands. It had been an ambition to try and get some photography of this site for some time. Conditions were almost perfect, if you overlook the difficulty in getting water to circulate through outboard engines asked to work in freezing air temperatures.

Long and the short of it was that we got more than 30 minutes on the wreck, taking many pictures and enjoying the sort of light and visibility that only feature in the short, cold days of Fall and Winter. For the record - viz was around 50-60' and the water temperature seems to be stuck on 46℉ (8℃).

Monday, November 17, 2008

Wow - a first in local waters...

There are days when what should be a pretty ordinary dive becomes something quite unusual. Today was one of them. It had been decided to make a trip out to the Cora Post. It's a site we hadn't visited for some time, so that seemed as good a reason as any. There was nothing extraordinary about the preparations, except perhaps noticing how low the water has become.

Anyway, first issue is the fact that we can't locate the guideline in the shallows. No problem, already agreed to drop to the 35' contour and follow it to the wreck. Of course, reaching 35' we pick up the line almost immediately, quite close to the wreck. At about the same time, both of us spot a large shape in the water, just off the bow. It turns out to be a very large Muskie, completely unimpressed with our presence. It swam gently across our path and exited the area.

With a water temperature of just 46℉ (6℃), we elected to spend just a few minutes on the wreck; long enough to notice though that the stern section is really broken down now. We follow the line back along the contour and discover that, where it used to turn NW to head for the shallows, it's broken. As we consider this, we spot, just to our left, in about 35' of water, a huge baitball of small fish. Almost perfectly cylindrical, with the fish circling briskly, it was about 20' high and 10-12' in diameter. The fish were about 2" long and short, with a silvery colour. Even after applying the exaggeration factor, there must have literally been thousands of them. I have never seen anything remotely like it in local waters - and only rarely in waters further south. A real treat. Just goes to show - it's always worth diving here - and every day has the potential to astonish and impress underwater.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Quarry Time...

The wind was making the Lake look less hospitable again today, so it seemed a good time to go and check out the quarry at Brule Road. As it happened, the visit was made more exciting by disturbing a couple of lovers, who had rather carelessly parked on the top of the approach road. There's something incredibly amusing about watching two people rapidly dressing while trying to appear innocent...

After this frisson, the dive was almost routine. A theory that the water there would be colder than the Lake, because it's got less flow and, as a smaller, shallower body of water it's more directly influenced by the air temperature, was proved spot on. The low reading on our two computers was 44℉ (7℃). I made a mental note, as the numbers on my display descended into the 40s, to fit my dry gloves this weekend.

Although we didn't hit all the corners of the site, there didn't appear to be any new additions to the local 'attractions'. A solitary Bluegill was spotted. Viz wasn't too bad - given the rain and high winds we've had recently; probably about 40'.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

A night at POH

Last night three of us made for an enjoyable dive in and around Portsmouth Olympic harbour. Getting in the water a little after 6:30 pm we swam around only hitting about 20 feet in depth. WE did take the time to see the anchors and some of the ribs that are left in the area. There were lots of fish and large pike towards the end of the dive. The naval anchor with the swastika on it was quiet cover in algae and we were not able to find the raised symbol, mostly likely because of darkness though. It was a pleasant dive and always enjoyable to show someone a new site. The water temp was 50 F here but allowed us to stay in the water 47 minutes.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Fresh Fields...

Stimulated by a desire to do something new, Jim and I ventured out to Fairfield Park on Route 33 today to see what sort of profile the bottom presented. As it happens, this site, which is popular with visitors from Toronto and elsewhere, is not particularly appealing, but entry is easy - and the parking is on a hard, tarmac surface right beside the Lake. After the anticipated short, shoreside ledge, the bottom drops away gently in mud to a maximum depth of just under 100 feet. We registered 94' today. The good news is that the water temperature is stuck reasonably tolerably at 50℉ (10℃) - all the way down.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Surf entries on the Lake - unusual...

When a strong westerly breeze blows over the Lake for several hours, it can raise quite a wave on shore. But, that's no deterrent to the determined diver - and just to prove the fact - three of us made our way out to the Stacked Hulls this afternoon through some fairly heavy surf. I can't remember encountering quite so much surge in the shallows ever before. Understandably, the visibility was pretty poor in the early stages, but on the wrecks themselves we enjoyed about 30 feet or better - certainly enough to make for some decent video. I've decided that some of these big Bass are frustrated actors. They certainly mug it up for the camera. Check out the short video here. The water temp was the usual 50℉ (10℃). Total dive time, with about 15 minutes on the wreck, was 56 minutes.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Pics of the Pumphouse Intake Pipe and Support...

Here are a few pictures of the structure and intake pipe that serve the Kingston Pumphouse. An interesting site - it's fascinating to imagine the engineering involved in putting this in place at the time it was constructed.


Thursday, November 6, 2008

Pumphouse prowling...

Grabbed the opportunity today to get out on the Lake and answer a request from staff at the Pumphouse Museum for some details on the pipework and structures serving their site. The effort was made with Adam, who received the original request. Conditions were perfect and we visited two sites. The pic is from the first one, which is not the intake support for the pumphouse, but another unattributed structure, albeit it lies right beside the pipe. Water temp 50℉ again with visibility somewhere around 60 feet. Tons of Bass on both sites...

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Magnificent Seven...


Well, perhaps not that magnificent, but seven anyway. That's how many divers made a foray from Morton's Wharf this evening, entering the water as the sun set and emerging in the dark. Wow, you say, how daring !

Whatever, the dive was just fine - about 30 minutes of gentle exploration of the underwater structure, some gentle Bass teasing and a little bit of friendly, 'my light's better than your light' going on.

Followed by Timmy's and a bit of light banter - altogether an excellent outing.

Water temp 50℉ (10℃) - viz about 40 feet...

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Stacked Hulls Line in good shape...

The weather's just too good these days to pass up diving. Today, it presented an opportunity to make a check dive on the line out to the Stacked Hulls. It's become such a straightforward trip with the new route that there's no wasted effort in locating or following the guideline. But, caution should be exercised. This is still an each way trip of about 1000 feet. If you're going to attempt it - and have any time to spend on the wrecks, which deserve it, then make sure your air consumption is modest, if you're diving a single 80 cu ft cylinder. The line was in good shape. The weeds are all dying back and the interference and drag they had been causing is all but past. For the record, the water temperature was 50℉ (10℃). With a bit of wind playing across the Lake and generating a slight swell, the visibility was down on the weekend, but still reasonable at about 25-30 feet.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Nine at Ten...


Nine Club members made the trip this afternoon to the wreck off Murney Tower in 10℃ water (50℉). On the second day of a really beautiful weekend, on Kevin's initiative, the group met at the Club to satisfy equipment and air needs, then hit the site. It was particularly good to see a new diver from the most recent basic course getting his feet (and everything else) wet. Well done, Jesse. The visibility on the wreck was the best I have seen - probably 40' or better - and of course made me instantly regret not taking a camera out with me. At either end, bow and stern, the whole structure was visible. So too were many large Smallmouth Bass, which appear to have taken up residence on the wreck. Hunger seems to be stimulating their curiosity and they were very happy to approach the divers. It was good to see that the guidelines are still in place. The opportunity was taken to clean them off a bit and to remove weedy debris from the main line.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Another diver advances...

Mario is entitled to look pleased with life. He completed his Advanced Open Water certification today with a Search and Recovery adventure at the KPH site. Conditions couldn't really have been better. The Sun was shining brightly, air temperatures were above freezing (but not much at 4℃) and the visibility was outstanding at roughly 50 feet. The exertions of executing search patterns and other tasks ensured that the water, cool at 51℉ (11℃), didn't have too chilling an effect. All in all, a very successful final qualification dive and a pleasant experience for all concerned. Well done, Mario....