scubagirl
August 22nd, 2007, 08:56 PM
(Our own OwlBill is in the article)
Article in The Olreans Star:
http://www.eastottawa.ca/article-131800-Watery-hobby-takes-resident-to-new-depths.html
http://www.orleansstar.ca/Business/Construction-%26amp%3B-real-estate/2007-08-21/article-643699/Watery-hobby-takes-resident-to-new-depths/1
Watery hobby takes resident to new depths
by Jim Donnelly
Most folks in Ottawa’s east end typically see wrecks only when they’re sputtering along the Queensway.
But not Christine Bussieres, an Orléans real estate agent who doubles as a recreational scuba diver on her days off. She, like an intrepid few in the 613, makes regular trips to various sites along the St. Lawrence – not to mention a recent jaunt to the swirling seas of North Carolina’s coast – to execute her watery hobby.
But don’t think because she’s from Ottawa, Bussieres is some wet-behind-the-ears rookie. Far from it, she explains. “If you dive in Canada like in the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, if you can dive all those sites at a recreational depth and you can give it 20 or 30 dives a summer, you quickly become quite an experienced diver,” says Bussieres.
In fact, the St. Lawrence possesses several shipwrecks easily accessible to Ottawa adventurers including the America just east of Mallorytown (1932), the A.E. Vickery around Wellesley Island (1889) and the Lillie Parsons off Sparrow Island (1877), all boasting varying degrees of difficulty. All are submerged in around 100 feet of water, or less.
Bussieres, however, says that’s all part of the fun. “The level of difficulty here is far higher than what you encounter down south, where everything is blue and crystal clear and warm. Here, everything is cold and dark,” she explains. Typical conditions at the best of times are dank, bleak and murky in most Canadian lakes, she says – the Ottawa River, in fact, is notoriously soupy.
That means to find the very best diving local scuba enthusiasts must either make the trip south to the St. Lawrence or even further, to more exotic locales.
Bill McLean, owner of well-known Burton’s Dive Service in Gloucester, has outfitted Bussieres since she first strapped on an air tank over a decade ago. He runs an eight-week certification course on open-water diving, and says it’s not surprising most local divers leave the Valley to exploit their passion. “Some people dive the Ottawa River and some nearby lakes, but it’s an acquired taste,” he smiles. And while he says perusing the nooks and crannies of a shipwreck is something any certified diver can do, entering the wreck is another story altogether. “Going inside of a shipwreck, you’re inside an environment where you can’t get immediately to the surface,” he explains. Undersea adventurers looking to take things to the next level must now certify themselves as ‘cave’ divers – and be able to react quickly within a confined space – before they can legally penetrate a ghost ship. “And that reflects the increased level of risk,” he says. “You can get lost, entangled in stuff, and if you have an emergency you have to find an exit fast.”
Bussieres agrees, adding her recent trip to North Carolina tested she and her dive partners’ stamina and strength. “We were able to dive the whole five days,” she reports. “It’s very weather dependent in North Carolina because you’re about 25 to 30 miles out to sea, so depending on the wave action, depending on the wind, sometimes you go there and can’t dive at all. “But this year it was perfect. We were five for five, and it’s the first time we’ve done that in the four years I’ve gone.”
Article in The Olreans Star:
http://www.eastottawa.ca/article-131800-Watery-hobby-takes-resident-to-new-depths.html
http://www.orleansstar.ca/Business/Construction-%26amp%3B-real-estate/2007-08-21/article-643699/Watery-hobby-takes-resident-to-new-depths/1
Watery hobby takes resident to new depths
by Jim Donnelly
Most folks in Ottawa’s east end typically see wrecks only when they’re sputtering along the Queensway.
But not Christine Bussieres, an Orléans real estate agent who doubles as a recreational scuba diver on her days off. She, like an intrepid few in the 613, makes regular trips to various sites along the St. Lawrence – not to mention a recent jaunt to the swirling seas of North Carolina’s coast – to execute her watery hobby.
But don’t think because she’s from Ottawa, Bussieres is some wet-behind-the-ears rookie. Far from it, she explains. “If you dive in Canada like in the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, if you can dive all those sites at a recreational depth and you can give it 20 or 30 dives a summer, you quickly become quite an experienced diver,” says Bussieres.
In fact, the St. Lawrence possesses several shipwrecks easily accessible to Ottawa adventurers including the America just east of Mallorytown (1932), the A.E. Vickery around Wellesley Island (1889) and the Lillie Parsons off Sparrow Island (1877), all boasting varying degrees of difficulty. All are submerged in around 100 feet of water, or less.
Bussieres, however, says that’s all part of the fun. “The level of difficulty here is far higher than what you encounter down south, where everything is blue and crystal clear and warm. Here, everything is cold and dark,” she explains. Typical conditions at the best of times are dank, bleak and murky in most Canadian lakes, she says – the Ottawa River, in fact, is notoriously soupy.
That means to find the very best diving local scuba enthusiasts must either make the trip south to the St. Lawrence or even further, to more exotic locales.
Bill McLean, owner of well-known Burton’s Dive Service in Gloucester, has outfitted Bussieres since she first strapped on an air tank over a decade ago. He runs an eight-week certification course on open-water diving, and says it’s not surprising most local divers leave the Valley to exploit their passion. “Some people dive the Ottawa River and some nearby lakes, but it’s an acquired taste,” he smiles. And while he says perusing the nooks and crannies of a shipwreck is something any certified diver can do, entering the wreck is another story altogether. “Going inside of a shipwreck, you’re inside an environment where you can’t get immediately to the surface,” he explains. Undersea adventurers looking to take things to the next level must now certify themselves as ‘cave’ divers – and be able to react quickly within a confined space – before they can legally penetrate a ghost ship. “And that reflects the increased level of risk,” he says. “You can get lost, entangled in stuff, and if you have an emergency you have to find an exit fast.”
Bussieres agrees, adding her recent trip to North Carolina tested she and her dive partners’ stamina and strength. “We were able to dive the whole five days,” she reports. “It’s very weather dependent in North Carolina because you’re about 25 to 30 miles out to sea, so depending on the wave action, depending on the wind, sometimes you go there and can’t dive at all. “But this year it was perfect. We were five for five, and it’s the first time we’ve done that in the four years I’ve gone.”