Scuba Party at Innerkip

In April 2006 due to scheduling problems between my dive shop and me, I missed out on the early spring trip to the Niagara Falls acquarium to dive with the sea lions. Too bad – for whatever reason that trip has never been repeated, although I gather it was a regular occurrence up to that point. I think it would have been a lot of fun.

So the next trip was back to my old stomping ground of Innerkip, Ontario on May 22nd, where I did my open water course some 24 years earlier. It hadn’t changed much. The visibility was still miserable, the bottom silty, and most of the same items were strewn around the bottom, but almost impossible to find because of the viz.

This was also my last (hopefully!) dive in my old Nylon II wet suit – the one with the farmer johns and the beaver tail, – which was a little tight at the time. Funny how they shrink over the years.  A couple of 30 minute dives was plenty, each bottoming out at 26 feet. The water was quite warm at 14C (57F), but the air temperature was only 8C (47F), so we appreciated the bonfire that kept us warm.

This was the official opening of the season for the Tank Jockeys dive club and the first long weekend of the summer – and we had a marvellous barbeque and some of our favourite beverages.  Only two weeks later I bought my first dry suit, and began my cold water diving in earnest.

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