Diving the Islander

Great trip today to Alexandria Bay to dive the wreck of the Islander. The water clarity was exceptional and it's still not too chilly at about 50℉ (10℃). As always on this site, there were lots of Crayfish, including this monster. There has been some damage done to the dinner table set-up, but we restored one piece to create the ensemble shown.

Club gains more Advanced Open Water Divers..

Many congratulations to the Club members who completed their Advanced Open Water certifications with Chico this last weekend. The concluding dives were conducted in the St Lawrence, giving access to drift diving and some of the excellent wreck sites. The accompanying picture reflects the very high level of satisfaction with the course and that view is strongly supported by verbal reports from the participants. It's great to see our members enhancing their qualifications and opening up new diving opportunities for themselves. Well done indeed to all concerned.

And, in a separate note - congratulations to Ken, who also completed his AOW with Adam last week..

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.

Twofer....

Today provided an opportunity to combine a trip to Dive-Tech with an onward journey to the Conestoga and the Rothesay. Both wrecks were in good shape. The current was fairly brisk on the Connie and the visibility limited to about 20 feet. Similar conditions prevailed on the Rothesay. The good news is that the water temperature downriver is now 48F (9C). The crayfish was seen on the area approaching the Rothesay, where several large fish were also evident. A little disturbingly, a lot of bottom-hugging, dense, algae-like weed was also present. A bad sign so early in the season.

Birthday boy in Brockville...

Five members of the Club made it down to Brockville for an outing with Luc Martin Charters to celebrate Dominique's Birthday in the way that he had requested - with a dive on the Lillie Parsons. Conditions were excellent, though the St Lawrence Park was extraordinarily busy. Besides the Lillie, the group went on to complete a two-tanker on the Robert Gaskin - Dominique's choice. Everyone seemed to have a good time and spent their air well.

It's the little things about a site that stand out. The observant diver, taking their time and using their eyes, will spot something interesting on every dive. Today's 'features' included the shoaling Bass in the bow and stern gaps in the hull and the thinning of chain links on the stern due to simple current action and the constant friction that results. The grouping of baby Bass in the hull plank gaps was also interesting.

Returning to the Birthday theme, Chantal, the skipper, surprised and delighted everyone by producing the cake she's seen in the picture enjoying with Dominique during the surface interval.

Water temperature was 64F (18C) uniformly throughout the water column and visibility somewhere around 40-50'.

Gaskin - Brockville..

It's always good to round off any day with a decent dive. Today's was the Club's Wednesday night charter - this week with Tom Scott's Under Where Dive Charters out of Brockville. The destination was the Robert Gaskin - a schooner sunk in 1889. She lies reasonably close to shore in just 62' of water. Still highly recognisable as a major vessel, she offers access to her holds and good swim-alongs on the deck and sides - particularly the lee side down current. Nine members of the Club made the trip, many of them fairly new to diving. Everyone had a good dive.

Water temperature - 63F (17C) and visibility somewhere around 40' - despite heavy levels of drifting particulates.

Not the Wolfe again - again..

I guess we should have been grateful that the charter went at all tonight. There was a small craft thunderstorm advisory in effect. But a courageous captain agreed to make the trip - with the single proviso that we avoided the relatively high winds on the open lake and dove a more sheltered site. Around Kingston that means just one thing - another trip to the Wolfe Islander.

Some people say that you can never have enough of the Wolfe, but three weeks in a row begins to wear a little thin. However, the dive itself was pretty decent. All twelve divers enjoyed their experiences, despite a little bit of surface chop and some wind-driven current. Visibility was on the average side - somewhere between 30 and 40 feet depending on the area. A lot of drifting particulates were very evident - blown across the wreck by a mild downstream current. Water temperature at 60' - a cool 50F (10C).

Full marks to several divers whose first charter this was - and who coped with less than ideal conditions admirably.

A bonus on the return journey was a close encounter with the Alexander Henry, which is scheduled to move into the Marine Museum's dry dock this coming Friday. The absence of the barrier caisson, which has been moved aside to allow the transition, gave the site a rather different look.

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).