Thousand Islands, staying on Wellesley Island beginning of August

[manni-yunk]

Thanks,

I've never boated (or been to) the thousands islands before... I do have a gps on the boat with charts along with the fishfinder, wouldn't go boating without it. I've been to Maine boating a few trips on lakes and on the coast which should be similar as far as rocks and ledges, it is a whole different world than NJ and MD. Before I go I'll have all the waypoints and routes uploaded for the wrecks.

I'll definately check out the "Treasure Island" when we make it up there. My girlfriend and I have decided to go up 2 days early (before her family rents the house) and are camping at Wellesley Island State Park for 2 nights before we move over to the house... We'll be there form 8/8-8/17 now, should be fun!

So far on the list I have the following: not done yet, but these are what I've gathered info on so far and decided were within our abilities.
Keystorm- really not that far for us considering we will be coming out on the east side of Wellesley island anyways to get into the river (from the lake)
American
Islander- of course we'll be shore diving this one, probably be our first dive up there the day we arive...
Maggie L

I'm still doing some research on the Vickery, but may be doing that also depending on how everything goes...

We will hopefully have sombody on the boat most of the time and definately for the more challenging dives (one of her family members), they are able to pull anchor and drive the boat (and work the radio) however I'm not confident enough in their abilities to do a drift dive.

Atom, Thanks for the link, lots of great info there!

Austin

Stay in the channel, tie up to the morings that are immediately out of the channel, and you wont have any issues with Rocks.

Try to cut corners and run outside of the channel - and you might run into issues without local knowledge and a good updated electronic chart. I ran the whole trip with a mobile Navionics app on my cell phone - and channel markers and never can close to any incidents.




Hit the Vickery - Its a great wreck.

 

[acarter92]

Less than 2 weeks... we're very excited!

I'm going to the LDS tomarrow to pick up a 5mm full suit for the trip... Are lights neccessary for any of these wrecks? Shouldn't be going any deeper than 80ft most of the dives.

Thanks,
Austin

 

[manni-yunk]

Less than 2 weeks... we're very excited!

I'm going to the LDS tomarrow to pick up a 5mm full suit for the trip... Are lights neccessary for any of these wrecks? Shouldn't be going any deeper than 80ft most of the dives.

Thanks,
Austin

Personally - I dont dive without a light (or 3). But at those depths you should have ambient light.

 

[in too deep]

Less than 2 weeks... we're very excited!

I'm going to the LDS tomarrow to pick up a 5mm full suit for the trip... Are lights neccessary for any of these wrecks? Shouldn't be going any deeper than 80ft most of the dives.

Thanks,
Austin

Bring a light, you can look into nooks and crannies... that and it's easy for you and your buddy to keep track of each other, assuming there is a buddy. Last week while I was in Brockville and after lots of rain, the water was murky, a light was worth it.

 

[ajtoady]

The bottom can get dark with all of the suspended particles this year. I stayed above 100' on the Keystorm 10 days ago due to lack of light at that depth from the particles floating from storms and wind. One thing to consider is all of the fishing line you might encounter. I carry two knives and a flashlight so as to see them at depth or just coming down the rope. The locals fish the Keystorm area fairly often and leave a varied assortment of tackle on the ropes and hull. If you want to do the Keystorm and or America wrecks you can launch at Chippewa Bay and be on them in short order. Bring a dive flag and tether rope. May see you out there,( thats my back yard) Safe dives, Tony

 

[acarter92]

Ok,

I'll bring some lights. I just bought two mini LED's yesterday (45 lumens). They have the removable caps (that make them glow) so we can just leave them on if the vis isn't great. Each of us will have one of them and I'll also carry my old halogen light... so we should be covered. I went with a 3mm full suit instead of the 5mm. My LDS just had a trip up there and 2 of them that were there yesterday said the 3mm was perfect with a hood. Plus it will be more versatile and be great for FL Keys diving when I make it down there. I'm going to bring my 7mm and if I'm cold I'll just wear that...

Tony,

We'll be leaving the boat in the water for the week on Lake of the Isles, except the first two days we'll be camping at Wellesley state park, so we'll just launch from there those days. So some of the wrecks will be a bit of a haul from the lake... but being a flat bottom skiff with a little 50hp four stroke the boat acutally gets better MPG than my truck, and is more fun I have a 10ft tether with locking carrabiners (the climbing kind) that I hook to the bow eye. And of course I have a high and visable dive flag.

Thanks again,
Austin

 

[electric_diver]

Shouldn't be going any deeper than 80ft most of the dives.

That might be a problem. The Keystorm lies on its side with the port side of the bow in about 25 feet but the starboard side of the bow is in about 55 feet. The stern is in 117 feet. 80 foot depth will limit you to the front 1/3 of the wreck.

The Vickery is upright facing into the current with the with the top of the bow in about 65 feet and the bottom of the bow in about 80 feet. The bottom of the rudder at the stern is about 120 feet. Various masts go down to 155 feet. Again an 80 foot maximum depth plan will limit you to front fifth of the wreck. This is usually considered an advanced dive.


The America is upside down in 78 feet of water but is in the shipping channel. The mooring bouy is outside of the shipping channel so it is a fairly long swim. There is oil in the sand under the wreck so make sure your bouyancy is good. This is usually considered an advanced dive.

These dives will be fairly challenging for someone with 0 to 24 dives. I'd suggest doing the Islander first for a few dives (it is 40 foot IIRC) to get a feel for local conditions.

Definately take a light.

 

[patpicos]

+1 on having a light.
America would be boring if you dont go under the wreck. Needs perfect buyoancy there. This is considered overhead at that point so not highly advisable for new divers

Keystorm, there is plenty to be seen above 80ft. I personally recommend doing a trip to 115 to see the props. It can get pretty dark on the wreck so have a good light/cannister. Descend on either line, follow the keel down to the prop, then work your way on the other side of the wreck. Lots of cargo holds to visit. Also, you can also dive under the wreck (theres a swimthrough under the wreck). Some fish hang out there. The wheelhouse is nice as its slanted and lots of swimthroughs

Havent done the vickery

Do the kingshorn on canada side. 80-90ft average depth. Shes quite the nice wooden schooner with good fish population. Lots of nick nacks inside the wreck

 

[acarter92]

Thanks for the input fella's

The islander IS first on the list we will try to do 2 dives on it Thursday after we set up camp. It should be a good "starter" before we do any boat dives...

I got some good info from my LDS (they just did a trip up there), and for the Keystorm I plan to moor up to the bow buoy (if available) and head to the stern and work my way back. We'll check out the props but won't spend much time there since we are only diving air... I think I'll spend a lot of time around the pilot house and bow, he told me about the air pocket in the bow that we will definitely check out.

He motioned the oil under the barge... I think we'll check it out since we'll be diving the keystorm but not sure how much time we'll spend there.

The Vickery is on the list but only after we are used to the conditions. If we don't get to it I won't be disappointed.

We ARE the charter so we are 100% flexible and adjustable on what we do and when we do it, so we're just going to take it one step at a time and enjoy ourselves...

Thanks,
Austin