Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Alexandria Bay - a new dinner location ?


We made a quick pilgrimage to the States today to dive the Islander Wreck in Alexandria Bay. But this favoured site offers a lot more. A short swim out to the East takes you to the massive chains that hold a floating restaurant in place. Beneath the restaurant, at 60', there's another dining venue, with a couple of tables, many chairs and lots of silverware and crockery.

Another interesting underwater object to visit is about half way back, on a plateau above the ledge. Here, a large tree has lodged (firmly ?) in the silt and now plays host to a large number of fish. It's well worth a look see. Water temperature today - a balmy 73℉ (23℃). Visibility ranged from about 20 - 40'.

Club gains more Advanced Open Water Divers..

Many congratulations to the Club members who completed their Advanced Open Water certifications with Chico this last weekend. The concluding dives were conducted in the St Lawrence, giving access to drift diving and some of the excellent wreck sites. The accompanying picture reflects the very high level of satisfaction with the course and that view is strongly supported by verbal reports from the participants. It's great to see our members enhancing their qualifications and opening up new diving opportunities for themselves. Well done indeed to all concerned.

And, in a separate note - congratulations to Ken, who also completed his AOW with Adam last week..

Monday, July 26, 2010

Double Century for Gaétan..

Monday evening saw Gaétan undertake his 200th dive - at the Marine Museum. He was in good company, though many more of his friends would have liked to attend. They were otherwise engaged. The accompanying group pretty much covers the hardier divers from the Club, who make it their business, in many cases year-round, to keep diving.

Many congratulations to the main man! May the next 200 come quickly - and in warmer water - for some at least..

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Anchor cleaning quite revealing..

A dive at Portsmouth today presented the opportunity to clean up the newer of the two anchors that lie offshore. Accumulations of mussels and corrosion were vigorously removed, revealing the well-known swastika - and on the other fluke - the name of a maker. That name is still a little unclear, but the location of manufacture can now clearly be identified as Sunderland, a major ship-building port in NE England. So, did the Germans have merchant ships built in England before the war? Or, is the swastika a good-luck symbol? The jury's still out. If you're in the water at Portsmouth soon, go look at the maker's name and see if you can make it out clearly. It certainly ends with Co Ltd, so that supports the English origins.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Jack's Last Dive...


Right away - let's clarify the slightly alarming title. What we mean to say is 'Jack's last dive in Kingston for a while'.. Jack, who has brought a certain Western tone to Club life for the last 7 weeks, while here on temporary duty, is heading home to Winnipeg. Several of us considered it a good idea to mark his final immersion in Lake Ontario (for the time being) with something special. Only Matt did anything substantial about the idea. He chartered Proteus for a dive on the Wolfe. And we got a full turnout for the trip, including a couple of lovely bubblewatchers. Every trip should have those. Otherwise, it's like a car show without scantily clad models.

Anyhoo, the dive was a great success - even before Matt broke out the beers on the return journey. The wreck presented many large Freshwater Drum besides the usual host of Rock Bass, Bluegills and Gobies. Jack also had a chance to try out Frank's very handy Bladefish DPV. The thermocline was at about 55' and could be easily seen as a shimmering layer. Temps above - about 64℉. Below, who cares? I didn't stay long enough to find out. Safe journey home, Jack. It's been fun diving with you. Don't forget to return. We still have a bunch of great wrecks to show you.



The evening was also memorable for Ben. Who was making his first boat dive and first real, Open Water wreck dive since certification this year. Cool dive, Ben..

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Pipeline Patrol..?


Jack and I decided to take the easy way out today and simply follow the Western pipe from KPH out to its terminal point at 57'. This took just a leisurely 16 minutes, so we did some exploring off the pipe, practising navigation. All good. There was a slight thermocline at about 45' but bottom temperatures out at the maximum depth remained in the high 50s ℉. Unlike yesterday, there were no significant fish sightings.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

First Stab at Fairfield Park..


Jack and I decided to find out what attracts many divers to the little park in Amherstview. Fairfield Park, according to the nautical charts, offers about 90 feet of water within a few hundred feet of shore. That was almost exactly what we found. But, the highlight on what was largely a simple out and back over a gently descending slope, was encountering the large Freshwater Drum shown during our safety stop. It wasn't at all put out by our attention and we first saw it feeding. Entry and exit is easy - and there's a set of washrooms - always welcome at a dive site. Viz was great below about 60 feet and the bottom temperature well down in the low 40s℉.

Morton's Magic..

The beautiful picture above was contributed by Matt and illustrates really well what is so often special about Morton's Wharf. The location, allied to the construction, often gives rise to great shots in the sunlight. Jack is silhouetted really well here. The dive was a fun one, taking in first the wreck of the St Lawrence - another exercise in jungle busting through weeds, then along the contour back to the Wharf, where we played around for a while, ultimately leaving the water about 64 minutes later. Thanks for the pics Matt - cool!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Club makes the Base Paper...

Your President recently gave an interview to a reporter from the Base Newspaper, the Tower. Given the opportunity to ride along on a charter to the Munson, the individual writing the article has produced a great piece on who we are and what we do. Click here to download the article and see how many names you spot of active Club members.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Jamie joins the certified divers..

Congratulations to Jamie, who opted for Brule Road's more sheltered environment to complete his Open Water dives today over a rather lumpy lake. Each of the dives lasted almost an hour and required skills were all mastered without fuss. The Quarry was very busy - did we mention that there's now a barbecue running, with hot dogs and other snacks, as well as cold sodas available?

The tiny Bass fry which were very evident a few weeks ago are now reaching recognizable Bass form. They've stopped shoaling in large numbers and now move around singly, or in small groups of up to about a dozen fish. At about an inch long - and quite curious - they are great fun to watch. In and around the the old car chassis, three or four of the largest Bluegills I've ever seen are also lazily swimming around.

Each visit to the Quarry these days shows up new objects underwater. Take a trip and have a look around yourself.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Its like Safari diving out there!

It seems like the last few dives have been just like the old Mutual of Omaha wildlife shows of the 70s. The weeds are like forests and the bottom can be full of algae. The plus side of this is the life in the lake is never as good as it is now. One of our intrepid divers mentioned its like swiming in a fish bowl. The highlight for me was last night at the Museum where kristie and myself ran into a catfish attempting to dine on a poor lake shad. I managed to get a couple of shots of it and you can see where the bite marks were on it. It wasn't swiming too well and I figure he didnt make it far but than that's life in the wild! I wont deny the visibility is not the greatest but with a keen eye you can see walleye, sheepshead, and more if your carefull. Water temps have fluctuated between 75-65F down to 20 feet, however at 100 feet its 55F. Visibility in all areas has been grim but feasible with approximately 15 feet at the 20 foot depth and between 20 to 40 at 60 or more depth. Did I mention weeds? This afternoon Mike Jack and myself treated ourselves to a bit of old school bushwhacking navigation for a 78 minute dive to see but the Regent and the Charlotte in one swim on an alluminum 80 no less.
One last thing the Dolphins are now on Facebook, look for CFB Kingston Dolphin Scuba club and if you like, hit 'Like Us'! Less talk more pics I say:
1. Gaétan at the Wharf in the Haze, 2. The AAA guns of Mortons Wharf, 3. Marc-Etienne looking to snap a rather large bass.

4. Mike Bushwhacking at deadmans bay, 5 and 6. The shad that Escapes death by the hands of a catfish. You can see the bite marks on the shad.

Yours in Fun Safe diving
Matt C

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Todd makes his Double Century..

Sunday evening marked a significant achievement for Todd. He completed his 200th logged dive with a really good charter run to the offshore wrecks. Many congratulations! His commemorative certificate is reproduced here..

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Munson Reputation Restored..

Today provided the opportunity to restore the reputation of the Munson as a benevolent, exciting dive site. With two good friends from Virginia, Celia and Gavin, Dianne and I made the trip with Gaétan and Jack. Despite blustery conditions topsides - and the dire reports of last week's dive, we had a great experience. The line took us straight past the tallest pylon onto the main deck. Visibility was good enough to see the whole wreck from any position and only the gentlest of currents crossed the deck. Behind the dredge, near the bucket, a large shoal of Lake Shad was criss-crossing the bottom. Bottom temp 48℉ (8℃). The thermocline lay at about 60', the same depth as we'd observed it to lie on the KGH wreck earlier in the day.