Triple Treasure...

At the invitation of a good friend, I was able to make three dives downriver today. The first was the always excellent Keystorm, on which the pictures were taken. The second the America and the third a type of wall / drift dive on a site called Devil's Oven near Alexandria Bay. The conditions on the wrecks were perfect with 70℉ (21℃) water and decent visibility in as low a current as I can recall for the St Lawrence. We were also lucky enough to avoid the hordes of divers that often descend (literally) on these popular sites. It was a special treat to see many large Pickerel busy on the hull of the America.

Keystorm big hit again.

10 of us made the trek down to Caiger's where we got on one of the boats owned by Thousand Island Pleasure Divers. We had great weather and we couldn't have asked for better. Some of us came back with a little more colour than when we left. The Keystorm was the big draw today. I think I counted about 7 boats on the wreck at one point today. On our first dive there were a lot of divers in the water at the same time. At one point I stopped and looked up and there were about 15 divers above me. It would have made an amazing picture with the sun shinning through the water above the divers. Alas I left my camera on the boat. Isn't that always the case. My buddy and I went down as far as the mast and looked in some of the small holes at the bass that were hiding in the wreck. We then made our way back up to the wheel house and had a look around there. By this point it was time to turn the dive and head back to the shoal. At our safety stop we had a chance to check out the small Gobbies as they fed on the zebra mussels. There were a few small bass as well.

After a one hour plus surface interval we had our second dive on the Keystorm but the other boats had pretty much moved on so we could get a good look at the wreck this time. The silt had settled down and you could see inside the wreck. We spent about 36 minutes in the water and the water temp was 73 degrees.

I would like to say thanks to Jim our boat captain for a great day out on the water and we hope to dive with you again soon.

Down Home - Down River...

I took up a welcome invitation from Wayne Green of Thousand Islands Pleasure Diving to go out and assist with the raising of lines on some of the River's most popular wrecks today. Working with other dive regulars on Wayne's charters, I participated in work on the Oconto, the Vickery, the America and the Keystorm. We also raised a buoy on the Twisted Sisters wreck site.

Most of the diving was pretty straightforward, involving finding, checking and then lifting lines from the baskets that tether guide lines to the various wrecks. It provided an opportunity to see several sites, practice lift bag deployment and enjoy the waters of the River, which always presents some current to play with.

The penultimate stop - on the Keystorm - was an opportunity to enjoy a prolonged, recreational dive. I did 40 minutes exploring the outside of this remarkable site, dropping to about 80 feet. The water temperature was 41F (5C). Topside conditions were great, with brilliant sunshine all day and an air temperature of 17C (63F).