SOS Ottawa offers Nautical Archaeology Training

SOS Ottawa is running a NAS Level One course over the weekend 24-26 July at the Nepean Sportsplex. Bids for places on the course, with payment, should be made by July 19th. Details can be found on the SOS website or by downloading the information sheet accessed by clicking here.

More divers contribute to the survey work on Guenter's

The fine weather today permitted 5 divers to descend on Guenter's wreck and complete more work on the ongoing survey. Preliminary studies and baseline capture work are almost complete. Very shortly, the datum points will be placed and the detailed measurements that we hope will go towards the identification of the wreck can begin. Particular examination of currently accessible features is producing encouraging results. The accompanying picture shows Lynn, one of our NAS-trained volunteers, moving along the wreck centreline, recording lengths and depths.

Preserve Our Wrecks makes National TV News...

Some time after a visit to investigate our survey work on the site of Guenter's Wreck, Global National TV featured divers engaged in the project this evening. This link will take you to coverage. The interest in our work is very welcome. It's already clear that it has awoken interest both locally and further afield. Hopefully, this will give us a leg up when the time comes to seek additional financial and practical support for the activities of Preserve Our Wrecks.

Summer Newsletter now available online...

The Summer edition of our Newsletter can now be downloaded from our website. If you want to take a shortcut, click here.

Ungentlemanly Conduct...

An incident occurred on the Lake today that was most unfortunate. A dive charter operator, who had no reasonable grounds to do so, refused another operator access to a mooring.

Preserve Our Wrecks deplores behaviour like this. It is worth remarking that the moorings we place are positioned primarily to protect the wrecks they mark. No charter operator is entitled to treat them as their private domain. Local charter operators face stringent economic times. Cooperation between them is strongly encouraged and the suggestion that any one, for whatever reason, might seek to suggest by their actions a proprietary interest in particular sites is shocking.

There were representatives of no less than four thriving dive clubs on the boat that was sent away today. The ill-considered actions of the operator who acted in such a high-handed fashion will have done little to encourage future bookings.

Just another day on the water...

Despite a thunderstorm watch and some very intimidating grey skies, seven divers, from two boats, participated in work on the survey this afternoon. The picture shows the Steve and Steve team with Pat Coyne, one of the charter operators good enough to make a boat available to POW.

Work today included measurement of the stern features, collection of a depth profile and detailed measurement of the Riding Bitts, including placement of them in relation to the ship's sides and stem. Efforts to locate the keelson, using a sub-bottom profiling device, have so far been unsuccessful. Such minor frustrations just make the work more interesting though.

Preserve Our Wrecks thanks all the divers - and particularly the two boat captains, Pat and Mark Hanley.

Video Montage of the NAS Course now available...

Adam Rushton, who was good enough to attend various aspects of the land phase of the recent Nautical Archaeology Course and to capture some video memories of the activities, has made an excellent pair of montage films available on You Tube®.

Click here for the first, which concentrates on pool activities and here for the second, which, besides pool shots, contains some lecture material and student discourses on the excellent deductive exercise.

A big thank you to Adam for this excellent footage.