Dream Dive: Kamloops Wreck. Where do I begin?

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Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Ontario, Canada
# of dives
50 - 99
Hey divers, Im a PADI advanced diver in southern ontario with around 70-80 dives. About half of these are cold water. I also frequently dive the niagara river. This past summer I dove the tiller wreck and the arabia in tobermory and did dives to 130 in colpoys bay. I want to get into tech this summer. Is it possible to become trimix certified in one summer or is that too ambitious? My end goal is the kamloops in isle royale. The ghastly tale of the sinking with all hands lost captivated me when I first read about it. I would like to take the traditional backmount route into trimix diving. Is this wreck and the gunilda still done on oc? Any great lakes tech divers able to offer some advice to an aspiring techie? Anyone dive these wrecks here?
 
Hi. Technically it's possible to do all the training in a summer. If it's wise and a safe progression is questionable. There's a lot to learn and technical diving shouldn't be rushed.

There are places that offer an 8 week technical training program that go all the way to deep trimix from a recreational cert.

I know many divers go from recreational to trimix in a few months and they scare me. Being able to do the skills vs. able to safely apply your abilities in real life dive conditions are very different things.

Without knowing you, I'd suggest begin the decompression diving training when you can. See how it goes, with a humble mindset. Perhaps you'll find you're ready for further training as soon as you meet the bare minimum prerequisites or perhaps you'll decide you want to gain more expedience before learning more.

The wrecks will be there a few more summers at least. Enjoying the learning progression brings it's own satisfaction.


One nice thing, there are many excellent technical dive instructors in your area. You could get a variety of teaching styles from remarkable divers.

Enjoy!
Cameron
 
Hi. Technically it's possible to do all the training in a summer. If it's wise and a safe progression is questionable. There's a lot to learn and technical diving shouldn't be rushed

I know many divers go from recreational to trimix in a few months and they scare me. Being able to do the skills vs. able to safely apply your abilities in real life dive conditions are very different things.

Without knowing you, I'd suggest begin the decompression diving training when you can. See how it goes, with a humble mindset. Perhaps you'll find you're ready for further training as soon as you meet the bare minimum prerequisites or perhaps you'll decide you want to gain more expedience before learning more.

The wrecks will be there a few more summers at least. Enjoying the learning progression brings it's own satisfaction.


One nice thing, there are many excellent technical dive instructors in your area. You could get a variety of teaching styles from remarkable divers.

Enjoy!
Cameron
Thank you for your reply cameron. I appreciate the advice!
 
As you know, first off is definitely a drysuit. It's not too ambitious to start tech if you start early in the spring. You'll need to hone in on "efficient" diving. Your tech class should put you into intro and deco procedures first to get kicking and buoyancy down to the bar that most other technical divers train to.

Second what's your penetration skills? Kamloops at its shallowest is 182' to the stern and 275' at the bowsprit. Penetration is a must if you want the full course on the Kamloops

The Kamloops can easily be done on oc if you explore the engine room and cargo holds, however speculation in the tighter areas will become an issue rather quickly. I suggest amping up your diving with deeper wrecks and diving shallow calm areas to practice drills and testing equipment.

Tech diving in the Great Lakes is a whole different ball game.
 
As you know, first off is definitely a drysuit. It's not too ambitious to start tech if you start early in the spring. You'll need to hone in on "efficient" diving. Your tech class should put you into intro and deco procedures first to get kicking and buoyancy down to the bar that most other technical divers train to.

Second what's your penetration skills? Kamloops at its shallowest is 182' to the stern and 275' at the bowsprit. Penetration is a must if you want the full course on the Kamloops

The Kamloops can easily be done on oc if you explore the engine room and cargo holds, however speculation in the tighter areas will become an issue rather quickly. I suggest amping up your diving with deeper wrecks and diving shallow calm areas to practice drills and testing equipment.

Tech diving in the Great Lakes is a whole different ball game.
Thanks for the reply jared. Would rebreather be that much more streamlined than OC to allow for greater penetration? And i have some recreational penetration experience. Engine room of niagara II, Kittiwake in Grand Cayman for example
 
Isle royale is not in the plans for a couple years. Just looking to start off in the right direction
 
Let the journey be your goal, not the wreck itself. Once you acheive what you now believe to be a pinnacle dive will likely just be a whistle stop to greater achievements if that;s where you find yourself. If I was starting out again I would not have pursued OC trimix at all and gone straight to CCR but that was a journey in itself.

I'd like to do the Kamloops myself
 
Well let's start off with the lower lakes. If you want my advice on where to start doing advance or techcreation dives, I'd look at the wrecks of the John Boland, Dunderburg, New York (Sanilac area), Milwaukee, Eber Ward, Philidelphia & Albany, Grecian, and Monrovia. For shallow easier penetration I'd recommend Grecian, Cedarville, Regina, Charles Price, and Wexford. Any wrecks you want to know about in our region let me know. The St. Lawrence has a few nice ones I would dive again and again. I'm a little dry on Lake Ontario though.

Rebreather are the real way to go when going into an overhead environment, however they are special machines that take absolute confidence and knowledge to use safely. Ask the rebreather guys here on this board for a more informed opinion.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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