It's early May. Still chilly water averaging 8C/46F. Hardy dry-suiters have been in but I like to wait until the river hits 15C/60F (or close). Weeds are at their lowest point of the year - not much of a factor until at least mid-June, so chilly or not, it's an excellent time to see a …
Author: SJSchnurr
More Weight is Better in Current: Ummmm… Nope.
Reprinted from 11 July 2018 - weekly dive debriefing. Those of you who have been diving with me over the years know that one of my least favourite statements is, "It's better to be heavy than worry about weight... and especially in current". Nope... wrong. It's worse. Heavy divers work too hard, can't maneuver properly, …
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Hydroelectric Plant Sluice Gates: 2018
Whoa! The extraordinary river flow of 2017 caused some pretty drastic long-term changes to the HydroElectric Plant route. Perhaps the most obvious is the change in the sluice gates. This is what they used to look like: But this is what they look like today! It appears I need to resketch my sketch! The boards …
Dive Conditions late June 2018
I can comfortably say that Lock 23 conditions have returned to their pre-2017 state - we're going to forget that last year even happened and get out there and enjoy! For those of you who ventured out last summer, you'll remember that extreme flooding downstream from Lake Ontario wreaked havoc on both shoreline properties and …
Tanker “Chem Norma” Aground on Lock 23
Quite the start to the 2018 dive season! Larry and I were awakened in the wee hours of a recent clear night by the sound of a long, loud foghorn, followed by the frantic grinding of an engine in reverse. We looked out into the night but could see nothing amiss. In the morning the …
Dive Conditions Update
Along with anyone living in southern Ontario and Quebec this spring, we've been watching carefully the weather reports and specifically rainfall statistics... and we've been driving up and down the shorelines to inspect areas we know. There has been flooding and damage to many, many riverside properties. Lake Ontario levels remain higher than at any …
Leaving the Locks: the Wharf and Ferry Dock
When you reach the final cribbing of the tailrace described in this post, by whichever way you got there, you now have the opportunity to explore the municipal wharf footings and the ferry dock and road on your way back to shore.You can leave the locks from anywhere you wish, but the photo below shows the relative distances from …
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Middle Route: Rapide Plat Lock (1847)
The approach to the locks is described in this post. You want to arrive at either of position #2 or #3 described there. You'll pass over a tire (the only one in the entire site) and come upon a pile of bottles at the base of the lock's upstream gate. I'm calling it a "gate" …
Inner Route: The Hydroelectric Plant – From Plant Foundation to Tailrace
When you reach the foundations of the hydroelectric plant itself, you'll find bricks: lots of red bricks piled at the bottom of the plant's concrete wall with a few still partially affixed at its top. Pay attention to your direction at the top of the wall. Moving east over it with the current will carry you through the area of …
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Top o’ the Wall: Between the Old and New Locks
In this photo, courtesy of stlawrencepiks.com, you can see the grassy section between the two locks. Starting upstream, note its important features: the initial curved approach wall, the dark rectangular and circular flower beds, the lock house in the centre, the position of the downstream Lock 23 gate, and the drop in depth where the wall curves inward, …
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