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QUESTION:Dive Operation: Abucs in downtown Brockville.
http://www.divebrockville.com/main.html They run 4 boats ( 2 river
queens, 1 pontoon boat and one small cabin boat), so you have a good
chance of getting a ride to where you want to go. Neither of the boats I
was on was crowded, but there was an issue on one of empty rental tanks
left over from previous trips coupled with divers unfamiliar with boat
diving protocols and courtesies. They gave excellent briefings and then
maintained a hands-off approach to the diving - you plan and do your own
dive.
The Diving: Friday, 8/17 I was on a River Queen boat out of rockport
scheduled for the Vickery, Keystorm and America on the American side.
Because of a forecast of heavy thunderstorms in the afternoon and a
broken starter motor on the port engine, it was decided that we'd do the
Keystorm, America and Kingshorn, which you can hit with a rock from the
dock we left from. This would cut 2 hours of running from the trip. We
departed and stopped at Boldt Castle to clear US immigration, and then
moored on the Keystorm. Keystorm is a 2300 ton freighter that ran across
the shoal in fog in 1912. It lies on its starboard side with the bow at
about 20 ft and the screw at 115'. We were tied to a midship mooring.
The vis was about 30-40 ft in 73 degree F water. There is no thermocline
in this part of the river. There is current, but it is easily managed.
Upon reaching the wreck, I immediately saw some big (16-20") yellowish
fish with 3 white-tipped fins underneath. I don't have a clue what they
were. Heading back toward the stern, I poked into an empty hold and the
engine spaces. There are 2 boilers and a triple expansion engine which
I'd like to spend more time examining on my next trip. I continued back
to the screw, which is huge and half buried in the mud. I worked my way
forward, poking into holds and the wheelhouse, and then examined the
damage on the port bow. It looks like it hit the shoal pretty high on
the hull. It was then time to go back to the mooring and ascend. Once
everyone was aboard, the captain and mate fired up the grill and cooked
tasty cheeseburgers until everyone was completely stuffed.
After lunch we motored about 10 minutes to the America. America was a
steam powered drilling barge that was blasting rock at the edge of the
shipping channel near Singer Castle in 1932 when it drifted over one of
its charges and "got blowed up". It lies upside down inside the edge of
the downstream shipping lane in about 75'. The mooring is ouside the
channel in about 30'. you go down the mooring and then follow a line to
a T. One line goes to the wreck and the other goes to a large anchor.
You follow the line that goes over a ledge to get to the stern of the
wreck. There isn't much current on this wreck. I dropped down and saw
the 2 small screws, and then started forward. I saw that you can easily
swim underneath the wreck and look up at the tangled mess of equipment
on the deck. I spent the entire dive underneath, trying to make sense of
the equipment, but I think it will take another dive and a good look at
pictures of what it looked like before it wrecked. I had a nice long
dive on the wreck, and on the way back to the boat took a detour to the
big anchor. I was the last to get back, and we got off the mooring and
headed back to Rockport. when we arrived, we had to stop at the dock to
clear Canadian Immigration before diving on the Kingshorn. Because the
sky had gotten black and the wind had kicked up, it was getting pretty
chilly, and I have seen the Kingshorn several times, so I opted to get
off and skip the last dive. While I was loading my gear into the car, it
started raining really hard with lightning, and I don't know if they got
the dive in.
On Saturday 8/18 I was on an afternoon trip on a pontoon boat out of the
park in Brockville. This pontoon boat is like no other I've seen. It has
an enclosure with benches where you get geared up, and a fairly large
front deck area. After everyone goes in from the bow, the captain opens
a trap door in the deck and lowers a platform with steps. The platform
sits about 3' underwater when lowered. It's one of the slicker setups
I've seen.
First stop was the Muscallonge. Muscallonge is a big tugboat that caught
fire and sank in 1936. It sits on its port side in about 95'. There is a
pretty good current, but you can easily shield yourself from it with the
wreck. If you go around the bow, you will have current to deal with. We
were on the stern mooring, and I immediately went to the huge exposed
boiler and steam engine. This must have been a kick-ass tugboat, because
the boiler and engine are huge. It's not often you get to really see an
engine like this, and I spent my entire dive poking around the engine
and boiler. There were lots of small fish on this wreck, which others
said were bass and perch.
The last wreck was the Robert Gaskin. It was a wooden sailing barque
that was later turned into a barge. It was outfitted as a salvage barge
and was involved in the attempted recovery of a sunken railroad ferry in
1889. Pontoons were attached to the sunken ferry and steam was being
pumped into them when one of the pontoons broke free and rocketed up
through the bottom of the Gaskin, which immediately sank. The ferry was
later recovered, and the Gaskin was raised, only to sink again when the
ropes holding her broke. She now sits intact and upright in 60-70' just
on the outside edge of the channel. As I splashed, there was a large
freighter approaching. It was obvious that it would pass pretty close to
us. I descended, and could hear the cylinders of its big engines firing.
It got really loud, and I could feel it all over my body - way cool.
There were other dive boats on the wreck, and the hold was silted up,
but I dropped down and explored it anyway. The deck is almost completely
gone, so you always have an easy way out. After much poking around, I
visited the large anchor from another vessel that was placed near the
bow and then took my turn at the really cool platform and steps to get
back on the boat.
Food: Brockberry Cafe on the main street in Brockville was ok, the place
in a really old stone building near the water and supermarket was
better. We had an ok lunch at a place on the water in Rockport (all the
way back at the bend in the road by the tour boat parking lot). Sorry, I
don't remember the names of the places.
It was yet another enjoyable trip to the Thousand Islands area. I'm
already looking forward to next year.
ANSWER: I'm headed there next Friday for
the long Labor Day weekend, but we're not diving with Abucs this time
(I forget the name of the operator, they're down by Rockport). Some
other buds are going this weekend to dive with Abucs.
I've done all the wrecks you mentioned, and they're great. You didn't
mention the Lillie Parsons, though. Did you not get there this time.
That's one of my all-time favorites -- for the thrill ride when you
let go of the wreck!
Looks like the water temp is dropping early this year, as it did last
year, and then the remnants of Ernesto passed over the lake during the
weekend and flipped it. We had a 10-degree temperature drop overnight!
I'm hoping for a warm spell over the next week...
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