Tobermory Dive Report September 15, 2017

[Marie13]

Cold is good!

 

[gcarter]

Cold is good!

Says the lady with the drysuit Try 4C / 39F in a 2 piece 7mm. D*mn cold!

 

[electric_diver]

Go to Les Escoumins in Quebec. Its shore diving that is shallow, beautiful and F*n cold.
Next year when thay ask about cold water diving tell them about Les Escoumins.

 

[rhwestfall]

One thing I should point out about Diver's Den is that they were reluctant to get me on the morning boat which goes to the deeper wrecks. Even though I'm a Master Diver (NAUI) who have done many deep dives, they said I should have more cold water dive experience before attempting the deeper dives at Tobermory.

Which wrecks?

 

[cleung]

Any of the morning boat dives including Niagara, Arabia, Forest City -- they said I needed the relevant experience first. They wanted me to do the afternoon dives instead - Caves/Caroline Rose, King/Wetmore, Minx/Sweepstakes.

 

[gcarter]

Arabia goes to 110 FFW on the sand, Forest City to 150 FFW. I didn't go to the sand on the Niagra II and hit max depth of 88 FFW. Definitely cold territory, particularly if diving wet. 4C in mid August.

By way of contrast, I did the Kinghorn @ 91 FFW off of Rockport and the Ash Island Barge off of Ivy Lea @ 113 FFW Sunday past (yesterday). Water was at 20C all the way to the bottom, no thermoclines.

There really is a difference.

 

[rhwestfall]

As said, the Arabia is a challenge being out in the middle of open water. Currents and cold make it potentially a difficult dive. Niagara II, for some reason, is one of the coldest dives there. Forest City poses issues in that you can get real deep, and not realize it due to the orientation of the wreck. The cold can really compound things, and the caution by the shop should be heeded.

I've seen numerous issues with inexperienced divers on these wrecks.

This is not Brockville.....

 

[Jared0425]

I will always remember my first trip to Toby. We did the Arabia, Forest City, Niagara, and those caves. The first day of diving we hopped onto the Niagara and after I jumped in, I saw the entire wreck from the surface! I was in awe and still am. 400 dives later I've only encountered that visibility on Lake Huron twice since then.

 

[cleung]

As said, the Arabia is a challenge being out in the middle of open water. Currents and cold make it potentially a difficult dive. Niagara II, for some reason, is one of the coldest dives there. Forest City poses issues in that you can get real deep, and not realize it due to the orientation of the wreck. The cold can really compound things, and the caution by the shop should be heeded.

I've seen numerous issues with inexperienced divers on these wrecks.

This is not Brockville.....

Yes I appreciate the differences. It's just that there doesn't seem to be a viable progression in Tobermory. During the day I was up there, one of our afternoon divers also dove in the morning doing the Niagara and it was his first trip up there. He said Diver's Den was very reluctant to give him a spot for the morning but his trip to the Galapagos likely just barely got him in.

 

[rhwestfall]

Yeah Clint, I get it. I took my wife up there two years ago for her first trip there, and fell into the trap of limited choices, and "boat politics". Wife ended up sitting out dive #2 as it wasn't making her comfortable (and, being the good husband, I chose to stay up top with her). I have been frustrated there too.... One solution was to find and use a small operator who caters to my diving wishes. There are plenty of site options, but getting the "cattle boats" to agree isn't easy. This year, I was introducing my newly certified daughter to Tobermory diving. I knew that I'd never get dives on the sites I wanted for her skill level. Ended up connecting with Correy from C-View (find him on FB) who has a 6-pack license, but prefers 2-4 divers. We worked out the sites, set our mutually agreeable schedule, and had a wonderful time. That is the way to do it!