Nautical Archaeology - piece of cake !

Our very own Matt was one of several divers to benefit from Nautical Archaeology training in Kingston this last weekend. He's pictured here working on underwater survey techniques. The course covered all manner of topics from basic ship construction (giving a greater understanding of what we see in our wrecks) to the law governing underwater sites. Matt will be very happy to explain his exploits to anyone interested. The event was a great success, despite being blown off the Lake to the quarry for the practical exercises. More pics on my Facebook page.

Ben braves the chilly waters...

Ben - who began his scuba training back in the Winter - made his first foray into the Lake yesterday. His confident look was an accurate predictor of sound performance on the first dive aimed at getting accustomed to the conditions. He saw the wreck fragments at Portsmouth, a large Carp and the anchors that lie just offshore. He had good company in the water. Todd, Dan, Josée, Gaétan, and visitor Kyle were all enjoying the almost Spring-like conditions. Most of them in sporty new DUI suits. Good day for the Club - and a good indication of the activity levels to be expected in the weeks ahead.

Nautical Archaeology Training Opportunity...

Save Ontario Shipwrecks has announced the availability of places on a NAS Level 1 course in Ottawa in late September. Anyone interested in this opportunity can obtain more details from Chris Holloway or download the registration form by clicking here. NAS Level 1 is an excellent introduction to both theoretical and practical aspects of avocational underwater archaeology.

Paperwork...

Courtesy of a grant of sports afternoon, Alex and Cody completed their first open water dives today. Mike accompanied them to refresh his dive skills. Visibility was pretty poor at about 15-20 feet. This was to be expected after the torrential rains of last evening. It didn't affect enjoyment of the two dives - or the wildlife encountered. A pair of adult Bass are currently shepherding their babies in the shallows near the entry point, and a Freshwater Drum and other fish, besides the Gobies were seen during the swims.

Worth noting that these divers are the first in the Club to migrate to the new Electronic Recreational Diver Planner (Multi-Level), a device now used by 85% of PADI students across Canada to complete their dive planning.

The water temperature was a pleasant 66℉ (19℃).

New Divers braving the waters...

Alex and Cody are two new members of the Club whose duties didn't allow them to attend one of our regularly scheduled courses. They're fitting in their training as time allows. The good news is that they are both very keen and very able, if their performance so far is anything to go by. This is probably the best time of year to attempt training like this - and conditions have been pretty good. Watch out for news of their certification in the days ahead.

Archaeology is fun...

Well, that's my take on the picture shown above. Gaetan and Marc-Etienne weren't the only Club members this weekend to enjoy completing the Nautical Archaeology Course commenced in May, but they certainly seemed to enjoy it. It was wonderful to hear a steady stream of discussion and commentary in French from their area too. Paul and Sandrena, for whom one highlight was trying out a backplate and wing combination, also enjoyed themselves and benefited from the experience. Another Club member, Marg Barker, was the tutor - whom we're very lucky to have supporting local activities. The conditions were almost perfect - and nobody complained when we were obliged by light rain to adjourn to the Portsmouth Tavern right at the end of the day. Thank you to everyone who supported this event - and congratulations to all the newly certified avocational archaeologists.

Nautical Archaeology Training Course Available...

Members are reminded that vacancies are available on a Nautical Archaeology Level One course to be held in Kingston over the weekend of May 2/3. Instruction will be given by members of Parks Canada's Underwater Archaeology Service and the cost of the package will not exceed $200. This certification gives a great insight into ship construction, archaeological principles, survey techniques and methods as well as legal frameworks governing our activities underwater. It is highly recommended, even if you do not intend to undertake survey work. If you do, it is an invaluable foundation to that work. An application form can be downloaded by clicking here. It should be completed and returned by April 20th, if you wish to take the course.

SOS announce NAS training opportunity...

Save Ontario Shipwrecks have just announced a great leap forward in the business of underwater archaeological training in the Province. In a landmark deal with the Nautical Archaeology Society, they have gained permission to run courses under NAS auspices in Ontario. This is a really welcome development. Resources for training have been significantly lacking in recent years, despite the best efforts of government agencies at all levels and interested avocational groups like SOS and POW. The news release announcing the development can be downloaded by clicking here.

Final Basic Course Cancelled...

Recent announcements that the pool at the KMCSC will be closed for much of October have made it necessary to cancel the final basic course scheduled to be run by the Club this year. This is unfortunate, but we are very lucky to have the facilities at KMCSC and occasional upsets to our plans (and theirs) are just a fact of life.

Please encourage anyone you know, who is going to miss this course, to keep in touch with the Club over the 'closed' season and to enrol in next year's courses early.

A dry Whites

With the nice weather today not many would think of diving in a dry suit. That being said about 20 club members took advantage of diving in new Whites dry suits. There were a few first time dry suit divers who enjoyed diving with out getting totally wet. Generally groups of four went out to the stop sign and back in about 35mins. The visibility was good considering all the divers in the water. I have to say that I was impressed with the fusion dry suit. It is a great suit that does not require a lot of extra thought. The water temperature was 46F/8C but I felt very warm in the dry suit. The max depth that we obtained was in the area of 50 ft. I must say it was great to see so many people from the club out and diving and a thanks needs to go to Adam for organizing the rep to come down and to the Whites rep for taking time out of his schedule to see us.

Ice is nice...

When you're ice qualified and Spring is clearly on the way, you seize every chance to get wet where some of the water's still solid. Today's destination, once again, was Brule Road, where we took a large reel out to its full extent exploring some of the usual sights. For the second time, close to the entrance hole, a large bullfrog was defying hibernation to examine our activities. A Small shoal of Striped Bass was also very active. Conditions couldn't have been better, with clear, blue skies, flat calm and an air temperature of 2C (36F). The water was 40F (4C) and visibility better than 50 feet.

Pooling the knowledge...

Tonight's latest pool session was again well attended. A dozen divers engaged in a variety of activities, including video capture of line-laying and bag shooting, buoyancy checks and basic skill refreshers. It's been great to see a large number of our Club members cycle through the monthly pool nights. It predicts a really strong dive season ahead - and there was no snowstorm this evening. Things must be improving....

Snow business diving in this weather...

Showing no respect for the blowing snow, Adam and I ventured under the ice at Brule Road today to practice line drills and explore the quarry. You'll appreciate that this wasn't a careless venture. In fact, we spent more than an hour in discussion of the 'what ifs' before we even suited up and we both carried redundant air supplies.

There were some really neat aspects of the dive. For example, we inserted an ice screw into the underside of the ice (no one can interfere with it there!) and every thread of the screw was visible penetrating the crystal clear medium. We also surprised two very dozy - and really rather large - Bass on the bottom near the cabin cruiser. One of them was so torpid that it resisted the urge to swim away until we were literally within inches of it.

The visibility under the ice was amazing - and despite overcast skies and snow cover on the surface - there was a lot of light. Following strict gas management rules, we completed the dive in 38 minutes. For the sake of the record, the air temperature was -1C (30F) and the water 38F (3C).

Pool Night attracts a large turnout...

The first pool night of the Winter proved popular - despite - or perhaps because of - its proximity to the festive season. Fourteen people used the session to try out equipment, techniques or just to get wet at a time of greater diving challenges outdoors. At least one Discover Scuba session was completed and Kenn Feigleman of Deep Quest 2, a friend of Adam's, who will join the Club in 2008, was able to show members a High Definition video setup in its top-of-the-line Amphibico housing. A Sealife DC600 still camera was also in use and pictures should be available before long.

For those who were unable to make this session, but who want to make the next ones, they will take place on Saturday January 12th and Saturday February 9th next year.

Deep and Meaningful...

This weekend - blessed with excellent weather, if a little cold - provided the perfect opportunity to complete a Deep Diver specialty course for Kevin. It was accomplished with a final dive - to 94 feet - and the bottom of the Channel south of Howe Island directly below the light tower. This third dive in a series (Kevin's earlier Deep Adventure for Advanced certification was credited towards the specialty) included examination of light loss at depth and the imposition of a compulsory, 8-minute safety stop after simulating a No Decompression violation. A minute of this stop was spent breathing from an alternate air source.

The whole excursion was really enjoyable and made the more so by the sighting of a large and lazy Northern Pike on both the outbound and return journeys. Kevin later went on to lead a visiting friend, Claude, to the Cora Post.

Advancing their Dive Skills...

Three more of our Club members made it into the ranks of the Advanced Divers this weekend. After a couple of weeks investment in training at Brule Road, off Howe Island, around Portsmouth Harbour, on the Wolfe Islander II and finally, in very cold conditions, with a night-time expedition from the West St Ramp, Marc-Etienne, Olivier and Donovan completed their AOW certification. The picture, taken earlier this year at Gananoque, clearly illustrates their enthusiasm for diving. These three young men are constantly upbeat, invariably excited about their tasks and a pleasure to work with. All in all, they are very typical of our membership. Congratulations to them on their new level of certification...

NAS Course ends well..

Students on the weekend's Nautical Archaeology Course all completed the syllabus successfully. One or two, who encountered administrative challenges - or suffered equipment problems - will finalise written reports shortly to gain their certification. Erika (pictured), who instructed throughout the Course, managed not just to impart the required knowledge to the dozen students, but also to communicate the enthusiasm for the discipline that marks her own involvement. Her dedication to delivery of the key messages was exemplary.

Today's activities were entirely practical - in open water - using a real wreck site. Everyone completed at least two dives, cataloguing, referencing, sketching and triangulating key features. The in-water work was all recorded in detailed plans and field notes.

A selection of photographs taken over the weekend is accessible on the Club's Flickr site.

Archaeology Course in Kingston

Today saw the practical work begin on the Nautical Archaeology Society's Level One Course. The twelve students - mainly from the Club - began to build on information imparted yesterday evening and first thing this morning. Weather conditions couldn't have been better. The Sun shone on the survey area, raising spirits and temperatures.

The picture shows rehearsal of the survey techniques used to plot and record artifacts on a shipwreck - with some precision. With some tenuous skill acquired on dry land, the teams moved to the pool tonight.

Tomorrow, the students head for Portsmouth Harbour and the wreck fragments that lie close to the breakwater.

Everyone acknowledges, with considerable gratitude, the instruction provided by Erika Laanela, the Provincial Marine Archaeologist, who is directing the training.

Training Day..

Today's dive schedule was shaped around an opportunity to complete the certification dives for one of our RMC members, Ryan. His Summer plans don't start for a week or so and the weather was perfect for some diving. In all, we managed three of the four dives. The first two took place at Portsmouth - always a good venue for introducing students to Open Water. Besides the usual pleasure of showing someone the anchors, wrecks and STOP sign for the first time, a large Carp's appearance made for a memorable couple of outings.

The third dive - after a disappointment over access to the Marine Museum (another topic) - was at the KPH. This one also went well. Tomorrow, we head for the quarry.

Water temperature, 43F (6C). Visibility about 40 feet, despite clouds of loose algae and carpets of the stuff on the shallow bottom areas. Some sections of the lines are almost completely hidden.

Pottering at Portsmouth..

The brilliant sunshine today was more than tempting enough to draw Dianne, Jim and I to the water at Portsmouth Harbour. We set ourselves the task of measuring the pipe and lines that run out to the twin anchors. Then, Jim practiced some bag deployment drills. The remainder of a dive approaching one hour in duration was spent looking for Crayfish and other wild life. Our researches were rewarded, close to the breakwater wall, with a very close sighting of a large Northern Pike, which seemed intrigued by us. It was probably also very interested in the shoal of small Perch in the same area.

Water temperature, 41F (5C) and the air temperature about 14C (57F). Visibility was exceptional - certainly in excess of 50 feet.