Got in six dives and still managed to see the city and some of the sights! For whoever pointed me to the Kingston Brewing Company, MANY THANKS! Their Dragons Breath Real Ale is to die for, especially smooth because of the use of a beer engine to dispense. Can't wait to visit that place again.
Made two dives Friday afternoon, The George T. Davie (93 ffw, 21 minutes, about 51 F. at the bottom) and the George Marsh, (84 ffw, 21 minutes
about 45 F. at the bottom)
Saturday morning, out on the boat at 8:30, first dive was the Comet, (81 ffw for 25 minutes, about 57 degrees at the wreck) and The Cornwall, (72 ffw, 35 minutes and about 55 degrees at the wreck). Were back to the marina by around noon and met at Kingston Brewing at 2:00 for ale and food.
Sunday morning, was again on the boat at 8:30 and off to a ddep dive. The Munson! (112 ffw for 28 minutes total dive time, and about 50 and kind of dark at the bottom.) Group of divers were there when we arrived and had it a little silted up but not too bad. Finally, the Wolf Islander, again a large group of divers were already on the boat, bubbles were streaming up from the wreck as we headed down. (78 ffw, for 36 minutes with a bottom time that seemed to be around 60 degrees). A most wonderful dive, with lots chance for penetration and a large population of fish to watch. WE HAD A BALL!
Limestone divers were great. Tanks were always ready, prices were reasonable and they responded in a postive manner to every request. Would be happy to dive with them again. A fairly fast boat, well set up for divers (if a bit on the noisy side when underway) and a very laid back crew that were knowledgeable of the wrecks and history of the area.
I had a little problem on the very first dive, had an issue with one of my ears, and came up with it bleeding inside my hood. Didn't notice until one of the other divers pointed it out. Didn't stop me from diving, just wanted to be messy at times.
Weather cooperated most of the time, with some pretty heavy rain on Sunday at noon as we came off the boat. Other than that, it was warm, muggy and grey, with a quiet lake and good diving.
Can't wait to go back to Kingston!
kingdiver
August 11th, 2003, 07:15 PM
Been there three times!
bottom_sucker
August 12th, 2003, 07:44 AM
Welcome to the wonderful world of Canadian wrecks. The Davie and The Marsh were my first 2 wrecks and I still remember the thrill of seeing the bow of The Davie materialize below me while going down the line. The Wolfe Islander is always fun.
Nice to see you appreciate a fine Canadian beverage as well.
Cheers :cheers:
Dave
lakesdiver
August 12th, 2003, 09:05 AM
Yes, indeed. Kingston is great. And, of course, the Kingston Brewing Co. is excellent. Makes me wish I lived closer to it.
Tractor Tom
August 12th, 2003, 11:54 AM
But I'm happy with the fact that we have TWO brand new micro-brew establishments in Frankenmuth these days. FBI (Frankenmuth Brewing Inc) has finally re-opened after 5 years of building and fighting with the city fathers. And better still, Black Forest Brewpub is open and making some world-class ales, just east of Bronners, on Weiss St. If you get up this way, try Hagar's Maple Porter, it's really great!
Diver Lori
August 12th, 2003, 12:15 PM
Hey Tom!
Sounds like you had a great time. Do you have more particulars to share on the op you went with please?
My buddy and I do cave and would like to venture into some GL/SL wrecks next summer. He's also an "ale" lover (Guinness, Bass, Steamer) and this just might be the combo ticket to get him moving in that direction!
TIA!
Lori
diverjed
August 12th, 2003, 12:31 PM
Brewing it, drinking it, and diving it can be a rough mix!
Kingston is dangerous.
Diver Lori
August 12th, 2003, 12:43 PM
Not to worry Jed....
We don't imbibe until the last day when doing strenuous diving and then it's only one or two.
We're not lightweights. We do FL caves, BC rock & roll dives and deep stuff regularly.
Your concern is warranted but not necessary in our case.
Thanks for the thought!
Lori
diverjed
August 12th, 2003, 12:49 PM
I've had close encounters there with overindulgence.
Tractor Tom
August 12th, 2003, 12:51 PM
...the diving or the beer?
In my mind, one kind of leads to the other, I guess.
The dive operator was Limestone Divers, who is in a building right next to the Olympic Sailing Marina, out near the prison on the west side of town. They are currently running a couple boats, the one we were using was an aluminum fishing boat, converted to diving. Fast and noisy was the word of the day, with a large diesel engine, and little soundproofing on an all metal boat. Couple that with a drystack system and you have a real boomer.
There are literally hundreds of wrecks in the area and a month wouldn't be enough time to dive them all. The water clarity was good on most of the dives and on all of the dives we made, the descent lines were all in good shape. The lake can get really bumpy, but we had several days of light winds and really didn't see any rough water.
The Kingston Brewing Company is on Clarence St., just one block west of the City Hall building, in downtown and one storefront away from Ontario Street (the main drag there). They offer great food, and a half dozen different brews. I tried the IPA and liked it, but the one I really enjoyed was the "Real Ale" they call Dragon Breath. A medium dark ale, dispensed with a beer engine, it comes to you with a frothy white/tan head and takes a few minutes to settle in the glass. Is exceptionally smooth and easy to drink. The also have Cider and brew their own root beer (which my wife said was quite refreshing). There seems to be plenty of metered parking and parking lots around in the mid day, but could get a little hard to find a place later in the evening. Most of the meters are $1 an hour and will take a $1 coin or quarters. The maximum stay on many meters is two hours.
There are LOTs of places to stay in Kingston, with a huge number of B&B's in the city as well as three nice campgrounds (we stayed at a KOA just across the 401 from town, that was exceptionally nice and clean as well as quiet) and a very nice campground down on the water call Lake Ontario Park (we'll stay there next time I think) as well as large and small motels in all price ranges.
If you are in the US, the exchange rate while we were there was about $1.35 to a dollar which makes everything feel just a little more affordable.
We enjoyed a Tram (sightseeing) ride through town the first morning, and visited a couple of the museums as well. We ate in several resturants during our stay (other than the Brewing company) and found the food to be mostly tasty and well priced.
Anything I missed, drop me a line and I'll address individual questions.
diverjed
August 12th, 2003, 12:59 PM
I've dove with 'Big Jim Charters' in Kingston twice and once with Limestone Divers, who set me up with the crazy guy in a 25ft boat named Willy.
Tractor Tom
August 12th, 2003, 01:39 PM
..was that a guy named Willy, or a boat named willy?????
diverjed
August 12th, 2003, 01:57 PM
Guy named Willy. A couple years ago when I went with him he had that small of a boat, and one day we had 9 divers on it.
Diver Lori
August 12th, 2003, 09:49 PM
Thanks Tom & Jed,
I'm originally from Upstate New York (Finger Lakes) and would love to get back up that way next summer. When is the best time to dive for optimum conditions?
Thanks!
Tractor Tom
August 13th, 2003, 05:27 AM
...as the lakes tend to change so fast! The guys on the boat said that the conditions tend to change from day to day, just like any large open body of water. I would think the best vis would be found earlier in the year, but then you suffer with the much colder water. Our conditions were really very good, with calm winds and flat seas and bottom vis in the 40-50' range with bottom temps in the 50-60 degree range depending on the depth and location. At 15' for a safety stop, we were right in the soup, with all manner of tiny creature floating by your mask, but below that and into the theromcline around 55-60' the water cleared right up!
As for a good time to visit and see the town of Kingston (which is really very pretty and so clean that you can't believe it...)I would have to say July thru September before the wind turns up to the north, as the streets are filled with sidewalk cafes and places to sit and watch people while you eat or drink. I'm sure those pretty well disappear as the weather gets colder.
DaveG
August 13th, 2003, 03:40 PM
we make an annual pilgramage to frankenmuth ( ok partly birch run for shopping) from Brampton ontario (near toronto).
love the beer and food at the Eck sp???
keep looking at the brewpub place each year but it was never open???
have not made the trip yet this year,,,new beers to try may just be the excuse we need
Tractor Tom
August 13th, 2003, 04:31 PM
...on the north end of town. Yeah, the fellow that owns that, came over from Germany to visit and never went back. Bought the resturant and the house next door and when his wife got unhappy, she went back and he stayed here. Nice place, I haven't been in there in a couple of years.
Well, the new brew pub on main street (Frankenmuth Brewing) is open and offering a half dozen good beers. But in my opinion, their prices are way out of line. The Black Forest, across Weiss street from Bronners has good food and good prices, and GREAT beers.
I'd normally be down there tonight or tomorrow night for a couple, but with the antibiotics, I guess I'll lay off the beer for 10 days or so and make sure they get a chance to work...
Drop a line when you're coming to town next time, always happy to drink a beer with another diver!
