The Comet

Today’s boat dive had seven divers on it making their way to the Comet. The highlight of the dive was seeing the two giant paddlewheels. It was a very comfortable dive with the temperature of 64f (18C). The visibility was in the range of 20 ft. The max depth that I got on this wreck was 81 feet. This was an enjoyable dive and one that helps put Kingston on the map. Getting back on the boat was an adventure for me not because of rough seas but because I had a sudden case of sea sickness that left as quick as it came. On the way back we had a little bit of a discussion about some of the great diving in the Kingston area and the potential for more. It was brought to our attention that there is some great wreck diving in 65 ft range closer to the base that needs to have some work done to open it up. I think as a club we should get behind it and maybe open up a wreck like the HMS Montreal, that is closer to shore, and in 65 feet of water. Other things that were talked about on the ride back was the chance to dive the Munson next Saturday and the pumpkin dive which I am looking forward to and encourage everyone to get out and do.

Checking out the Henry..

A visit was made to the basin of the dry dock at the Marine Museum at the request of staff concerned about the situation of the Alexander Henry. The aim, fully achieved, was to establish the clearances between ship and dock and to identify any hazards to the ship's hull within the basin.

In a dive lasting 30 minutes, it was demonstrated that the ship has at least two feet of clearance at all points, the low point being the stern, something which is quite obvious from the surface. A number of large concrete and steel objects were identified in the dock, all on the Port side of the ship.

The picture, which I thought quite striking in the sunlight, is a reflection in a car window.

Three Dives on a Windy Day

Today I had the pleasure of diving with four members of the CFB Borden dive club. We started first thing this morning at the Cora Post. This was interesting as with the high winds churned up the water. I took the group to the brick barge at which point two divers made for the 30-meter (100 ft) mark, to do a deep dive for an advance course. I stayed behind with the two basic divers and enjoyed looking over the barge. The visibility was great once we got below 10 ft. The depth for our first dive was 41 feet the dive lasted about 31 minutes and the water temperature was 66f. We jumped in our cars and drove to upper brewers mill where we spent roughly one hour in the water, which was slightly warmer at 68F. The visibility was only at around 5 feet in the murky water. On a positive we saw lots of fish and one diver found the bowl of a clay pipe. Our next stop was Portsmouth. With the wind making the waves roll in, we got to practice entering choppy water. We went around the remains of the hulls then out to the anchors and the stop sign. Until we hit about 10 feet, we felt the surge of the waves. We swam around for 35 minutes hitting 35 feet. The water was little cooler at 66 F but it still allowed me to dive all three dives in a 3mm suit without a hood. The highlight of the third dive was seeing the anchor with swastika on it.

Diving the Glendora

Today 12 members made it out for an end of summer dive. Our destination was the Glendora, a wreck similar to others of the area. We had excellent clear skies even with the smog advisory. We entered that water and descended to the bottom 71 feet down. The temperature for the dive was in the low 60’s; it was very comfortable in a 7mm wetsuit today. There was a slight drop in temperature around the 72-foot mark. The various pairs spent from 30 minutes to 50 minutes in the water on the wreck. There was not an abundance of life on the wreck just the normal guppies and zebra muscles. The openness of the wreck did allow some divers to swim through the wreck. By the end of our dives the light had greatly diminished. As we sailed back to harbor we were treated to a beautiful sunset. Unfortunately a lot of the pictures that were taken under water came back a little to dark.

Completetion of Another Open Water Course

Today I saw the completion of another open water course. The final two dives were at POH and the marine museum. We got up early to get a head start on the diving. It was nice to see calm water with no wind. To my surprise the air temperature when I looked out of the window this morning at 7am was only 2C, luckily the water was a lot warmer. I briefly hummed and hawed on whether I should switch to the dry suit but decided the 3mm would be fine. The air temperature was substantially warmer for our first dive. The two new divers did a great job with their air consumption and easily made it to the stop sign and navigated their way back. For this dive, we had 66F (19C) for the water temperature. The visibility was best on this dive closer to shore which is a change from the norm and less further out. Our second dive of the morning took us to the marine museum where we did a nice giant stride into the water and took a slow swim to the barge and to the boat launch. I was surprised and very happy to see that some divers have done some work on the site and put in a line from the boat ramp to the barge; I know, since this is a favorite of the club divers we all say thank you. The water temperature on this dive did not change with the coolest getting down to 66F (19C). If I had to dive a third time, I think it would have been dry suit time but the old 3mm stood up nicely for the two dives in the water today. The highlight for me was seeing the growth on the barge that was not there the last time I dove on it. As asked by the students what exactly the growth was I had to say I did not know; and that as divers there will be lots of questions to research involved with their new found obsession.

Fun on the Wolfe Islander II

We had 14 divers show up today to dive the Wolfe Islander II. There were a lot of laughs to be had by all. Some at my expense AGAIN.... BUT in my defense you have to picture this. There are 14 divers getting ready all at once. There are people moving around you as you are trying to get dressed and the boat was moving around a lot due to windy conditions. If you were not braced then the movement of the boat would slammed you into the side of the boat. OK so here is the story for my embarrassment. I must apologize to Adam as I accused him of taking my glove and hiding it. I spent a couple of minutes looking for my glove only to discover that it was stuck to my butt. Well as you can guess there was a lot of laughs over that one. I will never live this one down. OK for those that are interested the water temp today was a chilly 64 degrees. The lake is cooling down fast. Soon it will be the end of the season (accept for those die hard ice divers burrrrrrrr!!!) and we will all be sitting around discussing the dives we had this summer. I know that this one will come back to haunt me during those long winter months.


AND THE FISH WAS THIS BIG!!!!!!!

A Fall Classic

Today 12 club divers made to the Wolfe Islander II. This is a classic that needs to be done be everyone and our club has had many visits this year. With a variety of divers from open water to instructors we all made various trips to the wreck, which starts in about 40 feet of water. There was chance for more experience divers to get down to the 80-foot mark as well. Visibility on the wreck was in the range of 20 feet with a nice September temp of 57f(14C). On the wreck we were joined by countless fish big and small of many types of variety. To top it off our ride back in was a very nice enjoyable ride into Portsmouth harbor.

Scuba In the Park

A few members of the Dolphins attended this year's annual Scuba In The Park event in Brockville. There were fewer vendor booths campared to last year but the weather was great and the $10 dive on the Lilly Parson's couldn't be beat. The after dive entertertanment of the live band, beer garden and food, parrot and loads of door prizes created for an enjoyable social event.
Kim and Scott Sararas, Chris Columbus and his wife, Laurie and four recent club members who are now in Ottawa joined the group, Lars Kornmacher and girlfriend Genevieve and Jim and Tracey.

I highly recommend this event for members next year; and make sure you include the dive on the Lilly.

Ash Island Drift in Rockport

This Wednesday's dive was to Caigers in Rockport. 1000 Island Pleasure Divers took 12 club members out to do the Ash Island Drift. I think that all the divers out tonight would agree that this was a very fun dive. The current carried us down along Ash Island to the Ash Island Barge. Some members made the trek down to the barge that sits in about 90 to 100 feet of water while others decided to follow the shore line to the surface. For all those wondering the water temp was 70 degrees. 10 members stayed to have pizza after the dive and it was fun to sit around and listen to the divers discussing their dive. I found this is the perfect time to ask more experienced divers any questions you may have.

A Labour Day Classic

With the holiday 6 of us got in the water to do what we love best, dive. We went to the barge at the marine museum. We made it to the barge and under water docks. The water temp was a little cooler today at68F at the coldest. The water was still very manageable with a 3MM suit and no hood. Plenty of fish were seen with a few large pikes. Our dive lasted about 30 mins before we headed for the surface.

2nd dive on sept 1

After diving on the Cenestoga we were thinking about going to the Rothesay but with large amounts of people in the area we went to the Prescott underwater park. The six of us did a giant stride in to the water and began to enjoy the 70F water. The line which started by the exit point goes around in a circuit over an old wooden sail boat some stairs and two anchors. Total time for doing the circuit at a leisurely pace was about 25 mins.

Dive the Conestoga

6 Divers made the trip to Cardinal on Saturday. We arrived at the Conestoga around 10:30a.m. and there were about 10 cars there all ready. This seems to be a very popular dive site. We entered the water up stream and drifted down to the wreck. Can you believe I almost missed the wreck!!! I was busy watching the fish and had my back to the boat. Lucky for me my buddy was paying attention. This is a great old wreck to challenge your buoyancy on. You can swim down the one side then come over the stern and up the middle to the bow. As you swim up the middle you can swim around the smoke stacks and over the boilers. When you get over the boiler you want to swim to the bottom of the boat out of the current. We followed the bottom of the boat to the bow and read the plaque on the bow. We then went over the bow and let the current take us down the side of the boat closest to shore. As we drifted down this side we used our lights to see the fish hiding under the boat. We then swam over the stern again and to the front of the boat. We exited the boat and turned the dive. The nice part about this dive site is it has a very easy entrance and exit from the water. You get a nice gentle drift dive and great visibility. By the time we exited the water I think there were about 20 cars lined up with divers getting ready to enter the water.

Wednesday's Club dive was to the George T Davie

Wednesday's dive to the Davie was a great success. We had a total of 20 advanced divers show up. The Davie is in about 90 feet of water and the temp was 57 degrees. It was sunny and warm. You can tell its getting later in the season, as we were treated to a beautiful sun set on our way home.