scuba_junkie
Guest
Well, I just got back from my weekend in Tobermory. I have to tell you, for my first actual dive trip and first real wreck dives, it was fantastic! Since I really had only 9 logged dives including my OW dives, I was a little nervous about a few things. The first was dive boat procedures and etiquette, and the second was the depth on one of the dives. I got buddied up with someone that had a great deal more diving experience than I did, so that made me feel more comfortable. Anyways, once I got the first dive out of the way, no more worries... then it was just "How long till the next dive?!?!?"
We did 3 dives on Saturday and 2 dives on Sunday. The wrecks we saw on Saturday where great warmup dives all in about 25 to 35 feet of water. The first was the Newago, then the Whitmore, and finally a two wreck dive of the Sweepstakes and the City of Grand Rapids. These dives gave me the chance to get the hang of diving with a large group from a boat. My dive buddy and I gelled on the very first dive, which made things a ton easier from then on.
That night the whole group of us (24) had dinner together at a local restaurant. It was fun to get to know some more of the divers on the trip and hear everyone swap dive stories from this trip and others. One episode that I didnt hear about on the boat that day was how 2 people tossed their fully weighted rigs over the side of the boat without properly inflating them and they sank straight to the bottom. Thank God it was only 30 feet of water. LOL.
Our first dive Sunday was at the Grotto/Caves which is basically an underwater cave entrance to a big open air pool about 20 feet inland. There are a couple other ways in and out, we tried 2 of them. The main one is really big, the other was planty wide but just tall enough to easily clear a diver through wiithout any trouble. It made me feel like I was cave diving (Dont worry... not something that I want to try any time soon), which was a neat experience. Outside of the caves are big underwater boulders that where fun to explore. The really cool part about that dive was that my dive buddy and I got to pull anchor duty. The boat captain told whoever was going to be the first ones in the water that they needed to go down and see if the anchor was properly set. Everyone else sort of took a step back, so Kerro (my dive buddy) and I got geared up and hopped in the water. We went down and did the anchor check (53ft...another record), and gave the OK for it holding. We where in a decent swell so thats why the capitain wanted us to check it. He didnt want the boat to run into the rocks, or any divers.
The second dive on Sunday and last for the weekend was the perfect ending to a great trip. The Niagara II. WOW!! WOW!! WOW!! I think I am hooked on wreck diving. This was a fantastic dive. The top of the pilot house was around 40ft and the deck ranged from 60 to 80 feet deep. Our dive leader set a limit of 70 feet for the dive to keep everyone out of trouble. Supposedly, the whole deck stayed at 60 - 65 feet, and the 70 foot limit was so you could at least have a peek over the edge of the deck a few feet down. Well, as Kerro and I discovered as we ventured along the deck rail towards the bow, that the wreck was at a decent anlge. I happened to look at my computer and it read 73 feet... ooops. So we stayed above the limit for the rest of the dive, had a great time venturing in and around the different rooms of the wreck. My favorite was when we wandered into one door, through a room and down a short hall and emerged on a catwalk in one of the cargo holds. I looked up and there was 2 or 3 divers looking in at us backlit by the ambient light from the sirface. What a sight. We even had a rescue/salvage on Kerro's equipment. We where swimming next to the pilot house, he was about 10 feet above me and about 15 feet ahead of me when I saw what appeared to be his dive light taking a plunge. Then, after seeing the grey plastic handle flapping as it fell, I realized it was one of the integrated weight pouches from his BC. I immediately started rapidly swimming for it, even though it was well out of my reach. It headed right for the rail on the edge of the deck and looked like it was going to make its new home at 110 feet, but luckily wedged itself against a cut out in the railing and a winch. I grabbed it and started heading up towards Kerro. He was luckily near a rail on the pilot house and grabbed it once he realized he lost the weight pouch. I helped him replace the weights and we finished out the dive. Once we surfaced, he stated that the incident added a perfect exciting element to a perfect dive.
All in all, a great trip. Cant wait to go back sometime!!
Oh and BTW - All those that mentioned it was very cold water up there, either I got lucky or you need thicker wetsuits. The water temp down to 60 feet was about 63 to 65 degrees. I did most of the dives without my hood. Once under 60 feet was where the thermocline was... then at 55 degrees it was a little chilly but not that bad.
Dive Safe!!!
Erichut:
We did 3 dives on Saturday and 2 dives on Sunday. The wrecks we saw on Saturday where great warmup dives all in about 25 to 35 feet of water. The first was the Newago, then the Whitmore, and finally a two wreck dive of the Sweepstakes and the City of Grand Rapids. These dives gave me the chance to get the hang of diving with a large group from a boat. My dive buddy and I gelled on the very first dive, which made things a ton easier from then on.
That night the whole group of us (24) had dinner together at a local restaurant. It was fun to get to know some more of the divers on the trip and hear everyone swap dive stories from this trip and others. One episode that I didnt hear about on the boat that day was how 2 people tossed their fully weighted rigs over the side of the boat without properly inflating them and they sank straight to the bottom. Thank God it was only 30 feet of water. LOL.
Our first dive Sunday was at the Grotto/Caves which is basically an underwater cave entrance to a big open air pool about 20 feet inland. There are a couple other ways in and out, we tried 2 of them. The main one is really big, the other was planty wide but just tall enough to easily clear a diver through wiithout any trouble. It made me feel like I was cave diving (Dont worry... not something that I want to try any time soon), which was a neat experience. Outside of the caves are big underwater boulders that where fun to explore. The really cool part about that dive was that my dive buddy and I got to pull anchor duty. The boat captain told whoever was going to be the first ones in the water that they needed to go down and see if the anchor was properly set. Everyone else sort of took a step back, so Kerro (my dive buddy) and I got geared up and hopped in the water. We went down and did the anchor check (53ft...another record), and gave the OK for it holding. We where in a decent swell so thats why the capitain wanted us to check it. He didnt want the boat to run into the rocks, or any divers.
The second dive on Sunday and last for the weekend was the perfect ending to a great trip. The Niagara II. WOW!! WOW!! WOW!! I think I am hooked on wreck diving. This was a fantastic dive. The top of the pilot house was around 40ft and the deck ranged from 60 to 80 feet deep. Our dive leader set a limit of 70 feet for the dive to keep everyone out of trouble. Supposedly, the whole deck stayed at 60 - 65 feet, and the 70 foot limit was so you could at least have a peek over the edge of the deck a few feet down. Well, as Kerro and I discovered as we ventured along the deck rail towards the bow, that the wreck was at a decent anlge. I happened to look at my computer and it read 73 feet... ooops. So we stayed above the limit for the rest of the dive, had a great time venturing in and around the different rooms of the wreck. My favorite was when we wandered into one door, through a room and down a short hall and emerged on a catwalk in one of the cargo holds. I looked up and there was 2 or 3 divers looking in at us backlit by the ambient light from the sirface. What a sight. We even had a rescue/salvage on Kerro's equipment. We where swimming next to the pilot house, he was about 10 feet above me and about 15 feet ahead of me when I saw what appeared to be his dive light taking a plunge. Then, after seeing the grey plastic handle flapping as it fell, I realized it was one of the integrated weight pouches from his BC. I immediately started rapidly swimming for it, even though it was well out of my reach. It headed right for the rail on the edge of the deck and looked like it was going to make its new home at 110 feet, but luckily wedged itself against a cut out in the railing and a winch. I grabbed it and started heading up towards Kerro. He was luckily near a rail on the pilot house and grabbed it once he realized he lost the weight pouch. I helped him replace the weights and we finished out the dive. Once we surfaced, he stated that the incident added a perfect exciting element to a perfect dive.
All in all, a great trip. Cant wait to go back sometime!!
Oh and BTW - All those that mentioned it was very cold water up there, either I got lucky or you need thicker wetsuits. The water temp down to 60 feet was about 63 to 65 degrees. I did most of the dives without my hood. Once under 60 feet was where the thermocline was... then at 55 degrees it was a little chilly but not that bad.
Dive Safe!!!
Erich
ut:
