City of Sheboygan in great shape..

Seven of us went out with Kingston Dive Charters this morning to dive the excellent wreck that is the City of Sheboygan. Conditions could only have been improved by a little bit more sunshine, but the Lake was relatively calm, and the visibility was superb. A water temperature of 52℉ (11℃) ensured that no one got unduly cold. A lot of video was taken - and a short edition of the highlights is on You Tube here..

Of all the boats in all the World...

So, you travel 550 Km to Tobermory, arrange a dive charter and find yourself on the same boat as three other Club members, Andrew, Etienne and Darren. That's a pleasant surprise on a perfect dive day. The guys were spending the holiday weekend with a friend up here. The good news, they got the opportunity to dive two of Tobermory's best wrecks; the Forest City and the Niagara II.



The Forest City broke up after losing an argument with one of the many islands, the Niagara was sunk deliberately in 1999 to attract divers to the Marine Park. Visibility, again, was amazing. It has to be in the order of 80 feet or better. The water temperature though, is stubbornly stuck around the 39℉ (4℃) mark. Good for about 30 minutes, which is fine given that the depths are fairly well up there (120' on the Forest City - not the deepest point - and somewhere around 80' - again, not the deepest point - on the Niagara.)




Back to Kingston tomorrow, but probably not before we make another shore dive this afternoon.

Tobermory Tales...the sequel...

The second day in Tobermory has been mildly frustrating. Brilliant sunshine belied the strong, cold Westerly winds. Net result - no sailings to the dive sites today. Instead, determined to dive, we took one of the few shore options open - a site called The Tugs, just at the edge of Little Tub harbour. About 4 or 5 old working vessels have been abandoned here. They are about a century old in most cases, exhibiting wooden construction and early steam boilers.



The good news is that they lie in about 30 feet of water or less, making them readily accessible and the water just a shade warmer.

We also visited the Parks Canada Visitor Centre this morning. They have a great gallery featuring the treasures of the Bruce Peninsula, which includes a good section on diving and the shipwreck history of the region; recommended highly to anyone coming up this way.