15 replies to this topic

[rhondajc18]

Brockville trip


Keith (tpits1), Lynne (Diverlady), Heather (hnladue) and I (rhondajc18) met up on Friday, July 23, in Rockport, Ontario for diving in the St. Lawrence River. We stayed at Caigers Inn—(only do this if you’re into roughing it) and did our diving with Abucs Scuba out of Brockville.

I told Keith and Sarah about a group of tech divers who were making trimix dives on a wall 250 feet deep just upriver from Caigers. The boat captain taking the group told me there’s nothing down there—but it’s 250 feet deep. Keith and I were having a hard time figuring out why anyone would want to dive that deep when there’s nothing to see. (No offense meant to the techies out there—just seems like a big commitment to see nothing.) This led to discussions about new uses for garden gnomes and ways to disfigure them for maximum freakout at depth.

Our plan was to go out with Abucs on Saturday from Andress Marina in Rockport and dive the Kinghorn, (http://www.scubaq.ca...ng/kinghorn.htm) which is just a couple hundred yards out in front of the marina, and then make two dives on the Keystorm. The Kinghorn is in Canadian waters and the Keystorm is in U.S. waters, meaning we’d need to check in with Immigration, which is located at Boldt Castle in Alexandria Bay, NY. And this is when it started to get interesting. Our twin-screw boat, the Emily C., was having a bit of trouble and our captain, Helen, was late for our rendezvous. One of the engines wasn’t working but hey, the other one was so all was well.

We made the dive on the Kinghorn, an 88-foot steel-hulled ship with wooden decking built in 1871 and sunk in 1897. She’s in about 90 feet of water. There’s some surface current but not much on the wreck itself. The water was a refreshing 70 degrees or so with decent visibility. Penetration on the wreck is easy---and I got to lead Heather on her first time.

Next we motored off to Immigration at Boldt Castle. And the remaining engine died on us in the channel, just a few feet from the dock. We dropped anchor and captain Helen began to try various things to get one or the other of the engines working. The multi-talented Keith offered his mechanical services as well.

First the harbormaster showed up to crab at us and then the Coast Guard showed up. They eventually boarded—the boat, though there was wishful thinking that they’d board It was clear that things were not good with either one of our engines so Helen told her first mate, Melanie, to fire up the grill and there were cheeseburgers, chips and cookies all around.

Now, about those cookies. In between stints with the engines, Keith, brazen soul that he is, worked himself into a fondling frenzy. He even went so far as to fondle our boatmate Rachel’s cookies right in front of everyone! And Rachel’s father was on board as well!

At one point, the Coasties boarded the boat (that’s the boat, not me, the boat, Lynne!!) And the Immigration guy showed a remarkable sense of humor (and duty) when he shuttled out to the Emily C. to check us all in.

The adventure in the channel in front of Boldt Castle lasted about four hours. Helen was able to hail another dive boat captain and Heather and I, along with four others from the Emily C., transferred over to that boat with Captain Mike from Action Scuba for a dive on the Keystorm (http://www.scubaq.ca...ng/keystorm.htm).

The Keystorm is a 256-foot steel freighter, built in 1910 that hit a shoal and went down in 1912. Her bow is in about 20 feet of water and her props are back at about 115 feet. She’s laying down the shoal on her starboard side. The wheelhouse and mast are still there and there are cavernous cargo holds to check out. The visibility could have been better--it was only about 25 feet—but this is a cool wreck anyway.

Sunday, we met up with June (Divingal) as well as Sean, another solo diver from the area. We were all good to go, though Keith was more good to go than the rest of us, and we continued our discussion on ways of disfiguring garden gnomes and creating tableaus for the tech divers.

We dove the Muscallonge (aka the Muskie) first. The ship burned to the waterline before sinking. It’s about 85 feet in the mud. After an appropriate SI where further plans for a gnome tavern were discussed and Heather apparently mastered the art of peeing standing up, we splashed for the Gaskin (http://www.scubaq.ca...ving/gaskin.htm), which is about 60 feet.

Because of our adventures the day before, Helen agreed to add another dive to the day so we made a quick stop for tanks and headed for the Lilly Parsons. This one has a current that makes things a little exciting—it’s fun to pull yourself along the wreck against the current, go to the end and let go, drifting back over the wreck. There’s a pleasant (and swift) drift dive back to the ascent lines. When we got back to the boat, Melanie and Helen had cooked more cheeseburgers and passed around the cookies again. Keith showed remarkable restraint in not fondling these cookies. We were all very proud of him.

And a good time was had by all.

Respectfully submitted by

Rhonda

[DivingGal]

It sounds sooooo tame..... but you have to admit, we had fun on Sunday

[rhondajc18]

I was afraid to write the "truth!"

I had a freakin' blast . . . I realized I didn't include Sean's "Dive God" status in the report . . .

[Diverlady]

Excellent trip report Rhonda! And yes, a bit tamer than we had discussed. Kudos on showing such restraint Rhonda!.

I had a fabulous time!

Diverlady

[Walter]

Give us the full story, we can take it.

[hnladue]

yea and a warning...don't room with Diverlady when she forgets her pajamas.... She slept between me and Rhonda and her cheeks were cold!! J/K! Everyone!!

Also there was this scary old geazer at the hotel that had these shorts on that said 'Good to Go'...What the h3ll does that mean and it's scary just thinking about it! So that's our tag line for the weekend!

We should have know we were in for trouble when the charter showed up an hour late and only running on 1 of 2 engines!

The first dive was the Kingshorn (or Kinghorn in some web sites). And Rhonda was with me on my first penetration!! (guys, get your minds out of the gutter!)

After being stuck in the river for 4 hours and smelling gas fumes all day, we had a good time sitting there..... oggling the coasties (why do they make them SO cute?) and watching Keith work on the engines (with grease up to his elbows). He earned his keep that day! (and he still paid for the 1 dive he made...)

The Keystorm was a great dive and deep!! Personal record for me (105ft). Floating above Rhonda at the prop and having her look up at me with a wide eye'd nacred look was great!! Losing my fin and having to catch it wasn't, but Rhonda got it back on my foot for me. I had such a good time on that dive, it was hard getting back on the boat.

Sunday was probably the best of the both days. I was so comfortable I didn't even notice the current on either the Muskie or the Gaskin. Lost that stupid fin again there!! I'm gonna glue them to my fins next time! Oh and when Helen (boat capt) asked for our qualifications and Sean (new diver who might join here) said Dive God...we all laughed.. Actually he said Dive Con, but we had a go with it. Also Rhonda had fun all weekend asking the guys to take her clothes off for her!! I even got to do it once too!! hehehe! Then off to dive the Lilly. I sat out that dive as I have done that one before and didn't enjoy it and I wanted to end my weekend on a good dive, so I played crew for a little while, helping everyone back on board that I could. I had fun taking pictures under water and above and they would have turned out great, if there was film in the camera!! Little details ya know...

Over all, beautiful weekend. Temps in the 70's water temps also 70!! And great buddies to dive with! Helen didn't know what to think of all of us. We arrived at dive sites all suited up and ready to go! And we knew how to laugh at everything. Roll Call!! June was never there... also she had horrible dives and wanted to do them again to get it right! Doh!

Cheerfully,
Heather.

[DivingGal]

Roll Call!! June was never there... also she had horrible dives and wanted to do them again to get it right! Doh

1) can I help it if Rachel put my name down as "Door" initially? (She was looking at the person to notify "Dorothy") So I was never there.

2) I'm all set to go out again on Sunday.... Kinghorn & Keystorm here I come (can I ask for the Coasties too pretty please?)

[rhondajc18]

Roll Call!! June was never there... also she had horrible dives and wanted to do them again to get it right! Doh

1) can I help it if Rachel put my name down as "Door" initially? (She was looking at the person to notify "Dorothy") So I was never there.

2) I'm all set to go out again on Sunday.... Kinghorn & Keystorm here I come (can I ask for the Coasties too pretty please?)

And June, there's something to be said for diving wet---you can ask strange men to "peel" you!!

Rhonda

[rhondajc18]

Excellent trip report Rhonda! And yes, a bit tamer than we had discussed. Kudos on showing such restraint Rhonda!.

I had a fabulous time!

Diverlady

Well, I didn't want to embarrass Keith, you know. Even if he is good to go!

[Diverlady]

Excellent trip report Rhonda! And yes, a bit tamer than we had discussed.  Kudos on showing such restraint Rhonda!. 

I had a fabulous time! 

Diverlady

Well, I didn't want to embarrass Keith, you know. Even if he is good to go!

Yeah, just watch your cookies. He has a thing for them!!

FTR - I did wear PJs!! LOL And I didn't even wake anyone up on my midnight trip to the loo!
By the way, not only did we dive the Keystorm on our weekend adventure but we also dined there too! Yep, dined at the Keystorm. Figure that one out!!

Enjoy your dives on the Keystorm and Kinghorn this weekend DivingGal. I'll be there the following weekend!! Maybe for dinner too!

Diverlady

[WreckWench]

Also Rhonda had fun all weekend asking the guys to take her clothes off for her!!

That's it!!! Rhonda just HAS to be on the SD Labor Day trip to Brockville trip!!! Now I know the last couple of spots will fill up!!!

[rhondajc18]

Also Rhonda had fun all weekend asking the guys to take her clothes off for her!!

That's it!!! Rhonda just HAS to be on the SD Labor Day trip to Brockville trip!!! Now I know the last couple of spots will fill up!!!

Oh, no---it's more likely you'll have a gajillion cancellations!!

[hnladue]

Nah!! Not once they see how cute and FUN you are!!!! Besides, you're really easy to see underwater!!

[rhondajc18]

Oh, yeah, I keep forgetting how Houston Astros from the 70s my wetsuit is!

[tpits1]

To write or not to write, thats the question my friends. To cookie or not to cookie? I dont think Kamala-our leader could handle me in her cookies Im still trying to get up there for the next trip so I can get into everyones cookies. (gready American) As well as do engine repair.