One flange, two flange, three flange, more..?

Today's dive was another installment in the recently commenced project to support the investigation of the Kingston Pump House and its associated pipelines. The intention was to get some half decent imagery of the different joints on the pipeline and to look for any other interesting features. Well, having previously noted two different joint types, the first surprise was finding a third. Examples of each are shown. Another delightful discovery was what may be the missing union with the shore-side ducting. Just to the right of the severed end of the pipe that heads off into the Lake, a pipe opening was found protruding from the breakwater and pointing roughly towards the other section.

For the record - visibility was about 40' - less than the ideal conditions would have suggested, but the Lake was pretty disturbed yesterday. The water temperature is down to 39℉ (4℃).

Piping Hot - NOT !

Despite heaving seas and blustery, freezing winds, three of us ventured into the Lake today to begin to answer some questions about the intake pipeline that used to serve Kingston's pump house on Ontario Street. This research is being undertaken for a group that previously restored the Phoebe and is now working on the historic pump house itself. Much is known about the pipeline, but the group are interested in confirming their understanding of the original plans and reports. Today's work focused on measuring the intervals at which the iron pipe (with a 2' diameter) used connecting flanges. Interestingly, the flanges are not uniform; two distinct types were seen. The second type, which appears on every third connection, it seemed, has a conical section and is much thicker than the other, more common joint. It was also a revelation to discover that the pipe's shore-side end is completely disconnected - and open. Other interesting sightings - a large Carp and several Bass. The visibility - thanks to the fairly tempestuous waters driven by a strong, southerly wind - was only about 30' and the water temperature 41℉ (5℃).

Fair but freezing...

Bright skies and freezing temperatures aren't the ideal accompaniment to a dive, but today that's just the way it was at the Gananoque Marina. The plan had been to visit the waters of the Canoe Club, but cursory inspection revealed the opaque results of waters recently in spate. Plan B took us to the Marina for the first time in many months. The result was a journey of exploration lasting some 50 minutes and resulting in just one interesting discovery; a relatively new aluminum ladder about 15' long. Its weight and the distance back to shore overcame the immediate temptation to recover it.

Besides the ladder, the viz of about 15-20' permitted sightings of some shoals of small fry, occasional Catfish and a couple of startled Pike. The minimum temperature recorded in the water was 39℉ (4℃). Topsides, a brisk wind and an air temperature of -2℃ (28℉) created the conditions for my drysuit to show the first post-dive ice formation this end of the year. Ah, don't you just love Winter diving! I should perhaps mention the other unusual sighting - our own Adam, who doesn't get wet often enough these days.

New book on Kingston Shipwrecks...

Jonathan Moore, a leading authority on the War of 1812 Shipwrecks that lie in Kingston's waters, launched his new booklet at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes yesterday. Priced very competitively at C$ 7-95, and available from the publishers, the Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation at 611 Princess St, the richly illustrated booklet summarizes current knowledge on the historic wrecks concerned.

Stacked Hulls Metered and Measured...

Kevin and I had the opportunity, at dusk today, to get out and complete the staking of the line to the Stacked Hulls. The stakes start from the edge of the shelf and are carefully placed at 100' (30m) intervals. There are 7 of them, which given that they start at 380' (116m) - and the last stake runs 80' to the wreck itself, makes the total distance 1260' (384m). For safety's sake, the halfway stake is marked by a white, plastic jug. If you get to this and you're not sure about your air for the rest of the dive, it's time to turn around.

It's always interesting to enter the water as a storm is growing. Today, the waves were growing as the wind got up - and when we emerged from the water there was a snowy squall sweeping across the grounds of the Providence Care Facility. Ah, the deep joy of Winter diving. Water temperature - 42℉ (6℃). Visibility - despite the turbulent inshore waters - about 50'. More than sufficient to see the large Bass that were haunting the wreck in the half dark...

Exercising Stakeholder Privileges...

Work on enhancing the line to the Stacked Hulls was the order of the day today. As well as checking and cleaning the line, it's amazing how much algae and gunk accumulates in just a matter of days, today's aim was to put in some long-planned stakes and take some measurements.

For interested parties, take note - the swim to the edge of the shelf from the start point close to the beach is 380' (116m). We then installed the first three stakes - at 100' (30m) intervals. That took us to roughly half way to the Hulls. We'll finish the staking - and measuring - very shortly, but my guess is that the total swim is going to come out to about 1300' (396m).

Water temperature today - 42℉ (6℃). And the visibility - 60' or better, I think...

Guide to the Stacked Hulls now available from Preserve Our Wrecks...

Preserve Our Wrecks has prepared and provided a guide to finding the Stacked Hulls dive site using the new guideline the Group participated in laying earlier this year. Although this development comes late in the year, now that the charter boats are all laid up, but the ice is still awaited, this can be the perfect time to make some more shore dives. The visibility is great just now.

One word of caution. Even though the new guideline leads more directly to the dive site, the Stacked Hulls remain a daunting swim for most divers using a single Aluminum 80 cylinder. If you intend to give it a try, ensure that you pay close attention to your air consumption and turn back in good time, if you suspect that you will run low.

You will find POW's new guide by clicking here.

The Gloves are off... No ! on...

I promised myself on the last dive - on the wrecks in the harbour - that it would be the last wet glove diving of 2008, and I kept the promise to myself today. When three of us made our way out, yet again, to the wreck off Murney Tower, I was in dry gloves. Not that they make the slightest bit of difference to the persistent, minor leak I've been suffering from, and cannot trace and cure, in my drysuit. Oh well, who wants to be completely comfortable?

The dive was a good one, with excellent visibility - about 50' horizontally on the wreck, and the surface waves perfectly clearly visible 60' above. There were again large numbers of lazy Bass around the site. Kevin played with them - and amused himself photographing little Gobies too. He was wearing his new Aqualung Drysuit, which is a great garment, with excellent features and, so far as one can tell, first-class construction and finish. Thank you Gaetan for the great shore-side shot above..

There was evidence of a slight thermocline at about 50', with water that had been steadily 45℉ (7℃) dropping suddenly to 43℉ (6℃) on my gauge at least.

Guenter's photo expedition...

This late in the season every chance to get a special dive in has to be seized with enthusiasm. An opportunity to get out and visit the much discussed Guenter's Wreck arose today and we grabbed it with both hands. It had been an ambition to try and get some photography of this site for some time. Conditions were almost perfect, if you overlook the difficulty in getting water to circulate through outboard engines asked to work in freezing air temperatures.

Long and the short of it was that we got more than 30 minutes on the wreck, taking many pictures and enjoying the sort of light and visibility that only feature in the short, cold days of Fall and Winter. For the record - viz was around 50-60' and the water temperature seems to be stuck on 46℉ (8℃).

Wow - a first in local waters...

There are days when what should be a pretty ordinary dive becomes something quite unusual. Today was one of them. It had been decided to make a trip out to the Cora Post. It's a site we hadn't visited for some time, so that seemed as good a reason as any. There was nothing extraordinary about the preparations, except perhaps noticing how low the water has become.

Anyway, first issue is the fact that we can't locate the guideline in the shallows. No problem, already agreed to drop to the 35' contour and follow it to the wreck. Of course, reaching 35' we pick up the line almost immediately, quite close to the wreck. At about the same time, both of us spot a large shape in the water, just off the bow. It turns out to be a very large Muskie, completely unimpressed with our presence. It swam gently across our path and exited the area.

With a water temperature of just 46℉ (6℃), we elected to spend just a few minutes on the wreck; long enough to notice though that the stern section is really broken down now. We follow the line back along the contour and discover that, where it used to turn NW to head for the shallows, it's broken. As we consider this, we spot, just to our left, in about 35' of water, a huge baitball of small fish. Almost perfectly cylindrical, with the fish circling briskly, it was about 20' high and 10-12' in diameter. The fish were about 2" long and short, with a silvery colour. Even after applying the exaggeration factor, there must have literally been thousands of them. I have never seen anything remotely like it in local waters - and only rarely in waters further south. A real treat. Just goes to show - it's always worth diving here - and every day has the potential to astonish and impress underwater.