St. Lawrence this weekend...anybody?

[scubadobadoo]

My Wife and I are going to be in Prescott at the Dewar's Inn this weekend (staying night of Sept. 1st) and want to do some of the local shore dives on Saturday afternoon and Sunday early. We are thinking we will try the Conestoga, the Rothesay, and maybe another site close by or hit the Islander on our way south back to NY on Sunday.

It seems the Conestoga would be a good site to have a "guide" the first time for given my research on it and the current. Looks as if the Rothesay isn't as much of an issue. That about correct? Any other sites ya'll recommend in the area for an easy shore dive with something decent to see?

Thanks for your thoughts and advice in advance!

Current viz and temps? I'm guessing about 74 degrees and maybe 15 feet at the shore dives?

 

[markfm]

Connie clockwise shouldn't be an issue, if your wife has anywhere near the number of dives in as you do. Unless something has changed, the current there is noticeable, but nowhere near as strong as some places, and it's a real shore dive -- a walk-in, stack is above the surface (quite shallow). I did it as like my 3rd post-cert dive. Go counterclockwise and you'll be against the current on the upstream side -- I do that when I want to go slow, check out the fish more.

In Prescott there's also the scuba park, fun, not too challenging:
http://www.neptune-scuba.info/ca/on/scuba-park-en.html

Lock 21 has some real current, nice to dive with someone who's done it before.

 

[bleeb]

Agree w/ other poster that the Connie shouldn't be an issue if your wife is anywhere near as experienced. If anything, shallow water buoyancy control can be one of the bigger challenges. That, and getting a parking spot anywhere near by on summer weekends - it's a very popular spot for OW checkouts.

The wreck is only 30' off shore (closest) in 30' of water and parallel to the shore. On the inshore side, you're right next to the slope. You can still see the old smokestack sticking 10' out of the water, especially as you're driving up to it. Shallowest parts of the rest of the wreck are just below 15'. Depths may vary a few feet depending on what the power company, the seaway locks, and the Great Lakes Commission are thinking at the time.

Current tends to be a bit faster on the offshore side, and can vary depending on the number of freighters passing through the locks on the seaway and how much power the hydro dams need to generate at the time. The main shipping channel (freighters) is 1000' out in the river, but dive flags are highly recommended since the local fishermen like to trawl over the wreck when there are no divers around. Drifting down to the stern and leaving your flag tied off is popular.

The nearest weather buoy is currently reporting a surface water temp of 71F (http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=supn6). No thermocline, but temp at depth can be a couple of degrees cooler, and can drop a few degrees after several cool nights. Haven't been there in several weeks, but vis is typically in the 10-20' range, although YMMV if there's a beginner class upstream of you on the wreck.

Hope that helps, although you might already have gotten a lot of this info from your research.

 

[Kevin R]

snip

The wreck is only 30' off shore (closest) in 30' of water and parallel to the shore. On the inshore side, you're right next to the slope. You can still see the old smokestack sticking 10' out of the water, especially as you're driving up to it. Shallowest parts of the rest of the wreck are just below 15'. Depths may vary a few feet depending on what the power company, the seaway locks, and the Great Lakes Commission are thinking at the time.

snip.

If you get to 30' in that area, you will miss the wreck completely. The bottom is a very gentle slope. Stay around 20' and you'll hit it dead on.

 

[scubadobadoo]

Thanks for the info gang! Feel free to pipe in any other local info/tips (even if they may seem obvious) like best entry locations, best places to park, what shore sites are more worth it and of course the best places to eat too in the Prescott area!

My wife does have as many dives as I do but we tend to be cautious divers so we appreciate the extra info on new shore dive sites for us. Looks like we decided to dive the Islander from shore in Clayton, NY on Friday morning then have some lunch and check into our hotel in Prescott, ON and then go dive maybe the Scuba Park in the later afternoon on Friday. Saturday morning we hope to hit the Connie and the Rothesay early in the morning. I expect it will be busy on the holiday weekend but we are excited!

Nothing beats shore diving!! Bonaire in two weeks!!!!

 

[Web Monkey]

appreciate the extra info on new shore dive sites for us. Looks like we decided to dive the Islander from shore in Clayton, NY on Friday morning then have some lunch and check into our hotel in Prescott, ON and then go dive maybe the

The Islander is behind the hospital in Alexandria Bay.

Also, if you have some time and he has space available, Moe Hunt (Hunt's Dive Shop) will take you to the Keystorm or a few other wrecks on the American side (he doesn't like to cross the border). The Keystorm is a very nice dive that runs from around 20'-30' down to about 100', and can be as easy or challanging as you want.

If you get really lucky, he has a nice fill station in the building right across from the Islander, although the hours seem to be "Whenever we want to open"

It's a great area, and I actually like it better than the tropics, although Bonaire is a really close second, and comes in at a solid #1 around February when the water around here turns solid.

Terry

 

[piikki]

One word about Connie - don't be as silly as we were on our first visit. Do NOT drag a flag to the wreck!!!! If you take a flag, tie it of to the shore side of the wreck an leave it there. The flag will be a hazard on top of the wreck in that current, I can assure you, more so if there are other people there.

Also, don't make the same mistake as we did on our first visit (although we were way more inexperienced). Don't listen to people who say it's GREAT fun to jump in from the bow and ride the current inside the hull (=wait in fear whether you will hit the smokestack that you had seen sticking out of the water ) No, I would say listen to the people who say that find your way on the river bank side to the stern of the wreck, climb in from the stern, work your way against the current inside the hull (open hull) up to the bow where the plaque is, then IF you feel like it (and after you have familiarized where the obstacles were), ride the current inside the hull back where you started. Or if you don't feel comfortable, ride the current outside the wreck (riverside is fine).

Like Kevin said, if you go to 30ft you will miss the wreck. If you start a little upstream, and don't leave the slope of the bank much, you will pretty much bang into it if you aren't careful. Locals tend to say it's a baby-dive but first time we visited we were pretty impressed because it's a big wreck to be laying in such shallow water.

 

[Kevin R]

If you get bored looking at the wreck on the connie, drift back past the stern and off the rudder then go about 50' south and you'll be in the middle of a huge area where the fish just seem to hang forever. Its pretty cool to see.

 

[scubadobadoo]

Thanks again gang.

Just a few questions to clarify all that I have read and researched...people seem to have varying opinions...

Flags...required by law? Sometimes around here if a ton of divers are on a shore site we kinda forget about the flag. Is that what is done around the Connie and other heavily dived shore sites? Also, is the boat traffic that heavy around the Connie, Rothesay, etc.... I would think that boaters avoid these shallow wrecks, especially the ones that stick out of the water?

As for getting to the Connie etc...So it is better to get to it under water? Is the current insane or just a mild concern? It seems that I would be an idiot to miss a 200 foot wreck in 20 feet of water only 30 feet from shore but...add low viz and current and...lol

 

[jiveturkey]

Flags...required by law?

Not required by law as far as I know.

Also, is the boat traffic that heavy around the Connie, Rothesay, etc....

Not too much traffic so most people dont' use flags on these wrecks. Have an SMB handy just in case but otherwise you should be fine.

As for getting to the Connie etc...So it is better to get to it under water? Is the current insane or just a mild concern?

It's better to get to it underwater. Just stay in the 20ft range as Kevin said. The current can be mild or a little strong. You might have to work your legs a bit but I've never seen it insane.