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...

Quarry warmer - ready for Easter event...

Chris was keen to make sure that nothing unpleasant had made it into the quarry before this weekend's Easter Egg Hunt - and it was useful to have an idea of the general conditions. Consequently, we spent about 50 minutes touring the margins to check it out. Besides finding enough bicycles to open a small shop, and a couple of other sporting goods, it was an uneventful dive. The water temp is warmer than the Lake at 43℉ (6℃). Visibility was reasonable - at about 30 feet.

Local Dive Centre backing 'Soldier On'...

Explorer Diving has announced that it will be running an event at the Highway 15 Quarry on Sunday, September 6th to benefit the Organisation Soldier On. Gates will open at 1030 and an admission fee of $5 will go directly to the charity. Proceeds from a barbecue, where basic fare will be available at reasonable cost, will also go directly to the Organisation.

To assist planning, if you intend to go along, please let them know by mailing them at Explorer Diving.

Non divers who might like to become divers should note that there will be an opportunity in the afternoon to undertake a try dive. Contact Explorer for more information.

Easter Egg Hunt at the Highway 15 Quarry..

Bright sunshine and a cold north wind fought one another for control today as several divers enjoyed an Easter Egg Hunt (underwater) organized by Kelly, Dan and Chris - to all of whom many thanks for their work. The conditions in the quarry - 45℉ (7℃) and about 40 feet of visibility made for a fun swim in depths up to 37 feet (11m). It was great to see divers from Canadian Sport Divers in Belleville along for the dive. A selection of prizes rewarded the lucky participants - although some eggs went undiscovered...

The intention of the organizers is to add a variety of items to the bottom to make the site more attractive to divers. There's also a plan to introduce a toilet. Information about the facility and arrangements to dive it can be found on the blog set up to publicize the quarry. Kevin's excellent picture shows Jim enjoying a 'ride' on one of many abandoned bicycles to be found in the quarry. The second picture is of a 'cat' placed by the organizers for divers' amusement.

Another visit to the Highway 15 Quarry

Today, we got two dives in at the quarry on highway 15. In total we spent just over one hour in the water. The water temperature had not changed from last week and the visibility was the same too. Our goal was to prepare for tomorrow's Easter Dive and to add some underwater decoration. With our tasks completed we just continued to enjoy the quarry.