Scubagirl15

Sligo

Andrea — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:00:33 +0000

Sligo, a set on Flickr.

Tom Wilson has written up a short but informative story about the Sligo that I won’t plagiarize here!

As the photos show, the Sligo is a fun little wreck to dive on, with a lovely intact wheel sitting all by its lonesome about 10 feet from the flattened stern wreckage. The wheel is at a good 30 degree angle from the lake bed facing away from the wreck, so photographing it well means not having the wreck in the background.

We dove the Sligo on a beautiful warm Sunday afternoon. It was a real treat to have such a nice little dive so close to home. And it was neat having the Toronto skyline as our backdrop during the surface interval.

Eric Cooper‘s speedy Aquaholic made for a short ride out to the wreck site.

Arabia

Andrea — Wed, 25 May 2011 00:29:32 +0000

Arabia, a set on Flickr.

The wreck of the Arabia in Five Fathom Marine National Park in the waters of Georgian Bay, Lake Huron is one of my favourite dives.

She is a 131-foot long schooner wreck, built in 1853 and sank in 1884 after striking Echo Island. Arabia was discovered in 1971 and has the dubious distinction of being a “widow maker” among Tobermory’s dive sites. Sitting perfectly upright in about 106 feet of water, Arabia’s two most distinct features are her bowsprit, which still points proudly skyward, and her wheel which sits on the starboard side of her stern next to her commemorative plaque.

Arabia’s reputation as a dangerous dive is due not so much to her inherent danger as it is an unfortunate result of her fame, which tempts divers who lack the necessary skills to dive safely on her. There are deeper wrecks in Tobermory’s waters: the beautiful Forest City, for instance, sits in 150 feet of water. There are darker and siltier sites such as the wreck of King, which sits in 90 feet of water and often in poor visibility. Both the Forest City and the King can be disorienting since they lie on an angle against the shoals where they wrecked.

Yet, it is Arabia that gets the bad rap because more divers are tempted by her than by any other wreck in Tobermory. Cold water diving demands respect – respect for proper training and proper equipment. Cold water diving also demands humility from divers and tends to punish the complacent, or at least to rap them on the knuckles. If you’d like to experience Arabia, be prepared. Take progressively advanced training with an experienced instructor. Be prepared to pay your instructors for their time: cheap and fast shouldn’t be part of your dive training program.

Northwind

Andrea — Wed, 25 May 2011 00:25:48 +0000

Northwind, a set on Flickr.

The wreck of Northwind sits in about 115 feet of water in the North Channel of Lake Huron, near Manitoulin Island. She is about 299 feet long, with quite a few options for penetration for the properly trained and experienced. She sank in July 1926, but information on her sinking is hard to come by. It’s also hard to come by information on what kind of cargo she transported or what her routes were.

Northwind has a few distinctive features:

The surprising lack of zebra mussels means her wooden superstructure can still be seen, as is evident from my photos.
Some of the hinges on her doors still swing, which is also surprising.
Her stern is buried deep in the clay-like mud, making her seem like she’s being sucked into the bottom of the lake.

Diving on the wreck of Northwind poses a few challenges:

She’s in dark waters, so without a powerful light, you won’t see much and won’t be seen.
Visibility tends to be poor, so it’s easy to get disoriented; be sure to orient yourself to your upline before you swim off exploring, or you’ll have to do a free ascent off a surface marker buoy.
Getting there: right now, the only charter boat available to take you to the wreck site is through Tobermory Aquasports. Captain Steve Tiernan is well familiar with the wreck topside and underwater, so you couldn’t be in better hands. Because of the distance, trips to the Northwind happen only when there are enough divers to offset the cost of getting there from Tobermory.

For my trip report of my second excursion to Northwind, see Trip Report: Northwind.

Vlada Dekina re-posted her Wreck Diving Magazine story about the Northwind on her blog, Wrecks And Reef.

Dufferin Wall

Andrea — Wed, 25 May 2011 00:24:23 +0000

Dufferin Wall, a set on Flickr.

The Dufferin Wall is named for the wreckage of the Lady Dufferin. Wrecked in 1886, the Lady Dufferin now lays scattered in a few sections on the shoals at the entrance to Georgian Bay, starting in about 40 feet of crystal clear water all the way down past 250 feet.

What I love about this site is the always spectacularly clear waters, especially at the shallows. It’s also a great site for training scuba divers of all levels: the rocky bottom that’s impossible to silt up, the gradual depths, and the drop-off at 95 feet to more than 300 feet.

The Dufferin Wall is a geological dive featuring rock formations. Not much fish life to be seen, except for the occasional freshwater goby and the abundant zebra mussels. Every now and then, I’ve seen freshwater sponges, but those are rare.

Victoria Day 2011, Tobermory

Andrea — Tue, 24 May 2011 23:54:18 +0000

Victoria Day 2011, Tobermory, a set on Flickr.

AquaSub Scuba Diving Centre’s annual season opener. Always good.

Bahamas 2009

Andrea — Tue, 24 May 2011 23:06:22 +0000

Bahamas 2009, a set on Flickr.

Lots of sharks and other great reef diving, courtesy of Blackbeard’s Cruises.

The 411 on Diving Tobermory

Andrea — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:12:00 +0000

Tobermory ranks high on my list of favourite places to dive.

Dive Shop

Owned and operated by Steve and Krista Tiernan, Tobermory Aquasports is my favourite place to get air fills. Steve and Krista also have great taste in t-shirts, so stay and check those out while you’re there. Steve is also my favourite charter and captain; if you’ve ever seen him dock his boat Teak Isle at the the marina in Tobermory, you’ll understand why. The man can coax his boat to turn on a dime and inch into position with barely any room to manoevre.

Tobermory Aquasports is on the west side of Highway 6. When you see the Stedman’s store on your right as you’re driving north on Highway 6, SLOW DOWN because you’ll be turning left onto Steve and Krista’s property in a few yards.

Accomodations

I love Adventure the Bruce for its tiled floors, since it’s easy on my allergies to mold and other unseen things. They also have beautiful grounds with patio sets just outside your room, some of which are near ponds, and where you can relax after a day’s diving goodness and tuck into their yummy pizzas. For a small fee, you can also use their BBQ and outdoor jacuzzi, if you still haven’t had enough of water. Adventure the Bruce is on the east side of Highway 6, just before the sideroad (which is across from the RBC building) that takes you to the Parks Canada office, where you’ll need to stop in for a tag to dive Fathom Five Marine National Park.

A close second for me is Bruce Anchor Motel, at the end of Highway 6, also on the east side. The rooms are nice and clean, but the drawback for me is that there’s carpeting. Otherwise, it’s a great spot with a beach volleyball pit and BBQ as well.

Good Eats

If you’re into deep fried, Tobermory’s the place for you. For a healthy and tasty variation on the Heart Attack Special, I love A Mermaid’s Secret on the west side of Highway 6, just south of the Legion Hall, at the entrance to downtown Tobermory. They have smoothies, gourmet panini sandwiches, Kicking Horse coffee, and loose leaf tea that’s brewed just for you in your own teapot. Their Heart Attack Special is a large selection of decadent desserts.

Sunday afternoons just before we head home, many people like to stop by Little Tub Bakery, just north of Tobermory Aquasports. Little Tub Bakery has fantastic bread that they make good ol’ fashioned sandwiches with, as well as pizza, but in reality, most people just want to get their paws on the butter tarts. Two summers ago, a black bear broke into the bakery and was discovered sitting comfortably on one of the fridges, tucking into…what else? Butter tarts.

Trip Report: Northwind Expedition

Andrea — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:33:19 +0000

Ever since the Dawnlight went out of commission two years ago, there was no convenient way to dive the wreck of the Northwind, which sits in about 115′ of water off Manitoulin Island. Last year, Steve Tiernan (Tobermory AquaSports) mentioned to me that he’s thinking about putting together an expedition to dive the Northwind the following fall. It was a no-brainer: in between nods, I was figuring out in my head how to get my husband Norbert excited about the trip and get something organized.

Last Friday, our little group of eight set out on our excellent adventure to dive a wreck we’ve never dove before. As mentioned in my previous post about the Northwind, the trip includes a drive to Tobermory, getting on the Chi-Cheemaun, and driving from the ferry dock on Manitoulin to Gore Bay, where Steve had tied up our favourite dive vessel, the Teak Isle.

We might be gung-ho for diving, but our little group liked to come back after a day’s diving to creature comforts! I booked us into Susan Mathia’s beautiful B&B, The Queen’s Inn. Make no mistake, however: the team was more excited about Susan’s delicious eggs benedict than about the comfortable beds and beautiful 19th century house right by the harbour in Gore Bay.

There’s not much more I can add to Vlada Dekina’s and Tom Wilson’s great reviews and photos of the wreck, which you can enjoy on their websites, WreckAndReefs.com and ScubaQ.ca respectively. This was my first local trip with my underwater camera system. It was a great challenge, and I’m glad I’d been training all spring and summer for deco dives: I needed all the time I could get underwater. I didn’t manage to produce any images I’m proud of, but I did include a couple shots that vaguely resembled passable photos.

What I can add is that on our two days of diving this past weekend, the water was calm and warm, so it was perhaps too much to ask for great visibility on top of that. Nevertheless, at just less than 300′ long, the Northwind was chock full of entertainment starting at 75′ and bottoming out at about 115′. Temperature at depth was a balmy 54F and 64F closer to the surface; the deco stops were almost unbearably warm!

Two amazing things that struck me about this wreck: after more than 80 years underwater, many of the portholes still had glass in them; and perhaps even more mysterious is the fact that the doors on the wreck still swing freely. Other noteworthy points that Vlada has already pointed out in her write-up of the Northwind is that the painted wood on the wreck is still visible after all this time. The metal hull, on the other hand, has mostly been colonized by the mussels, which I might add, haven’t done a great job last week filtering out the particulates in the water.

Next year’s expedition dates are already set: Oct 8 – 12, with the first and last days being travel days. Yes, it’s a longer trip because everyone on this year’s expedition wanted a third dive day. At this time, all eight of us are already on board for next year’s trip, so there’s room for four more divers.

more about “Trip Report: Northwind Expedition“, posted with vodpod

Countdown to Northwind Expedition: Sept 18-21

Andrea — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:12:15 +0000

Eight more sleeps to the Northwind Expedition! I’m so looking forward to diving a new wreck, especially one with so much to explore. Tom Wilson’s notes and pix on the dive are making me excited to test my diving skills.

Plus, I get to ride on the Chi-Cheemaun for the first time ever!

There’s still time and space to join the expedition: $300 for two days of all-you-can-dive. Call AquaSub at 905 883 3483.

Logistics

Book passage on the Chi-Cheemaun
Friday Sept 18: travel to Tobermory to catch the Chi-Cheemaun, check in at The Queen’s Inn Bed and Breakfast
Saturday Sept 19: devour gourmet breakfast at Queen’s Inn and head out for a day of diving!
Sunday Sept 20: see Saturday
Monday Sept 21: say goodbye and hope to come back again!

She-P, or how I fell in love with dry suit diving again

Andrea — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:26:05 +0000

Two days ago, I got my chance to get in the water with the plumbing installed on both myself and the drysuit. It was my big She-P day.

Glorious.

I can now drink as much water as I should to prepare for a dive.

I no longer fantasize about how I can shimmy out of the suit fast enough during surface intervals.

I no longer have to wonder if I should submit to Guiness my records for how long I can hold on before I have to break the seal.

I no longer have to do the ‘dance’ underwater during long dives.

Halleluja!