Congratulations to our new Advanced Open Water divers..

Well done, Ben, John and Steve, who completed a tiring training weekend to emerge with their coveted Advanced Open Water Diver certifications today. Conditions were very good for this time of year, but a challenging night dive on the Wolfe (with no moon at all) and some strong surface currents on the Munson, made the course and the diving interesting.

Many thanks to Todd and Gaétan. Their support was invaluable and appreciated every bit as much by the three divers as by myself.

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.

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.

Deep Delights..

This evening saw the opportunity to complete Josée's Deep Adventure on the wonderful Munson wreck. Conditions couldn't have been better. The Lake was calm, there was barely any current perceptible on the wreck, and visibility was great. Josée had no difficulty coping with the dive or the tasks involved in assessing for nitrogen narcosis. All in all, it was a really good experience for the five divers who enjoyed the trip.

Jim found it the perfect opportunity to test the new Dive Rite LED canister light he has acquired, and it passed with flying colours. The other broad smile in evidence belonged to Gaétan, who can't stop himself getting excited about the transformation he has enjoyed in moving to drysuit diving with his Signature Series DUI suit.

Although several of us believed that we saw 50℉ (10℃) on the bottom, the computer doesn't lie, and mine actually recorded a minimum of 46℉ (8℃).

Free Charters Rock..

There's nothing quite like a free charter to bring a smile to divers' faces. That might account for the broad grins on the faces of several Club members who were amongst the 14 divers generously treated to a free trip to the Munson by Kingston Dive Charters just for being members of Preserve Our Wrecks, Kingston. The trip took place on Sunday, June 6th and was judged a great success by all concerned, even if there was a bit more current on the wreck than most are accustomed to experiencing.

Many thanks to Harold and Anne for providing this opportunity to dive one of our fair City's signature wrecks - and to all those who came along. Their presence alone was testament to their support for local wreck preservation and maritime heritage awareness.

Deep, Dark and Delightful...

It was great to get a note from James Young earlier this week inviting participation in what might be a final dive of the season on the Munson. It was even better to discover that it was an evening that I could actually get out on the water. So, to cut a long story short, Dianne, Marc-Etienne, Todd and I joined a small group heading for the site last night. Unsurprisingly, it was a night dive, and the near full moon was delivering little light through a high, overcast sky. That just made the descent on the Munson's large line more inviting. At depth, the visibility was pretty good, likely in the order of 35-40 feet. The temperature, although slightly colder than in recent days, didn't plummet at depth. Most divers reported 50℉ (10℃). One little treat for the early visitors was to see some short, slim, silver-coloured fish hugging the bottom. Positive identification wasn't achieved, but candidates include Walleye Fry, Emerald Shiners or maybe Rainbow Smelt. None of these particularly common. It may have been a little cool on the homeward run, but the mood of the divers was very positive. Many thanks to James and Nancy for making this dive possible.

1 is a lonely number

One is a lonely number so they say. Being the only guy in a 7mm wet suit, diving with a single alluminum 80 with 5 folks geared up in "Halcyon" harnesses, all in trilam dry suits, 3 in doubles running 32 mix Nitrox, 2 in oversized (117, 130) very high pressure steel tanks and 1 using a camera the size of a meduim class dog, should make us regular divers kinda squeamish. I say they are all weak and afraid to dive the old fashioned way. Ok maybe not to thier faces...

You dive with the gear you have now, not the gear you want but the bank wont let you have. Good diving partners will always get to know the skill level and the gear of thier buddy for the dive and adjust accordingly. I was lucky to have such a great dive team to work with. Scott, Kim, Giles, Tom and Chris and I all shared some good laughs at each others expense over my appearant old school techniques. Did I ever mention I was given an intro to diving in a horse collar then told never use it again on my open water course?


Wed night 6 of us managed to sneak in a great dive on an old Northern Tech Diver favorite. Frankly the wind started to pick up and we really didnt have much choice in the end. Kingston in my humble opinion is the worlds best fresh water diving spot, and the Munson is one of the best examples of the quailty of wrecks the region has to offer. She sits 110 feet of water when the river is running freely (I once was deeper earlier in the season). The water temp was a balmy 60F which for us folks in wet suits is very tolerable, and the visibilty at depth was easily 30-40 feet. Tom mentioned on the boat ride back this one of those wrecks he finds something new every dive and frankly I believe him.

No pics tonight my camera and I are having a lovers spat over battery life.

As allways keep blowing bubbles!

Matt

This Munsons for the ladies in the house!

Wednsday night boat dives really are the best cure for a work day you would rather forget! This dive was no change from the norm, in that some of the memories I will not forget for some time no matter how much I drink after my dive. It wasn't all cheesy news and despite the usual algae cloud/pea soup from 0-30 feet this wreck is also one of the best in the Kingston area to enjoy.

Firstly the dive info, the Munson is a 90 foot long barge in approximatly 108 feet of water. It's one of those rare wrecks that is usualy a night dive during the day. Usualy this is because of the Algae that runs almost all summer long. Bring a good light you will need it. The boat is a multi level platform with lots of wide open space to swim though and tons of cool baubles and trinkets spread out all over the place. Remember this is a deep dive that is dark and does have penetration available, consider your training when you dive this. Plan your dive and dive your plan and if something goes wrong don't push your limits. The boat sank years ago it's not going anywhere, so you can allways dive it again later. At this time of year the boat is actualy deeper than recorded and might throw your plan a wrench if you're on nitrox. This really is one of the best dives in town for such a simple wreck. Folks like NTD have some very well prepared high quality photos online to plan your dive around.

For 4 of the 6 divers this was our first trip to this boat and it was worth all the hype. Big thanks to our 2 experienced divers who took us on the tour. I look forward to diving it again soon. I want to give our RMC members a big shout out as their participation in our club events is really noticeable this year. We hope they spread the word around. Good to see you guys out so much!

Lastly I would be remiss if I did not point out how the weather network was in our favor tonight as we almost caught some sun. We finaly were able to get on the water when its warm, calm and dry up top, however... some of us had too much fun. For this I give you our VP and resident chippendales diving representation :

Enjoy ladies.
For the rest of us, cya in the water folks!

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...

Congratulations to the 'A' Team

Anthea and Ashley are to be congratulated on completing their Advanced Open Water course this weekend. The culminating dive - on the Munson - in near perfect conditions - was a fitting reward for a lot of hard work. Their smiles say it all. They had a great time and have come out of the weekend better divers, with more opportunities ahead of them. Well done indeed to both...

Lucky for some...

Friday the 13th isn't traditionally a good day to do things - if you're superstitious, that is. However, taking advantage of an ad hoc charter organised by Doug and True-Dee McCarthy, four of us enjoyed an excellent two-tank excursion with Pat Coyne of Pat's Charters. We hit the Munson first. Visibility was as good as I can remember - at least 60 feet. Water temperatures were in the region of 48°F (9°C). The second dive, with a sensible surface interval, was the Mapleglen. This enormous wreck features a truly massive, 4-bladed propeller and accompanying rudder (lying off the side). These features and massive boilers are the principal things to see, but a swim all the way along the broken remains stretching about 250 feet is well worth the trip. Visibility was a little poorer here - at about 40 feet, but the visit was well worth while.

Twofer Monday...

Not satisfied with a Navigation qualifying dive this morning, boredom set in this afternoon so a boat trip was made early evening to crank in a Deep dive on the Munson. This proved to be a great decision. The Lake was almost glass calm and the visibility below the thermocline was great - certainly in excess of 50'. It compared very favourably to the morning's experience at Portsmouth, where viz was something like 20' at best.

There was quite a temperature difference too. Portsmouth - in 30' of water this morning - was 61F (16C) The deck of the Munson was registering 43F (6C) tonight.