Ice Divers Make the Grade...

The very varied topside conditions over the weekend didn't create any significant challenges to successfully completing our annual ice diving course. The four divers pictured; Todd, Dan, Steve and Andrew all did well and gained a new appreciation for the discipline of diving under ice.

Well done to all of them, and many thanks to everyone who turned out to assist. At the risk of offending anyone else, I will single out Jim as the key supporting player over the weekend. He helped in every way possible. Many thanks too to Explorer Diving, caretakers of the dive site. They generously made the quarry available at no cost and Chris also assisted for much of the weekend.

There's a strong possibility, if everything comes together, that another course will be run next weekend. That's concrete evidence of the excitement being built, and maintained, in our Club. The dive season ahead promises to be a great one...

A Taste of True Ice Diving

Well it's that time of year for those who didn't travel south, take up Ice Diving. You can only dive Upper Brewers Mills so many times before you succumb to Lake Ontario's beckoning. This past weekend, a few of us had to venture into old territory well new in some aspects, as the photos will prove. (courtesy of Mike)

The weekend started with a dive Saturday morning at the Marine Museum. Once we had a hole made, we geared up and went under the Ice. We were all pleasantly surprised at just how great the Vis really was.

I would have to say we were looking at 100 ft of Vis. We used a cave line anchored at the hole and went on our dive.

Sunday's dive turned out to be a repeat of the Saturdays dive. With the exception of Mike bringing out his camera and expertise. He has proven once again that a tripod is worth its weight in gold. Proving a small aperture with a slow shutter speed gives you the best shot, but a tripod is a must.

The only exception was, Sunday seemed to be a little cooler than the previous day. The water temperature in the lake was definitely the coldest dive to date that I have ever dove. A cool 32 f. that's right, FREEZING cold. A point to consider here. An environmentally sealed and balanced 1st stage regulator is a very wise choice. All in all, the weekend of ice diving was an enjoyable weekend. The Marine Museum never looked so good.

Mission Accomplished - Four more ice divers certified ...

The Ice Diving Course came to a successful conclusion this afternoon with four new ice divers formally qualified to enjoy the discipline. Congratulations to Chris, Jesse, Steve and Kevin. Kevin racked up another accomplishment by making this final, optional, dive, his 250th one logged. A bit of a landmark. Many thanks to all those who gave generously of their time to help the course run smoothly. Notably, Dianne, Nancy, Gerhard, Chris C and Jim.

Ice Dive 2010 working well...

Thanks to the concerted efforts of many people, this weekend's ice diving course got away to a great start today. It helps, of course, to have near perfect conditions. The ice is at least 12' thick and the cold, clear weather has maintained it, whilst making daytime temperatures reasonable.

The four students have all absorbed the lessons associated with the specialty well and, when the time came to apply them this morning, there were no great challenges. The only minor disappointment has been visibility considerably less pleasing than expected. The water temperature in the quarry is 39℉ (4℃), but the viz is only about 15-20 feet. There's a milky cloudiness in the upper levels that defies explanation, but definitely limits sight lines.

Many thanks to the helpers who made the day a success. Line tending and general administration are not exciting tasks, but the course doesn't go ahead without them. Good too to see Gerhard, a previous ice diving graduate, who joined us for one of the assigned dives.