Members to earn Certificates of Achievement in 2010..

As a small incentive to get out and dive, the Club will be awarding certificates of achievement this year to divers who can prove completion of 50 and 100 dives in the calendar 2010.

Production of a valid logbook, with entries countersigned by a buddy, will be accepted as evidence of dives completed.

Now, there's no excuse to avoid the water -

Global Freezing

     Well Chris and I drove over to Wolfe Island but the Ice was to thick at the Summer ferry Dock, to get in.  Since we were over there I thought we'd try our luck at the US Ferry dock on the South side of the island. Although it was primarily open, albeit with quite a fierce wind blowing on shore, the amount of thick ice formed at the shore would have made it treacherous trying to get in or out. Needless to say we scrapped that plan and decided to head back to Kingston.
     I figured it was worth checking out Portsmouth Harbor to see if it was still open.   There was definitely some ice forming at the surface, but it broke easily.  Although the visibility is great this time of year, the water temperature is 33 degrees at the surface and 34 at depth.  Though I'm not sure that one degree made any difference.

Diving, In the Bahamas

Diving, In the Bahamas

Does 18 dives in a tropical place sound pleasing, well if so, you must try Black Beards Cruises, a live aboard dive charter. A week of diving in the Crystal Clear Waters of the Caribbean Sea is nothing but, awesome, amazing, fantastic, well I could go on forever. You will travel from one dive site to another, while eating like a king, between dives. A very experienced crew will put you on the best dive spots in the world, while all you have to think about is, what can possibly be better than your last dive.

The Bahamas are famous for their corals, and plentiful wild life. They also have a great number of wreck dives, such as Tiny T's, a scuttled tug boat right up to Theo's wreck a 250 ft ocean freighter.

The Bahamas is truly a gem in the world of diving. An adventure worth diving again in the near future. For those who are looking for a dive trip, not a beach resort with a dive package, but diving being your priority, a live aboard dive charter is the only way to go.

This could be the last time...

You've dated yourself if you hear the Rolling Stones after you read the title to today's entry. It's appropriate though, because ice is encroaching quite quickly now on the shore dive entry points around the Lake. Todd and I had to crackle our way through a thin crust of light, transparent ice at KPH on entry, and larger areas of thicker ice were visible offshore. Our first choice of site, Portsmouth, where we'd like to have taken advantage of great visibility and the bright sunshine to photograph the wreck fragments, was already ice-locked.

With air temperatures of -11℃ (12℉), we did attract some curious looks from passers-by, some of whom even stopped to ask what we were doing - or should I make that "why?" The answer is that we just wanted to see what was going on underwater. And the answer was - not much. Besides a few stupefied, or half frozen, Gobies, there really wasn't much life around. Perhaps the fact that Todd's computer showed a minimum water temperature of 32℉ (0℃) had something to do with it. To be fair, at depth, the water was warmer; 34℉ (1℃). The time may fast be approaching where those of us with ice diving qualifications will be looking to exercise them. Which reminds me, must make sure the blade on my chainsaw is the right way round this year...

Amphibians and other underwater creatures...

It's a Club tradition to make a dive on New Year's Day - and today was no exception. Numbers were down on recent years, but illness, injury and an outrageous self indulgence (travelling away to exotic, warm locations) have taken their toll. Chris, Jim and I were the only divers to enter the water, although we were observed by a number of other Club members. Our reward for making the dive was to enjoy great visibility and an unusual sighting of a frog casually enjoying the underwater environment. Shouldn't all these amphibians be hibernating by now ? There was little other aquatic life to be seen. A few gobies were scurrying around - and a single large Bass was swimming around the logs, but otherwise it's pretty quiet just now. Many thanks to Gaétan and Julie for a welcome hot coffee on exit...

Happy New Year to one and all !

Roatan...

If pictures speak louder than words, well here is my chant out to the Gods of Diving. I would like to share with you all but a few of the pictures I was able to take on our trip to Roatan. No going on and on about how wonderful it was, what the temp or viz was like, or even how many dives we did... I will let the pictures do their dirty work, and plant that little egg inside your head about how badly you want to go diving in Roatan...

Recovery Job...

A flying friend of mine mentioned last week that one of his buddies had put a snowmobile through the ice of a frozen lake. He was looking for the loan of a wetsuit to make a shallow dip to put a line on the machine and bring it out. I seized the opportunity to offer more comprehensive dive services and we made a trip up to the location, near Arnprior, today.

The machine had gone in close to shore, in what turned out to be about 6 feet of water. Although the ice may have been thinner at the time of the incident, it was about 6-8 inches today. We made a typical triangular entry hole - right over the sled - and I dove to secure a rigid towbar to the skis and align the vehicle for a pull to shore.

I think that I can claim to have completed the first ice dive of this season. Albeit it only involved 15 minutes immersion in 6 feet of water. This maintains my 100% record of success in locating and recovering equipments for their owners. This was one of the easier examples...

Christmas Day in the workhouse...

Air Temp: -1℃ (30℉) / Water Temp: 37℉ (3℃) / Visibility: 40'
Depth: 36' / Time: 40 mins

So, it may be Christmas Day for most people; a time to sit back and let the turkey dinner suffer the digestive process, but some of us have business to transact. Chris and I (sad, lonely people, you might say) made a small expedition to Morton's Wharf, where we discovered that the viz was excellent, the weeds have almost completely gone and the Bass were circling the fallen logs. We cruised the wharf slowly and took a side trip southwards, but otherwise just meandered around and enjoyed the much-improved views. Note to self - this is the time to start taking wide-angle, tripod-assisted pictures of the local underwater landmarks.

P.S. Thank you to Gaetan for coming out to capture topsides pics - and to Dianne for hot chocolate (well, after all, it's the one day of the year that Timmy's isn't available for the après dive experience..!)

Twas the day before Christmas!

Twas the day before christmas, and the lake was still water, and now I forget the rest of the words, so I went diving instead!

Among my many trips to see family and friends, I make time with my old club (4D diving and adventures) to do the traditional Xmas Eve dive down on Centennial beach in downtown Barrie. This shallow shore dive is home to the Morrison, a large paddlewheel that set on fire long time ago and sank in 25 feet of water. On a typical day its a 30 min dive to the wreck and back. Its mostly broken up due to the ice damage its taken over the years, but due to the shallow location there are often lots of bass and perch around her. Those looking for a decent dive in Barrie area, this is the best you're going to find.

This years festivities were met with 0℃ topside and a light wet breeze from the south. Despite the cloudy condtions it was pretty much the best you can get for December. Considering last year's was canceled due to the lake being completely frozen I will take this for a win. Water temp at depth was hovering around 0℃ as well, which was why so many of our intrepid divers had gear failures. Out of 10 or so divers only 3 really got a dive in. Ironically I wasnt one of those guys with gear failures, go figure...Unfortunately my partner had issues so we had to scrub the dive early as well. Still 15 feet for 10 min = a dive, and I figured out its time to ask for a new dry suit hood from Santa. The holes on the side made for a chilly dive.

Things to note on days like to day: never breath into your regs before you go in the water, you risk free flowing, folks often dress warmer then normal and dont compensate weights for the extra bouency, and if your not carefull even your power inflator can freeze up.

Pics or it never happened:

Some crazy picnic bench I've never seen at the site before:

Yes Virginia, that really is alot of ice on the shore.

As allways have fun safe, diving, and don't forget: dive with a knife!

Happy Holidays folks cya in the new year!

Matt

Todd goes to the DOGs...

So, Todd took delivery of his new DUI TLS 350 drysuit yesterday. It's a miracle he didn't insist on a night dive to christen it ! Anyhoo, this morning we made our way to KGH to hit the wreck offshore. Well, you couldn't put the first dive on a new drysuit in 12 feet of water now, could you ? The dive worked out really well. The suit performed flawlessly and the only adjustment necessary is going to be just a touch more weight. The outstanding package offered by James at NTD included full underwear set, pockets, reinforcements and other accessories, including hood and thermal socks. His special deals are going to be in force until early next year, so speak to the folks in Collins Bay soon, if you're interested in upgrading. Video of Todd going to the DOGs (DUI Owners' Group) is shown below. BTW - water temp was 37℉ (3℃) - and we had no difficulty managing 47 minutes underwater.

The line is intact and we cleaned it up. If you're going to dive the wreck, you should note that, about 2/3s of the way out something has caught the line and displaced it eastward. It still reaches the wreck, but arcs around to it now rather than making a straight line.