It was a different start to a dive weekend with the remnants of tropical storm Debby crossing the eastern section of Canada, including some 20 knot winds in the Kingston area. Our intrepid Divemaster, Martin Bonert, with the help of the dive operations at Neptune & Salacia Diving of Portsmouth Harbour, pulled a rabbit out of the hat and were able to continue with the NAUI Advanced Open Water Course (AOW) on this Kingston dive.
Saturday’s dive included a zodiak trip out to the old Kingston ferry, the Wolfe Islander II, for one component of the NAUI AOW course in the morning. The stern with large prop and rudder are at 80 ft.
Originally named the Ottawa Maybrook, the Wolfe Islander II was built at the Collingwood shipyard during the last days of World War II. Length: 164 ft. She was used as a car ferry to Wolfe Island after extensive modifications to become a side-loading ferry. From 1945 to the late 1970s she traveled back and forth between Kingston, Garden Island and Wolfe Island. In September 1985, the Wolfe Islander II was sunk in a sheltered location as a dive site, protected from the prevailing southwest wind.
Martin checked several dive sites, and chose Deadman’s Bay for the afternoon dives. The group participated in two shore dives at Deadman’s Bay, completing the “low visibility dive” requirement for the NAUI AOW Course, as well as a third dive to view another shipwreck. Dinner out together in Kingston completed a remarkable day!
The weather interfered with Sunday’s dives, and the NAUI AOW course was put on hold in favour of a September one-day dive to complete the course on the weekend of Sept. 21/22, 2024. But all was not lost, Sunday was a great day for sightseeing at The Great Lakes Museum, and touring the SS Keewatin.
The Keewatin is the largest of the remaining Edwardian Era passenger steamers in the world. The Keewatin travelled between what is now Thunder Bay on Lake Superior and Port McNicoll on Georgian Bay.
Many thanks to Blue North instructional staff, Martin Bonert, Ian Thompson and Steve Meggeson for a successful time under difficult scuba diving weather conditions.
Photo credits: Steve Meggeson
Blue North Scuba Club 