Great Lakes Underwater Explorers
< January 11, 2004>>
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Great Lakes Underwater Explorers |
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< January 11, 2004>> |
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Great Lakes Underwater Explorers 4052 Bath Rd Kingston Ontario K7M 4Y4
Phone: (613) 634-8464
Fax: (613) 634-8135
E-mail:
We are on the Web!
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Happy New Year everyone …
Members Corner
Trip Report- Florida 2003 by Kevin Ripley
We met in Kingston on Saturday and pulled out around 2 pm for the long drive to Florida. After an uneventful drive, we arrived in High Springs, Fla. on Sunday afternoon and checked into the Cadillac Motel. Monday morning we made a quick stop at Extreme Exposure to say hi to the guys at the shop and Tom, Anne and myself headed to Ginnie Springs to do some cave diving. Tom and I dove the Devils eye
and the Devils ear while Anne snorkeled and took some pictures. Then Anne checked out the Ginnie Cavern while I attempted to untangle my reel.
From there we drove to Key Largo and checked into Ed & Ellen’s’ Lodgings and arranged charters and Nitrox fills with Ocean Divers for the next 6 days. Wednesday afternoon we did two dives on Molasses Reef where we shot fish video. The wildlife in this area was somewhat sparse, but we did spot some rays, reef sharks
Finally, on Saturday we were allowed to dive the “A” sites. We tied up to the wreck of the USS Spiegel Grove. A 510’ decommissioned US Navy landing ship dock; she lies on her starboard side in 130’ of water. She was sunk as an artificial reef in June 2002. Three of her guns remain on board as well as several deck fixtures and cranes. Many holes cut in her side gave way to some interesting multilevel swim throughs. This day was also designated as Hawaiian shirt day which only the pictures can explain.
On Sunday, the dive was on the USCG Cutter Duane. This 327 ft long coast guard cutter lies in 130’ of water and sits upright with her deck at 100’ and the crows nest at 50’. This was by far the highlight of the wreck diving on this trip. Sank as an artificial reef in 1987, In addition to the many deck fixtures and rooms that were left intact, she is now the home to large schools of barracuda and permit, as well as lots of coral growth and smaller fish life. Monday found us diving on the Duane’s twin sister ship the USCGC Bibb. This ship is identical to the Duane except that she lies on her port side. The repetitive dive was another trip to the USS Spiegel Grove.
Tuesday morning we were up early for a drive to Ft. Lauderdale. We stopped in at Brownies Southport Divers where we hopped on a boat and headed out diving again. After admiring the private yachts in the canals leading to the ocean, we tied off on two oil-drilling platforms that had been sunk one on top of another during hurricane Andrew in 1992. This site boasts coral and thick sea grass for the smaller fish life as well as a small shark and a 6’ barracuda. Apparently, there was also some fire coral on this site as well, and although we were unable to capture it on video, Tom brought back a small sample for all to observe. The second dive for this trip was done on an oceangoing tug with an open cabin and lots to see in the hold. The weather co-operated with us that day as we were told it was the first time in two weeks without 6’ waves. After dropping David off at the airport on Tuesday afternoon, we headed across alligator alley to Sarasota where we were hosted by Anne’s parents. After touring the area into the next morning, we headed north again to cave country. Wednesday afternoon Tom and I dove the Catfish Hotel in Manatee Springs. This cave is dark with sharp limestone, high flow and a large pool covered in duckweed.
Thursday morning Anne and I
dove in Blue Grotto and in the afternoon, Tom and I dove the Little River
cave, one of my favorite dives in the
Suwannee
River
area. Video was once again shot on this dive and we were treated to having the cave to ourselves. On Thursday evening, we celebrated the American Thanksgiving with James Pate who made the trip down to join us on his way south to visit friends. On Friday morning, we had one last breakfast at Floyds before heading North to home. After two weeks of sunny mid 70’s weather, we drove for 18 out of 24 hours in a good old northern snowstorm.
New Years Day Dive
We had a good turn out for the New Years Day dive. President Ken Fuller and Treasurer Carol Addington greeted me when I arrived at the Pump House Museum. Big Jim, Tom Rutledge, Vlada ,Tom Wilson, Wayne Gay,PK and friends, Harold ,Dan Makay and few others joined us soon after. I ,nor Tom R. were brave enough to do any wetsuit diving,(Not like Big Jim and Larissa who did brave the chilly waters for a short dive in wetsuits) so we were in charge of photography and moral support. After the dive, we all gathered for a great lunch at the Kingston Brew pub . A great way to start the New Year! Check out the photos of the day posted on the GLUE website.
Tech Talk
by Dan Makay
This month’s topic deals with what to do during the dreary months of winter. There are a few energetic souls that dive the year through, so there is never truly an ‘end’ to the season, but even for these folks—including me—this time of year marks a distinct slow down of diving activities. In reality, of course, the “real” dive season is just around the corner, so I typically spend this time of year doing all the equipment maintenance that has built up over the previous year. I break my maintenance into three categories: Tanks, regulators and the rest (BC, harness, drysuits—or by this time, semi-dry suits).
Tank maintenance is fairly straight forward. Check to see if it will be going out of hydro during the dive season this year. Do this by inspecting the tank neck, where you will find the manufacturer’s markings and the hydro markings. If this is a new tank, i.e., less than five years old, the manufacturer’s markings will have the hydro. You will see one of two things. The first possible set of markings will be a month, a manufacturer’s symbol and a date, e.g., 01-#-99, which would indicate that the tank was manufactured in January 1999. (The ‘#’ symbol could be replaced by any number of manufacturers’ symbols.) The other possibility is “day/ test facility number/year”, e.g., 01-234-99, indicating that the tank was last tested in January 1999. Add five years to this date and we find that the hydro is due to expire at the end of January 2004. If the hydro is due to expire any time during this upcoming dive season, bring your tank in to your local dive shop and get it done now while things are slow and turn around time is about a week. During peak times, turn around can be up to three weeks. Not so good to be without a tank in August!
Make sure that when you bring your tank(s) in, you request valve servicing at the same time. The most fragile part of your tank is the valve and it is often (with the exception of the HP air spool in your SPG) the most neglected piece of equipment. Tanks also require a yearly visual inspection. Word to the wise: get it done now as well.
Regulator maintenance is usually requested as follows: Customer walks into the store on a Friday with an armload of regulators, which are plopped on the counter with a request that they be ready for Monday, so they can be picked up on the way to the airport to fly to Cozumel on a trip that said customer has been planning for six months. If your regs need servicing, now is the time to get them done. As a regulator technician myself, I can assure you that you will pay a lot less for servicing if you drop them off at a store now, when you can afford to wait a few days, than the “special rate” you will get if you need them tomorrow. Besides the cost factor, if anything outside of a service kit is required, you may have to wait for a part to be ordered and this can take time.
Now it’s time for a look at all the rest of your kit. Take everything and lay it out neatly in the basement, garage or living room (when the significant other is not about). Go through it item by item and make a list of what needs to be washed (neoprene conditioner), rinsed out (BC bladders), repaired (drysuit, wetsuit, boots, gloves, hoods). Have a look at the little things like keepers, computer, compass, knife, mask, fins and snorkel straps and keepers. Pay particular attention to fin straps and buckles. By far the most frequent dive ender is a broken fin strap/buckle. Most of the fins have a unique buckle, so it’s a good idea to ask your local dive shop to get you a replacement as a spare; you are rolling the dice indeed if you just hope that your charter boat operator has a spare. He likely has extra straps but buckles are a little tougher to come by out in the middle of Lake Ontario. This holds true for masks as well, though masks don’t usually pose such a problem, since you may have a spare or a one is usually available. A problem arises, however, if you have a prescription and the donor doesn’t or vice versa. And last, but not least, take this opportunity to stock up that save-a-dive kit that you’ve been raiding all season.
Something else that you may wish to do at this time of year is take in a dive show or two, or take a course. If you are planning to do a rescue course this year, now would be an excellent time to take a First Aid/CPR course. Not all of these things are fun to do, but I believe that if you make the effort look after your kit and expand your diving acumen at this time of year, you will be rewarded with a trouble-free dive season, as well as pursuing your diving education. If you look at completing some of the chores listed above, you may find that you have a month or two of work ahead; on the bright side, by the time you get it all done it’ll be time to get back in the water!
Safe dives,
Dan
What’s Happening
February 15,2004 Preserve Our Wrecks Annual Meeting Portsmouth Olympic Harbour at 13:00 hrs
February 15 - 16 Holiday Inn and Resort, Marlboro, MA. 10:00am to 4:00pm Featured Speaker is David Doubilet (National Geographic’s preeminent in-water photographer). Tickets are $10 and available at the door or from Cecile Christensen, Apple Ridge 2-6, Maynard, MA 01754. For more information, contact Cecile at 978-897-0877.
26th
Annual Great Lakes
Shipwreck Festival The Ford Seahorses Scuba Diving Club will present the 26th Annual Great Lakes Shipwreck Festival on Saturday, February 21. The event
will be held at the Oakland Community College Orchard Ridge Campus, J
Building, Tirrell Hall in
Farmington Hills,
MI. A portion
of every ticket price will be donated to Divers Alert Network (DAN).
Ice Diving Course/Donations to Dive for a Cure February
28,
NTD (Northern Tech Diver) The cost is $150.00. Call 634-8464 to book you spot now!
Nitrox course March 6th, Northern
Tech Diver will be running a Nitrox course cost 199.00 + GST includes
workbook and 'C' card
Bring A
Friend Program
Come and dive FOR FREE!
OK, now I have your attention… I do have a few questions for you :
1. Are you a lonely diver, always looking for a buddy? 2. Do your friends understand your passion for crawling around broken up shipwrecks 100ft below the surface of the lake?
Any of this sound familiar? WELL BRING THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS DIVING! And YES, it is FREE, and YES, we will do all the work!
Diving truly is a Sport For All. We all have our limitations for sure, and those differ from person to person, but there is no doubt that diving, as a non-competitive sport, (it IS non-competitive guys!) means small, big, male, female, young and old can all take part in this true Adventure Sport. There are deep dives and shallow dives here in Kingston; there is history to be discovered, something that all the family or all your friends can enjoy together.
For one evening only, “The Pool is OPEN!” Bring your friends and family to the Right Crescent Pool between 5.30 and 7pm on Feb 1 and GET “EM WET! The “ Try-A-Dive” program is completely free , and everyone will be under the direct supervision of our highly experienced instructors. Qualified family and friends are more than welcome to fin around the pool and take photos too!
Call us for more details, 634 8464.
Your Friendly Neighborhood NTD Instructors.
Sweatshirts We are taking orders for Hooded Sweatshirts and Weatherwear Microfibre fleece sweatshirts with an embroidered club logo. Hooded or crew neck sweatshirts come in navy blue or sand navy blue, and are $45.00 plus tax. Fleece sweatshirts come in navy blue, light blue, sand, forest green and cranberry and are $75.00 plus tax. Please email club@northerntechdiver.com with your order. I will be placing an order in the next couple of weeks. Payment can be made at NTD or by sending a cheque to Carole Addington .
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DAN Dive Insurance
For those of you planning dive trips this winter, it is a wise idea to buy DAN dive insurance. They have many different programs, and you are sure to find one that suits you. More information is available at www.diversalertnetwork.com . |
Monday
evening we visited Floyds, which was to become our eatery of choice while in
High Springs and spent the evening sorting out the Keys portion of our
trip. Tuesday morning we filled our tanks and headed to Peacock Springs
where Tom, Dan and I toured the peanut and pothole tunnels of the Peacock
system. 
It
was a beautiful day and Anne entertained the chain gang building new
boardwalks in the park. Tuesday evening saw us driving down to 
and
turtles in addition to the usual smaller fish life. Thursday morning we
toured the area, picked up souvenirs and were back on the boat Thursday
afternoon for another dive on Molasses Reef followed by a dive on French
Reef where 
We
played in the natural rock swim throughs. Friday morning we dove on the
wreck of the Benwood, a WWII era steel freighter, which was torpedoed during
the war and later used for target practice by the US air force. Following a
guideline for about 5 minutes led us to a practice bomb sitting on the
bottom. Our second dive was back on Molasses reef looking at the fish
again. A pair of large spotted eagle rays allowed a few minutes of video to
be taken of them on this dive.
