How do you dive this place?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I would personally be looking for a trip like this to be happening late May early June....2014 earliest for me.

This area is nowhere near the arctic. For reference, Waskaganish (the lowest of the 4 options on James Bay) is only a couple of miles father north than Calgary. And Chisasibi (the northern most option on James Bay) is only a couple of miles farther north than Edmonton.

Why late May early June? Are you expecting better vis during the earlier months?

 

[ScubaSteve]

Why late May early June? Are you expecting better vis during the earlier months?

I would lean towards June (before May) but: calmer seas, fewer bugs and possibly better vis.......this is just what I think today though.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I would lean towards June (before May) but: calmer seas, fewer bugs and possibly better vis.......this is just what I think today though.

I was aiming to shoot for it in 2013 but on second thoughts, your are right. We may be better prepared if we push it to 2014. Let us tentatively keep it for June 2014. We will keep a list of folks who are serious about this and also the gear needed.

 

[DCBC]

If you go far enough out you are technically diving in Nunavut....

You might want to consider grabbing a First Air flight out of Ottawa to Iqaluit. They will charge you extra for transporting gear, but the rates aren't prohibitive. You could charter a boat through Allen Island Outfitting, Kabva Marine Services, or just go to the Frobisher Inn in the evening and speak with a local (who will undoubtedly come to your table to attempt to sell you a carving). Any of the locals know enough to keep you from being attacked by a bear... As far as gas is concerned, this may be a problem. Michel Tessier was the Nunavut Operations Manager of the Commercial Diving Group, based in North Vancouver. I'm unaware of their current situation, but you could check with them. Alternatively, you just take more cylinders or use a CCR. In any event, good luck with your plans!

 

[ScubaSteve]

Something that I need to throw out there because many people are reading this and several have contacted me via PM and expressed interest. It is not only "have the gear" but also ensuring one is proficient diving with the gear. These locations are not within travel to a chamber. These are remote locations with what I would expect to be simple "facilities". Each of the towns is ~2 hours off the main highway (James Bay Road) which is likely still many hours to the major hospital. Even a helicopter would take a lot longer than it would here in suburbia. We are essentially renting row boats, not chartering a dive boat. These are not likely to have O2 on board or defib or many of the other critical care items (I personally aim to have these available in some fashion if I go). The places we would like be diving would be 1-2 hours to get to by boat from the village shore. We will be in a small boat in a big body of water and far from land. If you add all that up it is a long time before you can get to help.

My point is, this needs to be approached differently than a trip to Bonaire or Hawaii. Equipment can be rented. Experience can't. Safety has to be paramount here because there really is no safety net. Once I have a good picture from my discussions, I will share here what I think we can expect to let people choose for themselves.

---------- Post added December 13th, 2012 at 08:12 AM ----------

Thanks a lot for that info.

You might want to consider grabbing a First Air flight out of Ottawa to Iqaluit.

I have actually looked at that as well as flights to small villages along the northern shore like Salluit and Ivujivik and others (Arctic Kingdom Polar Expeditions run out of Iqualuit which looks awesome but definitely cost prohibitive for me right now). I ruled them out for myself for now because I am trying to plan this around my ability to bring everything we need (including a compressor if needed).

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Something that I need to throw out there because many people are reading this and several have contacted me via PM and expressed interest. It is not only "have the gear" but also ensuring one is proficient diving with the gear. These locations are not within travel to a chamber. These are remote locations with what I would expect to be simple "facilities". Each of the towns is ~2 hours off the main highway (James Bay Road) which is likely still many hours to the major hospital. Even a helicopter would take a lot longer than it would here in suburbia. We are essentially renting row boats, not chartering a dive boat. These are not likely to have O2 on board or defib or many of the other critical care items (I personally aim to have these available in some fashion if I go). The places we would like be diving would be 1-2 hours to get to by boat from the village shore. We will be in a small boat in a big body of water and far from land. If you add all that up it is a long time before you can get to help.

My point is, this needs to be approached differently than a trip to Bonaire or Hawaii. Equipment can be rented. Experience can't. Safety has to be paramount here because there really is no safety net. Once I have a good picture from my discussions, I will share here what I think we can expect to let people choose for themselves.

Well said! My experience with such expeditions is that initially you will have a lot of people from various skill levels expressing interest. When it is time to head out then the actual number will be one in ten of those initially interested. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this drop down. It is perfectly fine to feel curios about such trips, demand more information and it is also perfectly fine to drop out of them if one feels that their experience level is not up there. This is a sign of diver-maturity.

Thanks for putting it out there Steve.

 

[DCBC]

...It is not only "have the gear" but also ensuring one is proficient diving with the gear. These locations are not within travel to a chamber. These are remote locations with what I would expect to be simple "facilities"....If you add all that up it is a long time before you can get to help. ...My point is, this needs to be approached differently than a trip to Bonaire or Hawaii. Equipment can be rented. Experience can't...

Absolutely. All divers should be experienced in cold water / ice diving. I've done some really nice dives off Baffin Island a few years back. We were on the edge of the sea ice in late March and the diving was extraordinary. There wasn't much to see other than the underwater ice formations around / under the bergs; which are really cool. Divers would be advised to have a cave/wreck certification, as you either follow crystal pathways in the overhead or penetrate the berg itself.

Newfoundland and Labrador have some excellent dives; deep wrecks and iceberg dives that are amazing. I don't dive Quebec nor have the desire to.

James Bay may be closer than Newfoundland, but it does provide a logistical nightmare for equipment. Added to this is the poor visibility in the spring from the run-off from the Muketei, Albany, Cheepash (and other) rivers, so you may best be advised to not plan anything in the Spring. You should also give some consideration to what you want to see. Many brackish areas don't have a lot to look at and you don't want to go to the expense and time just to end-up being disappointed...

The closest chamber is in Ottawa, which as you've mentioned, is a long way. On the positive side, Ornge does have an air ambulance (S-76) helicopter stationed right in Moosonee. Obviously you would be advised to have your medical insurance up-to-date as one ride could cost you a fortune...

 

[Mr. Willoughby]

I used to joke with my ex (who is from Edmonton) that we were entering the arctic whenever we went up to visit her family in the winter and left the brown-grassed Calgary behind for the two metre snow drifts of Edmonton... Really dramatic difference between the two cities in the winter and they're only ~300 km apart.

---------- Post added December 13th, 2012 at 11:48 AM ----------

I agree about the lack of facilities. It may very well come as a shock to some folks to see just how limited things are in the area. When I was in the "real' arctic we came prepared with everything we needed and spares besides. We even had military doctors along. Still, my friend had a wisdom tooth erupt (rather late in life actually) and as luck would have it the regional dentist was in the nearby town on his second day of a two day rotation and would not be back for another three months. He ended up taking a scalpel to my friend's gum and incising the area so the tooth could erupt without hindrance.

Anyhow, my point is that things are what urban folks would consider "primitive" and even an infected hangnail can become a serious problem.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Just wanted to revive this old thread to see if the folks who had shown interest are still interested? I have received a fair number of PMs about people asking for costs and logistics as well as tentative dates. Though the trip is still 10 months away (May 2014) something of this sort can never be a last minute roll call. Lets see a show of hands please ...

---------- Post added July 10th, 2013 at 01:29 PM ----------

:admingreet:

 

[ScubaSteve]

This is footage take about 3 miles away from the town of Eastmain.



At about 30 seconds on you realize that this is not a fire raging in the distance. My Cree is non-existant but I think what the driver is saying roughly translates to:

"OH **** OH **** OH **** OH **** OH ****"

The S&R group in Eastmain has had their hands full and will not likely be able to do the recon dives for me that they had hoped to do. Mother Nature comes first. In the end, rains apparently came and the village was not harmed per se.