Saturday, August 22, 2009

A 3 hour tour....

...that turned into 6 hours.
Boat diving is not a precise art. Many factors need to be considered when taking a boat trip to a site. Weather is the big one. Even though it looks great out the window, a good wind will throw all of your timings out the door and can even force a cancellation or at the very least a change in venue for your dive. Today was one of those days.
Lemme tell you I may have had a shower before I went on the boat but after the ride out to the Marsh this morning I did not need it. The water got a wee bit rough with a strong wind from the south west. We had some 5 foot swells and the water crashed over the boat in huge sprays. Needless to say us brave folks who like to dive wet didnt mind. However I will admit there was some shrinkage....man I was completly soaked.


Pictured above and beside me are 1 of the 3 guests we had from Toronto Hammerheads dive club out of ASU TO. When ever possible we like to help out folks from other clubs to discover our little fresh water paradise. Though we never intended them to get sea sick in the process.

Easily one of my favorite dives in the region the Marsh is as Adam put it a "Fairy Tale Wreck". This 3 masted schooner went down in around 80 feet of water with a full load of coal in her hold. At the bow of the ship a pristine bowspirt complete with lines and the stern is slightly damaged but still worth a look. The masts are all down and set at odd angles however one is in the middle of the boat on top of a smashed lifeboat for the sharp of eye. Thermocline was at 70 feet today with the algea cloud down to 20. You could easlily see half the ship when on the wreck at any one point in time.

The Glendora was our other choice for the day and apparently that of a few other charters. This is a great swimthrough dive as the hold is wide open and you can fit 3 divers side by each as they say on the rock. I never knew there was a gigantic stove in the middle of the ship though. Thats what the picture is. This was also a great time for the couples to get all romantic like and spend some quality quiet time under the waves. I am sure the serenity was appreciated by all.
Kevin and Joase`e (sp?):
Shaun and Lisa:
The rest of us:

Big thanks to NTD and Kingston Dive Charters for helping us get this charter in the water.
I think we made Harolds day with the soakers he gave us folks at the back of the boat.
More to come tommorow as we take the these city folk out for a sample of our shore diving sunday.

As allways keep blowing bubbles

1 comment:

kevingleblanc said...

Great blog, Matt... Glad I was able to attend the charter. Josée truly enjoyed herself, especially seeing one of the best wrecks in Kingston.. Hope all your T.O. friends enjoyed themselves as much as we did, albeit the sea-sickness.. =)

Kev