Another Club Friday Night Charter Rocks!!!!!

Tonight, some of the club's Executive members,Gaetan, Kevin, Matt and myself with Marc-Etienne took advantage of another Wednesday night cancellation /reschedule to a Friday night club dive. The pick for this week was the George A. Marsh. She is always a real treat to dive on. A 1800's built 3 masted schooner in very good shape. Tonight we had a chance to take a very close and detailed look of her, from bow to stern. With a bottom time of 47 minutes (Eanx 32) a bottom temp. of 48 f, and vis around 40 ft. This is a dive that must be given the opportunity to be logged in ever diver's log book. I am always in

awe when diving on this wreck, not just of her sheer size but of the history that comes with her. When diving on any of these great ships where lives were taken at the time of there fate. I always wonder just what kind of storm her crew were faced with, to sink something of such size. We couldn't begin to imagine battling waves 30 ft and greater or squall's that would appear as fast as they would diminish, which the great lake would put boats like the George A. Marsh to the challenge. Tonight fortunately the lake was good to us divers, we had little wind going out to the site, and the water was flat and calm. Another awesome dive, wow. The pictures again say it...

A 3 hour tour....

...that turned into 6 hours.
Boat diving is not a precise art. Many factors need to be considered when taking a boat trip to a site. Weather is the big one. Even though it looks great out the window, a good wind will throw all of your timings out the door and can even force a cancellation or at the very least a change in venue for your dive. Today was one of those days.
Lemme tell you I may have had a shower before I went on the boat but after the ride out to the Marsh this morning I did not need it. The water got a wee bit rough with a strong wind from the south west. We had some 5 foot swells and the water crashed over the boat in huge sprays. Needless to say us brave folks who like to dive wet didnt mind. However I will admit there was some shrinkage....man I was completly soaked.


Pictured above and beside me are 1 of the 3 guests we had from Toronto Hammerheads dive club out of ASU TO. When ever possible we like to help out folks from other clubs to discover our little fresh water paradise. Though we never intended them to get sea sick in the process.

Easily one of my favorite dives in the region the Marsh is as Adam put it a "Fairy Tale Wreck". This 3 masted schooner went down in around 80 feet of water with a full load of coal in her hold. At the bow of the ship a pristine bowspirt complete with lines and the stern is slightly damaged but still worth a look. The masts are all down and set at odd angles however one is in the middle of the boat on top of a smashed lifeboat for the sharp of eye. Thermocline was at 70 feet today with the algea cloud down to 20. You could easlily see half the ship when on the wreck at any one point in time.

The Glendora was our other choice for the day and apparently that of a few other charters. This is a great swimthrough dive as the hold is wide open and you can fit 3 divers side by each as they say on the rock. I never knew there was a gigantic stove in the middle of the ship though. Thats what the picture is. This was also a great time for the couples to get all romantic like and spend some quality quiet time under the waves. I am sure the serenity was appreciated by all.
Kevin and Joase`e (sp?):
Shaun and Lisa:
The rest of us:

Big thanks to NTD and Kingston Dive Charters for helping us get this charter in the water.
I think we made Harolds day with the soakers he gave us folks at the back of the boat.
More to come tommorow as we take the these city folk out for a sample of our shore diving sunday.

As allways keep blowing bubbles

One Day two Dives

What an awesome day. Sunny, little wind, what else to do. ``Scuba Dive`` The plan was to make 2 dive`s today, the first will be the Comet, the second will be the George A Marsh. These would be Rob`s and my first 2 Nitrox dives since our course with Mike. Rob and I decided on EANx 32 for both dives. We were able to benefit with the short surface interval as well as longer NDL`s. The Comet was unbelievable sight, the paddle wheels were amazing. Just an amazing dive, visibility below the thermalcline was about 50 feet. Just a great dive. After a 2 Km boat ride and a 91 min. surface interval, we descended on the George A Marsh. Another great dive, let alone another great look at the past. It is always a wonder to me, as to just what kind of a storm would put such a large sailing ship to her grave, here on lake Ontario. The George A Marsh is a dive site that I will visit many more times in the future. There was just not enough time, to take in all of her Dead eyes, Pulleys, much of her deck hardware let alone the items that weren`t seen on a first dive. Even diving with enriched air there still wasn`t enough dive time on a wreck. I guess the next step is to either go to steel 120`s or duel`s. The George A Marsh as well as the Comet are two wrecks well worth the boat ride out, and diving on. Todd. V.

Wrecked - and loving it...

Bit of a bonus today - a two-tank charter with Limestone at relatively short notice. You take these opportunities on trust, having no idea what the weather will do or where you might end up The four Club members who seized this chance to get out to the distant wrecks couldn't have been luckier though. We actually dove two of the best wrecks accessible from Kingston; the Marsh (depth 85') and the Davie (depth 98'). The Lake was quite calm - and the Sun shining brightly - for both dives. If any down side could be detected, it might have been the minor shock of encountering 40F (4C) bottom temperatures at each location. They certainly made it much more pleasant to spend the safety stops in near 50F (10C) water.

Both sites provided good visibility - the Marsh about 50 feet and the Davie probably 35-40. The two ships share some characteristics. Each is largely intact and each has its wheel very clearly in place. There are also prominent winches - and much sailing tackle on the Marsh.

If we have another charter during the 2007 season that fulfills its promise of excitement and superb access as well as this one, we will be doing very well.