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To keep abreast of the news within the DRUC, here’s a listing of notices and newsletters,
in chronological order. Notices -2006 Summer
The next event on the dive schedule is a wreck dive on the Mayflower wreck in Lake Kamineskeg near Barry's Bay (July 08). While we were having some success finding a charter boat to get us to the site, we're short that weekend on Dive Coordinators (experienced divers with Rescue Diver certification and with experience at the particular dive site). The presence of Dive
Coordinators during organized dive events is one of the ways we manage risks during dive events. This person develops a safety plan for the site, reviews the hazards, provides a briefing of the dive site, and provides general oversight to ensure that all divers follow safe diving practices. With this safety and risk management role, the unavailability of a Dive Coordinator is a cause to post-pone the event to another date when we have the
necessary coverage. We have only three individuals in the club that fulfill this role, which is a small number. Peter will be offering a Rescue Diver course this summer so we should be able to have a few more Dive Coordinators available for future events. Sorry folks, but we can try again in August for a visit to the Mayflower.
The upcoming event "Crayfish Hunt" is going ahead as planned - Sat Jun 24.
The event takes place at Lake Clear, near Eganville, at the cottage of Marc & Anne Audet. Plan to arrive between 1:00 and 2:00 pm, but if you'd like to come earlier to go snorkelling or whatever, you're welcome to do so (recommended).
Like last year, the event involves a shore dive in front to the cottage, during which time you collect as many large crayfish as you can, then we'll cook them up as a side dish with a bar-b-q dinner. Bring whatever you want to cook on the bar-b-q (e.g., hamburgs, sausages, hot dogs, chicken), and the plan is to "pot luck" the necessary salads and deserts. The long range forecast is excellent, for whatever that's worth.
The Dive The "front yard" is a flat area from 8' to 12' deep with the bottom rocky (boulders, gravel) in one area, and silty (with occasional weed beds) on either side of the rocky area. The VIS is typically excellent (for this area) - 15 to 20'. There are many large small mouth bass that will follow you around looking for a free meal. There's one area where there is a "training
platform" anchored to the bottom, and surrounding this site there are many interesting artefacts, like a bicycle (try riding it "ET-style"), rock monuments, underwater signs, etc. The water should be warm (70 deg F), but neoprene gloves are a must for handing the crayfish (as is a mesh grab bag) This time of the year, the crayfish are found crawling around on the bottom - away
from their rocky hiding spots. And if you'd prefer to leave the crayfish alone, just tour around with the bass or build some rock monuments on the bottom. The dive, although very shallow, is interesting from several perspectives. First of all, it's an interesting site, and being a shallow warm-water site, it's an excellent low-hazard dive site to initiate yourself for the summer (for those of you that haven't been
in the water yet). During the dive, you should take a few minutes to practice some of the basic skills like mask flushing, weight belt ditching, and emergency ascents. Secondly, the process of collecting crayfish underwater requires concentration, similar to working underwater on a problem, whether searching for something or assembling something. The collecting of crayfish also underwater requires technique - you'll soon realize that working
with your dive-buddy is a very productive method, and if you're really good (or lucky) you'll catch a few that your buddy flushes from the bottom. Also, inevitably you end up kicking up silt, so the dive exposes you to silty conditions at times (reduced VIS). The dive also forces to be attentive to neutral buoyancy. All in all, it's a lot of fun, good exercise, and the dive ends with good food and good stories.
Location Here's a map to the cottage. Transit time from Deep River is around 75 minutes. Unlike in previous years, the gravel portion of the cottage road (last 3 km) is fairly good condition. <<B411 Map.doc>> I'd suggest leaving Deep River after an early-ish lunch - e.g., if you leave at 12:30, you'll be at the lake before 2:00 pm, in the
water by 3:00 pm, out of the water by 4:30 pm, and picnicking by 5:00 pm, then back on the road by 7:00 pm (but stay longer if you like) and back home before 8:30 pm. Registration and Equipment If you're planning on participating - contact me by e-mail or phone (594-4989 evenings) to register (before Thursday evening). I'll share the names of the people registered so that car
pooling can be carried out as much as possible. If you need a tank or any other equipment (BCD or reg), let me know (via e-mail or 594-4989 during evenings). Other Logistical Matters
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BYO meat (patties, sausages, wieners, chicken, etc). Condiments (relish, catsup, mustard, onions, tomatoes, lettuce) will be provided.
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BYO beverages.
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POT LUCK - bring one salad or one desert.
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Kids are welcome (there's a beach area where the kids can play safely), but parents are responsible for supervising their kids.
Hope to see many of you there! Marc
Saturday (June 10). The event is a shore dive (or two) at Lake Clear near Eganville.
The event is combined with orientation dives of the NAUI Basic Scuba course that is nearing completion. For this reason, there will be limited rental gear available (priority goes to the students). The site is a shallow but interesting site. The site is ideal for your first dive of the year where you'd want to re-familiarize yourself with your equipment and the basic skills in a comfortable
environment. By comfortable I mean good VIS (~20') and warm water (~20 deg C). The site, although shallow (10' to 15'), offers some interesting underwater scenery - the bouldery bottom is interesting to explore, and there should be large bass to see, as well as crayfish. This site is worth exploring, but a single dive would suffice. There is, however a second shore dive at the same site that would cover different terrain, so people
interested in diving twice could do so. The site is at a cottage, so access is good, and there's the comfort of change facilities and a bar-b-q to cook up a lunch. Because the orientation dives will occur over most of the afternoon, any recreational diving at the site can occur at any time. A suggested plan would be to arrive (see attached map) around 10:00 am, then finish your dive in time for a lunch in the sun -
but as before, this event does not have time constraints.
Saturday May 27 Petawawa River Dive re-located to Stonecliffe Flooded Village
Advice from the local whitewater canoers is that the water level in the Petawawa River has risen this past week because of the recent week-long period of steady rain. Not only does this rise increase the level of current at the proposed dive site, but the VIS can also be diminished (as we learned last summer when VIS dropped from 12' to 4' overnight). Because of the VIS and current, the dive site for this
Saturday's dive has been switched to the flooded Stonecliffe Town site, located at Stonecliffe. Bright sunlight is a key environmental factor for this site (important for pleasure not safety), and Saturday afternoon's forecast (warm, sunny, light breeze) is perfect, so the switch seems like a good decision.The catch with this site is that the guideline from shore (see the attached dive site report)
probably needs to be restored first. This maintenance can be carried out quickly at the start of the dive. The only other advisory for this site is that wet suit hoods and gloves are needed in order to address the cool waters that we still have. Another equipment option for this site is to bring lights in order to dive the deeper sections, as VIS rapidly drops (due to an absence of light) at depths greater than 20 feet. Fortunately, most of
the interesting parts of this site are at depths ranging from 12 to 18 feet, so although the light is dim, the VIS is reasonable. The plan is to dive during the afternoon. The plan is to meet at the Stonecliffe boat launch at 2:00 pm. I'll be there earlier to restore the guideline. If you're interested in diving, please let me know this afternoon (e-mail reply) or tonight (telephone - 584-4989). And,
if you can't get out on the dive, have a great weekend in the sun with your other activities (and the bugs). Marc
May 25th Update
Dive Events
The water's now warm enough for diving (using a decent wet suit), and as of today we're now into a favorable weather pattern (i.e., sun). Our first scheduled club dive is set for this coming Saturday, with the site being the Petawawa River at the North Street "pool". We'll have to check the water level and river current to determine whether the conditions are
adequate for the first dive of the year, and so we may select a different site for Saturday, but start thinking about this first dive. Further info on the dive will come (tomorrow). If you're interested in diving, and you need to reserve rental gear, please contact Marc Audet at 584-4989.
There is still vacancy in the space-limited weekend trip to Brockville (St. Lawrence River wreck diving) set for June 16-18 dive event. To reserve a spot on the trip or to get more information, contact Brent Woods at 584-3010, or contact any of the other club executive (see the listing on the club web site at www.druc.ca).
Equipment Maintenance
Properly maintained dive equipment is one of the cornerstones of safe diving. While we're nearing the end of our annual equipment service program, there is still one more campaign available for people to take advantage of. Essentially, we offer the convenience of shuttling gear to/from our preferred service depot in North Bay. The last shuttle is next week. If you have a
tank or reg or BC that you'd like to get serviced, please contact Marc Audet at 584-4989.
Training
The NAUI Basic Scuba course is well underway now, but two other courses are still available (but will be starting soon) for interested people. These are the NAUI NITROX course, and a refresher basic scuba course aimed at certified divers who have not been diving for a number of years. To sign up for either of these courses or to get more information, contact Peter Angell at
584-4617, or contact any of the other club executive.
Rental Gear
The DRUC continues to provide a rental program for tanks, BCs, regulator sets and weight belts. All equipment is serviced annually, with the servicing now being complete. The rental fees this year are the same as in previous years (posted on the web site), with the rates set to be below the rates at dive shops in Ottawa. The income from rentals primarily is used to fund the
annual maintenance of the equipment and to enable us to update our equipment as needed.
That's all for now... safe diving!!
Marc Audet, DRUC
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