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.

Well done Paul ! Now an Advanced Diver..

Congratulations this Labour Day to Paul, who completed his Advanced Open Water syllabus with a Deep Adventure at Fairfield Park and a Digital Photography Adventure at the Kingston Oasis. He was totally at ease with both experiences, as he has been throughout the course. Now he's free to spend more time out diving with Rick - and other members..

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..

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℃).

Navigation Station...

PADI have a monthly specialty they promote. It looks this week as if we have been having a special on Underwater Navigation. Today, I spent my third session in the water this week with students engaged in addressing navigation challenges. Paul, who is commencing his Advanced Open Water course was first to go. He did a great job in quite demanding conditions at KPH. Visibility can't have been more than about 15 feet, but he unerringly tackled some fairly testing tasks - controlling his buoyancy and demonstrating calm mastery of the environment. Todd, who was also in the water to gain experience and up his dive total (which is growing impressively quickly) then took on his second dive for the Navigation specialty. This required some long transits and dive site location and return exercises. He too did really well. Between the two divers, who supported each other admirably, we spent about 62 minutes in the 63℉ (17℃) water. All of us at one stage or another had an encounter with a massive Bass, which made a point of swimming up to investigate us, rather than the other way around. Todd performed a small act of kindness for a youngster as he made his exit. A little girl and her parents had come down to the shore to release what had been a pet turtle all Summer, but which needed to be released back into the wild. It was interesting to see it make its confident way out into the Lake. But, we all watched tensely as it appeared the local seagulls were showing an interest in it. Happily it survived - for now at least.

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....

Drysuit Day...

Now that the weather's turning colder and the water with it, it's time to turn to drysuits, if you haven't already. Mario selected the Drysuit Adventure as one of his AOW dives and today presented the opportunity to complete it. He was joined by Steve Liu, who enjoyed the experience just as much in his superb, previously-owned DUI suit. We went out of Navy Bay off the boat launch ramp by St Lawrence Pier for just over 30 minutes. The water temp was 57℉ (14℃) and the visibility about 40 feet. An oddity on this dive - although it was conducted about an hour before sunset- was the large number of Catfish seen.

Dive 'n Dine - again...

It takes energy to keep a dive club going - and Ashley's idea of getting together for a dive and then enjoying a late season, informal barbecue at Nicholson's Point was an excellent example of the way to go. Although only a few people managed to get out, it was very clear that they thoroughly enjoyed the experience of soaking up Autumn sunshine at the water's edge after a decent dive outing. The dive also presented the opportunity for Mario to complete his Deep Adventure on the way to completing Advanced Open Water certification. His dive was flawless. Once again, it's evident that the water is turning colder. This should be no surprise given the cold nights we're 'enjoying'. The low temperature, below a 70' thermocline, was somewhere around 53℉ (12℃). The visibility though, at the greater depths, is in excess of 40 feet now.

Blown off course - we're at the quarry again...

Given the impact of the tail end of Hurricane Gustav on the lakeshore, it was more prudent today to head for Brule Road. The picture of Kevin LeBlanc was taken by an AOW student completing their Underwater Photography Adventure. Pretty good results in murky water. The quarry was warm and sunny - with the rippling surface causing no significant disturbance below. Bluegills and Bass were around in large numbers - and very approachable. Great training - even if it wasn't raining...

More Advanced Divers...

Congratulations to Theresa and Neil, who completed their AOW this evening with a Search and Recovery Adventure. Their achievement is evidence of great determination; they were Open Water students with the Club in June and they have been piling on the dives ever since they qualified. Their enthusiasm for diving is very typical of our members and does us all great credit. Let's all keep working to maintain the high standards for which our divers are known.

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...

Sunshine and Smiles...

The three divers enrolled in the Advanced Open Water course this weekend show obvious enthusiasm for their work as they soak up sunshine at KPH after completing Underwater Navigation and Search and Recovery Adventures this morning. Anthea, Ashley and Verena, who had been joined for the first dive by Neil and Theresa, did really well and appreciated a water temperature of 68℉ (20℃). The minor downside to the day was visibility much degraded by algae and other suspended particles. Optimistically, you could only claim about 20 feet. The training continues this evening with a night dive - and the course will be concluded tomorrow evening with a Deep Adventure on the Munson...

Ain't Raining? Still Training...

A series of three days with students culminated this morning with certification of Eric, a student who had (wisely?) elected to postpone his Open Water dives after completing pool training last Winter. Two dips in the Quarry yesterday were quickly followed up today with immersions at KPH and Morton's Wharf. While the fish life was fascinating - and included encounters with large Freshwater Drum in both locations - the visibility was less impressive at about 20 feet. Water temperature of 68F (20C) made up for much though. The topsides weather was outstanding - and here's a top tip - there is abundant shade at Morton's in which to park and get dressed...
Couldn't help but think what a great day our buddies must be having on the two tanker out of Caigers. Really looking forward to this evening's report...

Fresh Fry tonight...

Kim mentioned disappointment at a lack of fish sightings during last night's charter dive. Well, tonight at the quarry we literally swam through shoals of small Bass fry. Numbering in the hundreds and present in two or more locations, these tiny fish were teeming around the cruiser and in the corner of the bowl beyond it to the South. Also seen during a night dive with Theresa and Neil were the large Carp often spotted in the same bowl and a nocturnally hunting Catfish, which was totally undisturbed by examination under our lights.

The night dive was the second training dive of the evening. The first had seen a couple of students complete their Open Water Dive 2. They too had seen the clouds of small fry and been impressed. For anyone who remains at all reticent about the water temperature, the quarry is the place to dive. The minimum temperature recorded was 73F (the same as the air temperature). The many swimmers and bathers visiting the site these days have knocked visibility back to less than 30 feet, but that's pretty good in most books..

Advancing their Dive Skills...

Three more of our Club members made it into the ranks of the Advanced Divers this weekend. After a couple of weeks investment in training at Brule Road, off Howe Island, around Portsmouth Harbour, on the Wolfe Islander II and finally, in very cold conditions, with a night-time expedition from the West St Ramp, Marc-Etienne, Olivier and Donovan completed their AOW certification. The picture, taken earlier this year at Gananoque, clearly illustrates their enthusiasm for diving. These three young men are constantly upbeat, invariably excited about their tasks and a pleasure to work with. All in all, they are very typical of our membership. Congratulations to them on their new level of certification...

Photo Morning..

This was the day for taking on the Underwater Photography adventure, the final dive of Theresa's AOW. The larger picture shows that she grasped the basics well. Truth to tell, conditions were challenging for any kind of photography. The torrential rain, hail and thunderstorms of yesterday had left their mark on the quarry's waters. A great cloud of silt was hanging in the water below the surface and overall visibility - even below the thermocline - was only something like 20' or less. Nevertheless, more than an hour was spent in trying out various lighting and camera settings.

I took the second picture towards the end of the dive, having seized control of the camera to accomplish an ambition to photograph the Bluegills in this location. Water temperature at the bottom - 67F (19C). The surface waters are actually in the 70sF.

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.

Another Advanced Diver joins the ranks...

Completing her Advanced Open Water Certification this afternoon with the mandatory Deep Dive, Dianne joins the ranks of the Club's more experienced divers. The dive, which took the Cora Post wreck on Howe Island as its start point, was a classic deep dive. The sloping bottom is a perfect reference for a diver ascending and descending from the 100 foot mark. The most striking aspect of the dive was the extraordinary play of light as the Sun came in and out. It was almost as if a switch was being thrown.

Otherwise, the dive was relatively undistinguished, with no particular challenges encountered. Water temperature was 39F (4C) and the air temperature 17C (63F). Visibility was really very good indeed - at about 40 feet. Time in the water, including a prolonged safety stop of 5 minutes - 58 minutes.