Cracking good dive...!

There's a brief time of year between ice free and frozen when the Lake can be entered with a minimum of effort by cracking light icing at the margins. Today was one of those rare days. With a brisk wind piling drift ice up on the breakwaters and making shore entry challenging, the decision was made to enter at KGH and swim out into the Lake. There were no great issues and navigation proved reasonably easy; the area around the outer breakwater is quite familiar. Visibility wasn't great, probably about 20 feet at best, but the dive was worthwhile.


Besides the car that lies south of the wall, a bicycle was found and a shoal of Lake Shad spotted close to the rocks. The water temperature was as close to freezing as it gets before it gets a little firmer.

The Ice Man Diveth...

Steve and I worked off some Christmas excess with a gentle dive on the dinghy off the point of the Kingston Yacht Club. The dive plan called for us to measure up the thing and see whether we could gain sufficient information, in the way of markings and the like, to identify it. Well, the measurements were pretty straightforward: She's 4.44m long and 1.32 in the beam. The markings were more challenging. A little bit of light cleaning revealed a serial number pressed into the transom, but it was impossible to make it out clearly. The clean-up also revealed a little more of the blue markings on the transom, but again, not enough to make any detail out. Oh well, another trip will be called for, I guess. We spotted a large Pike in the water on the return swim, but it was intent on keeping a safe distance from us. The only other excitement was pushing aside the few chunks of drift ice at the entry point - that's a first for this end of the 2007 season! For the record; water temperature 35F (2C) and the air temperature exactly the same...

Yacht Club Orientation...

Today presented a golden opportunity to re-visit the 'landmarks' that distinguish diving around the breakwater of the Kingston Yacht Club. The first picture, taken very professionally by Kevin Leblanc, shows the car wreck just South of the Club. The second, also taken by Kevin, is the hull of a racing dinghy just off the South-East corner of the site. Besides these inanimate objects, a large number of sizeable Bass were present near the rocks. Air temperature a chilly -4C (25F) and the water temperature 35F (2C).

Sunshine on my shoulders looks so lovely...

And there's a prize for the first person to identify the song from which today's blog title came....

No, not really.

What a beautiful Spring day Dianne, Chris and I had to explore the far reaches of the waters off Kingston Yacht Club. Chris led the dive and elected to go for depth and distance. We headed off NW until our gauges showed 60 feet and then turned for home. Two things stand out about the trip. It was really interesting to note a clear bottom scour caused by the current. A very helpful natural navigation feature. And we sighted a sluggish Spotted Gar on the bottom during the return journey. Water clarity was wonderful - about 40 feet - or maybe better. The temperature remains chilly though at 35F (1C). But, when you emerge in sunshine and air temperatures of 12C (54F) all's well with the World.

Brrrr illiant!

It took us three stops today to find some open water that wasn't going to require commando skills for entry and exit, but we finally found a viable site at the Kingston Yacht Club.

Bright sunshine made the gearing up a little more tolerable in a brisk, cold Westerly wind. The dive itself was made very special by a close and personal sighting of an implacable Spotted Gar, which allowed itself to be scrupulously inspected for several minutes in mid water. Otherwise, it was distinctly different to observe the ice shelves at the margins of our open water and push aside scattered chunks to exit.

Dianne, Jim and I spent about 30 minutes in the 33F (1C) water, reaching a maximum of 40 feet. The air temperature was -7C (19F) - with a vicious wind chill. All three of us are very grateful to Kingston Yacht Club, where we were graciously permitted to thaw out and de-kit. It would have been no fun at all in the fast-blowing snow outside....

The ice is encroaching steadily...

I did a little circuit of popular Kingston shore sites this morning and can report the following:

Deadman's Bay is completely iced in, with snow cover on the surface.

There is a small amount of open water around the pier at RMC, but access would be challenging - and egress even more so, perhaps..

The Alexander Henry basin is thinly iced, but sufficient to make entry and exit impossible - ditto the adjacent bay.

The Yacht Club beach is thinly iced - but enough to thwart divers, I believe.

Portsmouth has open stretches, with an abundance of ducks making the most of them. Entry would be possible. The ice that's present is only about a 1/4" thick.

The same detail applies to KPH, where limited entry options give way to thin ice cover - that could be broken through, or broken up, if necessary

Sunshine - but oh, so cold...

Seizing the opportunity presented by yet another brilliantly sunny and calm day, Dianne and I ventured out from the Kingston Yacht Club beach to explore the breakwater and retrieve an abandoned anchor spotted last Sunday. Our first significant sighting was a large, sick Carp in the shallows close to the entry point. It showed the fungus infestation on its fore end that so many fish seem to be afflicted with recently. The sighting raised our expectations and we weren't disappointed. Around the rocks that mark the corner of the Yacht Club wall, there were many Bass and other fish, some in small shoals of up to 6 or 8 individuals.

After checking out the car wreck, we re-located the 7Kg anchor that we had discovered last Sunday and freed it (very easily) from its entrapment between two rocks. Removing it from its 3/4" line was no great challenge for my sea snips. Recovery was then straightforward - with great care being taken not to let it go once lifted from its place of rest.

Despite a lot of surface ice around Kingston's other sites, there was none on this sheltered area. The only downside of the dive - dealing with very cold temperatures on exiting the water. An issue alleviated by the opportunity to warm up briefly in the Yacht Club lobby. All in all - a dive worth doing. For the record, visibility was about 35' and the water temperature a brisk 33F (1C).

Divers look good in black (on white)..

The Sunday Dive Club met again today to dive from the 'beach' of the Kingston Yacht Club. Dianne, Steve, Jim and I found the air temperature of -12C (10F) quite bracing. Although it is inconvenient when your mask de-fog freezes before you can cover the whole lens and when your suit is freezing fast as you disrobe. The conditions below the surface were excellent. Visibility of about 50 feet afforded good views of several large fish around the breakwater rocks and the car by the exit from the Club marina. The water temperature was about 35F (2C). The saving grace today was the almost complete absence of wind and the bright, warm sunshine bathing the area. That and the hot chocolate Dianne graciously obtained for us from the Club bar after the dive.