Natalie shooting water at daddy!

Aidan too!

And me, playing around with some underwater self-portrait shots.

I am really enjoying my new Ikelite Housing for my Canon SD1400 IS camera!
While I picked it up mainly as an affordable method for taking underwater still and video while I am SCUBA diving, this housing has also come in handy for me in the pool!




The last weekend before school started up again and my summer vacation was over, Chris and Karen Kenney invited our family out for a whale watching and SCUBA diving boat trip to Casco and Sandy islands (in the Bay of Fundy, near Campobello Island)
We departed from where his boat is moored on Deer Island and proceeded out for a day on the water!
Here is Aidan on the Deer Island ferry.
Of course, Natalie wanted to do the same. Don’t worry, mommy was just outside the frame to make sure Natalie was safe!
Passing the other ferry. Wave hello!
Mommy and Natalie watching the other ferry go by
We are on Kalena (Chris and Karen’s boat) and heading out to open waters! Notice the SCUBA tanks to the rear, port side.
Aidan loves playing Captain with uncle Chris!

Even on a family outing, I like to take the odd artistic shot… This is a fishing weir (not to be mistaken for the local politician named Elizabeth Weir… 🙂
Chris and Karen’s dog Mikey took a liking to my SCUBA gear box for some reason…
Natalie loves being on boats!
Nadine loves to capture at least one shot of me to prove I was there! I was just coming back from helping Chris with something on the front deck when she caught me.
We passed some kayakers near Sandy Island. I was wondering if it was the gang from NBCC who were heading out off Deer Island, but I forgot to ask them when I got back…
Head Harbour Passage Lighthouse, Campobello Island. Anywhere near here tends to be good for watching whales.
Chris and Mikey the lap dog. You know, they say owners and their dogs begin to look alike… hmmm… 😉
Nadine is enjoying herself!
Stairway to Heaven?
Chris helping Karen get geared up for a dive near Casco Island. We saw a dozen lumpfish just on the mooring line on the way down. Fun dive!
The local wildlife was probably wondering what the heck we were up to…
I think we scared the ducks away…
Aidan enjoying the sun and taking in a few zzzzzzs…
Natalie decided to join Aidan in dreamland…





This past weekend, we certified another 8 new divers into the fraternity (sorority? 😉 of SCUBA diving by completing their open water checkout dives.
Here are two of my fellow instructors, Tom and Monica, showing the students how a little teamwork helps lighten the load when carrying lead weights!
Here Tom and Monica are in the water, waiting for the students to meet them. I was on the beach, helping them gear up and organizing the adventure on such a nice sunny occasion! 🙂
The students are in the water and being briefed by Tom and Monica
Samantha (a student) looks back at me on the beach for a photo before she descends for her dives.
Every student here successfully completed their open water tests and received their certification cards on Sunday, July 6, 2008!





Aidan loves playing on the beach here!
And it didn’t take him long to get excited!
Although Natalie seemed less enthused!
She eventually woke up and had fun playing on her blanket.
And even shared it with her big brother, although he seems happier about that than she does!
Here is the lone shot of Tori and I entering for our dive.
We went to about 80′ deep and were under for about 45 minutes. We saw lots of lobsters, wolffish, ravenfish, etc. It was a good dive!
On the way back, we barely made it onto the ferry, which was packed, as you can see!
We were literally the last vehicle on…





A fun bunch of divers from NB joined the charter, and we had a great time!
Here is Chad wearing what we think are Monica's shorts…
Dave is ready, Duane is grilling Captain Bill for more dive stories!
Jason is loving the ocean breeze after a fun dive.
Here is my friend Kevin (who came all the way from Calgary to visit and dive!) trying to hide the fact he has no chest hair…

Marj is enjoying her time away from the fire halls…
Monica is camera-shy, as usual… 
Hey Simon, how's the water?
Steve joined us from the Ottawa area. Despite being one of those “fresh water” divers, he turned out to be a great diver and really nice guy! 
The Dive Princess, in all her glory!
Oops… How did that one get in there??? 
How's the dive going Chris?
The only down side of diving off a boat is getting out after the dive…
After every dive, good divers log the dives in their logbooks…
Simon summed up the trip in one word…





I picked up Chris and Karen and off we went. The sun started peaking through at about Musquash, and by the time we made it to Deer Island point, it was sunny.
Although we missed the noon boat by 1 minute (we watched the ferry leave just ahead of us…), we set up our gear on shore so it would be less time getting ready on the other side.
The water is still a bit chilly (about 40 F) but we made out OK. So, here I am getting in…
After a short dive with some students, Chris and I took off to explore!
We found this wolffish in his hole at about 50' who was very friendly, so we played around taking lots of pictures of him before heading back.
Wolffish really like sea urchins, so I decided to help him out!
Photos courtesy of Chris K, gloved hands and sea urchins courtesy of me!




Too Close to Call“.
The work Hugh did was above and beyond the call of duty – and greatly appreciated!>
>




last year's adventure I was really looking forward to it, but it wasn't in the cards.
So, taking the bull by the horns, I booked JP for an entire week in August 2007. I am hoping the extra time will allow for some more training and preparation to do more serious explorations of the wreck.
More penetration drills, deco dives, deep water training can be nothing but good news. Plus, I have some ideas on how to improve comfort in the cold water and want to try them out. I will post any solutions that seem to work well!
Anyway, one of my dive buddies suggested having shirts made in preparation for the trip… I like the idea! Maybe even sell some shirts and hats to raise money for the trip… hmmm… 



