When the going gets hot even the tough go wet

Ok so thats not how its supposed to read but throw me a bone here ...

Summer is really here now for at least another week. Seems like the rain is going to stay away for a little while. What a great reason to get in the water. 2 dives this weekend by members of the DSC. On Saturday we did a commemorative dive at the Alexander Henry to celebrate its 50th anniversary. I hear the Kingston Brew Pub is making a beer called Icebreaker to go along with the festivites. Mmmmmmm beer ... oh right blog here...I wonder if it helps folks get dates too? (Insert laugh track here) Mike, Dianne, Adam Kevin, Marg, and I did come community work for POW (Preserve Our Wrecks Kingston). Marg, Kevin, and myself did demo dives, albeit at 2 different times.

The ship is in perma dock now and is used as a bed and breakfast, however the water below goes to 19 feet. Not much to see but some weeds a few small perch and bass. Though there are some cool crates on the port side of the ship, and if you look right under the ship there was a very cool layered algae cloud that looked kind of creepy. I found out quickly I was diving with the curator of the museum, which added to the fun.

Adam had us try out the full face mask system with comms system and we got to play with a remote camera system as well. The masks are neat and take some time to get used to and are nothing like those full helmet systems that commercial divers use. I think I need more practice with the comms as i was pretty much completely un-intelligble (then normal) to everyone up top.

Now for title of the blog today:

I never knew Mike, Kevin, Jim, or Marg had a wet suit, nor for that matter half the other members of the club. You see ever since I started diving with this crew not a single person other then Kim in September ever wore one. The only ones with them were the "newer divers" and the students. I just always thought they were afraid of the water. I guess it takes a scorchingly hot and sunny 35 degree Celcius day and a small bucket of sweat from putting on the gear to make them break out the old school stuff. I even managed to catch one of them without a hood! imagine the shock I had.

I pick on them because it's fun. I often warn divers that its better to be slightly cold then over warm. Today's dive is a perfect example. In the 20 foot water column it was 78F and even I took my 7mm hood off. I needed it because at 90 feet we had passed 3 thermoclines and lemme tell you my 2 mm hands were a slight tinge short of blue. However in the warm water it was too much. I can not tell you the amount of divers who I have seen never dive again after a heat stroke like effect from over dressing.

10 of us took part in the Sunday Club (tm patent pending). We had a long leisurely drive down the winding shoreline road to Nicholsons Point (just outside of Bath) for a dip in the also warm waters. This dive is good for both Open water and Advanced divers. The dive features a line that goes straight south and leads down 90 feet deep at a 10-15 foot drop off or ledge. Not a whole heck of a lot to see today but folks did talk about a couple of carp in the shallows and a few large mouth bass. No long nose gar either...
Oh and a couple of very odd looking fish with no hood....
pics or it never happened:
The Alex Henry on top:

Ben the curator with cool full face mask riggins:

The spooky algea:

Ben with the Remote camera:

The Ledge at 90 feet:

The Elusive Mikeosaurus Rex with no hood:

As Allways keep blowing bubbles!

Checking out the Henry..

A visit was made to the basin of the dry dock at the Marine Museum at the request of staff concerned about the situation of the Alexander Henry. The aim, fully achieved, was to establish the clearances between ship and dock and to identify any hazards to the ship's hull within the basin.

In a dive lasting 30 minutes, it was demonstrated that the ship has at least two feet of clearance at all points, the low point being the stern, something which is quite obvious from the surface. A number of large concrete and steel objects were identified in the dock, all on the Port side of the ship.

The picture, which I thought quite striking in the sunlight, is a reflection in a car window.

Alexander Henry makes its move..

The move of the Alexander Henry into the dry dock was accomplished very smoothly this morning by 7am. A few members of the Club participated in the work, handling lines or providing nourishment to the work parties. Pictures from the event are accessible on my Flickr site.

Not the Wolfe again - again..

I guess we should have been grateful that the charter went at all tonight. There was a small craft thunderstorm advisory in effect. But a courageous captain agreed to make the trip - with the single proviso that we avoided the relatively high winds on the open lake and dove a more sheltered site. Around Kingston that means just one thing - another trip to the Wolfe Islander.

Some people say that you can never have enough of the Wolfe, but three weeks in a row begins to wear a little thin. However, the dive itself was pretty decent. All twelve divers enjoyed their experiences, despite a little bit of surface chop and some wind-driven current. Visibility was on the average side - somewhere between 30 and 40 feet depending on the area. A lot of drifting particulates were very evident - blown across the wreck by a mild downstream current. Water temperature at 60' - a cool 50F (10C).

Full marks to several divers whose first charter this was - and who coped with less than ideal conditions admirably.

A bonus on the return journey was a close encounter with the Alexander Henry, which is scheduled to move into the Marine Museum's dry dock this coming Friday. The absence of the barrier caisson, which has been moved aside to allow the transition, gave the site a rather different look.

Marine Museum - again..

What a delight to indulge in a third dive today with familiar buddies; Dianne, Tracey and Jim. After a morning spent, really rewardingly, with my students, it was wonderful to jump in the water at the Marine Museum and just swim and shoot some pics.

Despite pretty murky conditions, caused by a strong Sou'wester, the opportunities for photography were not completely shot. I got some fair pictures of my companions - both en route to - and around - the barge.

Three dives in a day - it must really be getting warmer...... at last.!

Logging a dive at the Marine Museum

First trip of the year to the logs in the Bay by the Marine Museum today. Nancy, Sylvain, Chris and I spent about 40 minutes in a gentle swim to the logs, noting no significant fish life on the way. Visibility was down to about 40 feet - no reason for this reduction over recent days can be offered. Conditions were good, with light seas and low winds. Another disappointment was the fact that the water temperature was noted at just 41F (5C). This compares very poorly with what seemed to be an upward trend (Wolfe Island waters were up to 45F earlier this week).

Two of the divers were in wetsuits today - it can be done - just be prepared to shorten your dive times accordingly. But, the visibility will not be better this year - the algae is already encroaching.

Get set to get wet....

Putting some numbers to the Barge...

The opportunity was seized this afternoon to answer a question that has probably occurred to many Club members. How long is the Barge that we visit so frequently from the Marine Museum? Dianne, Chris, Malcolm and I settled the matter this afternoon. The numbers; length 94 feet, breadth 28 feet and height of the gunwales off the bottom - just 6 feet. The wreck also lies on a magnetic bearing of 60 / 240.

The temperature of the water - 39F (4C) - and visibility about 35 feet. On a weekend that saw many boaters launch their vessels, it was noticeable that the sounds of engines were occasionally audible during the dive. A potential hazard that we would all be wise to consider in our dive planning from now on.

Under the watchful eye of a warship...

Dianne, Dominique and I slipped quietly into the water at the Marine Museum this afternoon for a gentle exploratory dive to the East, following the line that leads from the stern of the Alexander Henry. It was an event made special only by the presence off the harbour of HMCS Halifax, making a port visit to Kingston.

Water temperature was 39F (3C) and the air temperature on a beautifully sunny afternoon, 10C (50F). Visibility in the water - a little poorer than of late at about 35 feet.

Kingston Nightlife is abundant...

Despite an appalling lead-in to the event, with thunder, lightning and lashing rain, the night dive that four of us completed tonight was a serene and memorable experience. Entering the water just before 9pm, to the accompaniment of the booming fog horn on the Wolfe Island Ferry, Dianne, Joan, Dominique and I discovered that there is much more nocturnal life in the Lake right now than daytime dives would lead us to believe.

Immediately we submerged, several Perch were obviously evident. This species proved to be very numerous across the range of depths encountered on a trip out to the barge and back. Some large, but very sluggish Mudpuppies were also spotted - and a couple of pretty large Bass. Dominique believes that he had a close encounter with a Muskie in the basin of the Henry as he prepared to exit.

With three HID lights between four divers (and the fourth, weaker light), illumination wasn't an issue. Visibility, despite the rain and squalls that had swept through the area just hours before, was about 25 feet. The best news of all is that the water temperature clearly appears to be on the rise, with 38F (3C) recorded out at 40 feet. Air temperature, which had dropped steadily throughout the evening, was just 11C (52F).

The divers were most appreciative of a surface presence provided by Malcolm and Steve, who provided practical as well as moral support. Regrettably, the conditions precluded any successful photography to mark this occasion. Next time....

Search and Recover ....

Every dive should have a clear purpose. Today's very definitely did. Dianne and Dominique were exercised in recreational Search and Recovery procedures. They did a great job on two search patterns - one using line and one without. They also practiced rigging and controlling a lift bag recovery of a larger object. This iteration included deployment of a (Pelikan) surface marker. The early work was observed by an uncritical audience of volunteers from the gunwale of the Alexander Henry.

Conditions were reasonable - the basin and surroundings being well sheltered from a brisk (and cold) Nor' easter. Visibility was in the order of 25 feet - slightly less beyond the protection of the Basin - and the water temperature shows no rise from the 34F (1C) it has been stubbornly presenting recently. Absolutely no marine life was spotted...

Roll on Summer - even I am getting mildly frustrated with a persistently cold Lake...

The First Goby of Spring...

Well, today's Easter Saturday dive was a really good one. The greatest achievement was making it back into the waters of the Lake again after many weeks thwarted by ice. Dianne, Steve and I entered the basin of the Alexander Henry just after 11 AM today to find startlingly good visibility, but very low temperatures - 34F (1C). We found absolutely everything in place, just as it had been left in January. Same old beercans, truck tires and bottles....

We made a leisurely progress out to the barge, which has been undisturbed by Winter. Only a couple of large Bass were seen - hugging the bottom, a Perch and a single Goby - first of the year. Visibility was in excess of 40 feet and the air temperature was -2C (28F) with blowing snowflakes driven by a chilly westerly wind.