1,000 Islands Trip Report – August 2017
(Note: pictures taken from public domain)
The St Lawrence River is always up for a good ride. With water levels near a 19 year peak and dam flow rates running more than twice their average, the rides for this trip promised to be exhilarating. With Tom Scott, captain of Dive Underwhere? charters and mate/dive guide Ryan, this promised to be a memorable experience.
After an early morning start on Friday, we reached the pier at St Lawrence Park, loaded up and hit the river. First up, the Robert Gaskin, a 132’, three masted wooden barque that went down in 1889 while trying to salvage a ferry. Resting at 75’, the Gaskin is reached via a mooring line connected to a block sitting roughly 10’ from an opening in the starboard hull. Inside, light pours in past the beams that crisscross above. We made a long clockwise circuit is a great way to get a sense of the scale while seeing most of the wreck, mostly protected from the current. It also served as the first deep and wreck dive for our two specialty students. We capped the day with an awesome steak dinner at the new steakhouse below the Mill and headed back to the Misty Pines B&B for some well-deserved sleep.
An ambitious four-dive Saturday started with Betty’s awesome homemade breakfast at Misty Pines and then out to the boat for a thrilling live drop and bottom drift into the Henry C Daryaw, a 220’ long steel freighter that sank in 1941 when she ran upon a shoal between American and Canadian Channels. Resting inverted at 90’, we grabbed the lines running down the side and ducked under to explore. As the second required wreck and deep dive for our specialty students, we worked our way aft through the three cargo holds. Ascending 15-20’ in each, we swam with the eels that emerge from the muck built up on the ledges. Exiting at the stern we grabbed the mooring line at the block and slowly made our way up past the two large props.
Next up was a drift dive along the Brockville Narrows south wall. With the current running 5-6 knots, this dive felt more like flying. With a goal to finish out the deep diving specialty, we hit our target depth of 105’ at the 2 minute mark of the dive, stabilized and maintained depth for 5 minutes and began our slow ascent to finish up in a protected bay.
Lunch Saturday was our traditional pilgrimage to Don’s for fish and chips and a relaxing surface interval enjoying the sun at St Lawrence Park.
For our afternoon dives, we started with the Lillie Parsons, a 131’ wooden centerboard schooner that sank in 1877 off of Sparrow Island after hitting a rock in a squall while carrying 500 tons of coal. Our dive started with a live drop and surface drift into the anchor chain running from the island to the bow. At 45’, you reach the chain that runs along the port side so you can pull yourself to the stern while conserving air and examining the wreck. Once at the stern, we did a free drift just below the starboard rail, stopping briefly to ride the mast and then finishing our drift back to the chain at the bow. After a second pull to the stern, we flew the keel from bow to stern and then finished the dive with a short drift.
For the final dive Saturday, we headed to the Brockville underwater sculpture park for a little fun out of the current. With a max depth of 35’, this was a great way to spend a little more time underwater visiting the various statues from various human forms to the giant sturgeon. It also allowed our specialty students to finish up their wreck course using the dive shop signs to get some practice running lines with their reels. After a quick clean-up, we headed downtown and grabbed a great dinner at the Union Jack pub.
After Betty’s awesome orange flavored French toast breakfast, we finished up our weekend dives with a drift starting at Needle’s Eye Island and finishing up a couple of miles downriver just off of Smith Island while searching for bottles and other collectibles. While the dive didn’t yield any treasures this time, it was a terrific 40 minute drift.
After a quick clean and pack, we settled in for the drive back, laughing most of the way rehashing tales of ripped dry suit seals, broken valves and great dives. Many thanks to our Misty Pines hostess Betty and to the dive crew at Dive Underwhere?, Captain Tom and mate/dive guide Ryan.
(Note: pictures taken from public domain)
The St Lawrence River is always up for a good ride. With water levels near a 19 year peak and dam flow rates running more than twice their average, the rides for this trip promised to be exhilarating. With Tom Scott, captain of Dive Underwhere? charters and mate/dive guide Ryan, this promised to be a memorable experience.
After an early morning start on Friday, we reached the pier at St Lawrence Park, loaded up and hit the river. First up, the Robert Gaskin, a 132’, three masted wooden barque that went down in 1889 while trying to salvage a ferry. Resting at 75’, the Gaskin is reached via a mooring line connected to a block sitting roughly 10’ from an opening in the starboard hull. Inside, light pours in past the beams that crisscross above. We made a long clockwise circuit is a great way to get a sense of the scale while seeing most of the wreck, mostly protected from the current. It also served as the first deep and wreck dive for our two specialty students. We capped the day with an awesome steak dinner at the new steakhouse below the Mill and headed back to the Misty Pines B&B for some well-deserved sleep.
An ambitious four-dive Saturday started with Betty’s awesome homemade breakfast at Misty Pines and then out to the boat for a thrilling live drop and bottom drift into the Henry C Daryaw, a 220’ long steel freighter that sank in 1941 when she ran upon a shoal between American and Canadian Channels. Resting inverted at 90’, we grabbed the lines running down the side and ducked under to explore. As the second required wreck and deep dive for our specialty students, we worked our way aft through the three cargo holds. Ascending 15-20’ in each, we swam with the eels that emerge from the muck built up on the ledges. Exiting at the stern we grabbed the mooring line at the block and slowly made our way up past the two large props.
Next up was a drift dive along the Brockville Narrows south wall. With the current running 5-6 knots, this dive felt more like flying. With a goal to finish out the deep diving specialty, we hit our target depth of 105’ at the 2 minute mark of the dive, stabilized and maintained depth for 5 minutes and began our slow ascent to finish up in a protected bay.
Lunch Saturday was our traditional pilgrimage to Don’s for fish and chips and a relaxing surface interval enjoying the sun at St Lawrence Park.
For our afternoon dives, we started with the Lillie Parsons, a 131’ wooden centerboard schooner that sank in 1877 off of Sparrow Island after hitting a rock in a squall while carrying 500 tons of coal. Our dive started with a live drop and surface drift into the anchor chain running from the island to the bow. At 45’, you reach the chain that runs along the port side so you can pull yourself to the stern while conserving air and examining the wreck. Once at the stern, we did a free drift just below the starboard rail, stopping briefly to ride the mast and then finishing our drift back to the chain at the bow. After a second pull to the stern, we flew the keel from bow to stern and then finished the dive with a short drift.
For the final dive Saturday, we headed to the Brockville underwater sculpture park for a little fun out of the current. With a max depth of 35’, this was a great way to spend a little more time underwater visiting the various statues from various human forms to the giant sturgeon. It also allowed our specialty students to finish up their wreck course using the dive shop signs to get some practice running lines with their reels. After a quick clean-up, we headed downtown and grabbed a great dinner at the Union Jack pub.
After Betty’s awesome orange flavored French toast breakfast, we finished up our weekend dives with a drift starting at Needle’s Eye Island and finishing up a couple of miles downriver just off of Smith Island while searching for bottles and other collectibles. While the dive didn’t yield any treasures this time, it was a terrific 40 minute drift.
After a quick clean and pack, we settled in for the drive back, laughing most of the way rehashing tales of ripped dry suit seals, broken valves and great dives. Many thanks to our Misty Pines hostess Betty and to the dive crew at Dive Underwhere?, Captain Tom and mate/dive guide Ryan.
