NIce videos, the Keystorm is a great dive, it depends what the OP means by 'have only one morning'. Every Canadian charter operator I've been on pre-registers passport information but the stop at Boldt Castle to clear US immigration still adds about half an hour to the trip (cool castle and boathouse though) and the wrecks are a little farther away. The boat usually does not get back to the dock until early afternoon but a Keystorm - Kinghorn trip out of Rockport might get you back earlier, Kinghorn is a nice little wreck within sight of the dock at Rockport. If time really is limited a Lillie - Gaskin run out of St. Lawrence Park in Brockville will get you back pretty early, I prefer the Lillie to the Muskie, and The Gaskin is a nice easy dive, late 19th century wooden barque, she's upright and she still has quite a bit of structure, I don't reccomend trying to swim there from shore on a single 80 though. There is a lot of great divng in the Brockville/Rockport area, one morning will hopefully just whet the OPs appetite for more.
Gaskin + Lillie Parsons Dives Or Others?
- Thread starter cleung
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gcarter
Contributor
Another consideration to add to the above is that US customs at Boldt Castle doesn't open until 10 if I remember correctly, so the timing starts from there for the US wrecks.
OP
cleung
Contributor
Question about the Parsons -- why would most people elect to do the drift dive exit? From the videos I've seen, it appears that the drift dive part is just among some rocks and then you would have to swim back to the dive boat. I'm assuming that if we took the reverse route to ascend back up the way we came down along the line, we would surface closer to the boat and maybe use up the time we would otherwise have had to during the drift part on the wreck instead.
gcarter
Contributor
If you do the short one, it really does not take long and wraps you around the end of the island. It is a nice relaxing way to end the dive.
OP
cleung
Contributor
I see. How far is the swim back to the boat though?
gcarter
Contributor
The boat gets real darn close, it just gets really shallow there. I am horrible at guesstimating distances, but no more than 50m I would wager. You can see from the pic below the scale. It is a pretty small island.
A description of the dive can be found here:
Dive Brockville Adventure Center
" As you near the end, you will see a rope leading back to the surface. Simply grab the rope and ascend to your safety stop, then up to the surface. You will find yourself near the bay where a gentle swim will bring you back to the dive boat."
Just to be clear about "swim back to boat": You do not swim back to your charter boat. You will tour the Lillie and then drift off along the island. There are two drifts, short and long. The short drift is about 3 minute and you go to 30' at which point there is a line on the wall. After your safety stop you go up and into the bay (the bay at the top of gcarter's picture) and your charter boat will pick you up there. The long drift is about 20 minutes depending on factors and takes you to the end of Stoven Island (you can just see the start of it at the very top of the picture). If you haven't done the long drift or don't have someone with you who has then I would suggest spending a bit more time on the Lillie and then the short drift to the bay.
electric_diver
Contributor
lerpy
Contributor
Not drifting off the Lillie is not really an option. Once you are under the captain will unhook from the mooring line and then monitor the bubbles and position of divers. We normally will sit just off Sparrow Island and drift with the current keeping the divers between the boat and the island, basically this is to protect you if you come to the surface. Boats on the river, ( the ones that know) will not go between the boat and the island.
AS has been mentioned if its your first time then the short drift is what you will end up doing likely. If you go down the anchor chain from shore to the Lillie and spend the majority of your time on the wreck you will then drift off and have maybe a 5-10 minute drift to where the boat will pick you up. If the plan is to go into the bay, the boat will go into the bay and tie up and pick up divers as they come into the bay, really no swimming involved and you are out of the current. When you drift off the Lillie, if you are at 30-40 feet the current will automatically push you into the bay. The eddies coming of the islands cause a bit of a reversing of the current near the surface and naturally push you into the bay, the current will die off and you know you are in the bay. Make sure someone has an SMB that you are diving with, send that up, surface and the boat will be there.
If you pass the bay, not worry, you will stay against the rock wall, send up your SMB and surface and float on the surface up against the rock, and the boat will come and pick you up. In that case you may need to swim out a bit as the boat cannot get in that close to the rock to get you. Just listen to what the captain and the deck hand tells you and you are fine.
If you were to come back up the anchor chain on the Lillie you would have to drift off on the surface to where the boat could get you.
The drift underwater is fun though, if you have not done it, it is worth it. Lots of fun cruising along, just stay next to the wall and your fine.
AS has been mentioned if its your first time then the short drift is what you will end up doing likely. If you go down the anchor chain from shore to the Lillie and spend the majority of your time on the wreck you will then drift off and have maybe a 5-10 minute drift to where the boat will pick you up. If the plan is to go into the bay, the boat will go into the bay and tie up and pick up divers as they come into the bay, really no swimming involved and you are out of the current. When you drift off the Lillie, if you are at 30-40 feet the current will automatically push you into the bay. The eddies coming of the islands cause a bit of a reversing of the current near the surface and naturally push you into the bay, the current will die off and you know you are in the bay. Make sure someone has an SMB that you are diving with, send that up, surface and the boat will be there.
If you pass the bay, not worry, you will stay against the rock wall, send up your SMB and surface and float on the surface up against the rock, and the boat will come and pick you up. In that case you may need to swim out a bit as the boat cannot get in that close to the rock to get you. Just listen to what the captain and the deck hand tells you and you are fine.
If you were to come back up the anchor chain on the Lillie you would have to drift off on the surface to where the boat could get you.
The drift underwater is fun though, if you have not done it, it is worth it. Lots of fun cruising along, just stay next to the wall and your fine.
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