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| Updated 14 June, 2009
Welcome to the homepage for Preserve Our Wrecks, Kingston - a charitable corporation based in Kingston, Ontario and dedicated to preserving and protecting the marine heritage
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Latest News13 June 2009 The majority of students who commenced the Nautical Archaeology Course in May visited Kingston today to undertake the final, underwater, portion of their training. In near-perfect conditions, they examined, sketched and applied two survey techniques to the wreck fragments that lie close to shore at Portsmouth Harbour. This site, which was for so many years a focus of maritime activity in the City, is particularly apposite as a training venue for avocational archaeologists. Once again, participants had traveled from as far afield as Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto to take part. Special thanks are due to our tutor, Marg Barker, who made the day both interesting and informative.
2 June 2009 Everyone interested in Kingston's past will want to look at the lineup for the annual archaeological week organized by the Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation. It runs from June 15th to 20th this year and kicks off on the 15th with events and information at Kingston's Market Square. A full programme can be downloaded by clicking here. Staff at CARF have asked us to mention that the price we published here for Jonathan Moore's excellent work on the warships of 1812 was an introductory one. The full price of the booklet, and still very reasonable for such a comprehensive and informative work, is C$ 8-50.
10 May 2009 POW is delighted to report that, despite some very odd weather conditions over the weekend, the mooring work has been very successful to date. Our online status update is up and running. During the season, divers and charter operators can consult this at any time to see what the situation is on any particular wreck. If you discover an error, or wish to draw our attention to an issue with any of our moorings, please use the contact us page to get in touch or e-mail us direct.
Everyone at Preserve Our Wrecks is very grateful to those who gave their time, energy and expense to conduct the mooring work. It's an absolute truism that we couldn't do it without you...30 Apr 2009 POW has returned to the marketing business with a brand-new T-Shirt just in time for the warm Summer ahead. Look for pictures on the blog and in news of the forthcoming NAS course, where students will be sporting the garment. An order form can be downloaded by clicking here. It has full details of costs, including Post and Packing - for both Canadian and American members.
30 Apr 2009 As we approach the start date for our Nautical Archaeology Course (May 2/3) applications have closed after all the available places were taken. We now look forward to an excellent weekend benefiting from the expertise of the very professional team who are coming from Parks Canada to deliver the training.
9 Apr 2009 The syllabus for the Nautical Archaeology Society course is now available for inspection. Parks Canada are sending a strong team to deliver this training. There will be great opportunities to learn about their archaeological experiences as well as to receive first-class instruction. Individuals graduating from this training will be strongly placed to support our Organisation's survey work this Summer and beyond. Places are still available. Click here to download the programme and see what you might be missing.
26 Mar 2009 Plans are already well advanced for the Nautical Archaeology Society Level One Course we are to run in Kingston over the weekend of May 2/3. Marine Archaeologists from Parks Canada's Underwater Archaeology Service will be providing the training - and doubtless bringing a host of stories and experiences to back up theory and practice. Places are still available for this course, which is likely to cost around $150 per person. An application form can be downloaded from this site and further information can be obtained by e-mail or by calling 613 767 7446.
20 Mar 2009 Don't miss the talk to be given at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston on Friday, March 27th at 7 pm. Nadine Kopp will describe the work she directed last year on an underwater survey of a mystery ship in Kingston's Navy Bay. Nadine's talk is based on one she presented to the Society for Historical Archaeology in Toronto earlier this year. You can download a poster (208 Kb) for the event by clicking here.
2 Mar 2009 The Spring edition of the Newsletter is now available for download. Click here to read your copy. There's important news about the Nautical Archaeology Society Course to be run in May - and plans for survey work later in the year.
19 Feb 2009 Our friends at the Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation are marking the successful conclusion of their move to new premises at 611 Princess Street, Kingston with a Grand Opening on Saturday, March 7th. Click here to download the details and, if you can, make it a point to attend the Opening celebration, which will include an insight in CARF's history.
12 Feb 2009 There's exciting news this week from our sister organization, Save Ontario Shipwrecks. SOS has recently concluded an agreement with the Nautical Archaeology Society, the World's best known underwater archaeology training body, to run courses under NAS auspices. The media release, with full details, can be downloaded by clicking here. POW congratulates SOS on this significant advance and looks forward to training cooperation in the future that will further the causes of wreck preservation and conservation.
26 Jan 2009 The Annual General Meeting was held in Kingston on Saturday, January 24th. There was a good turnout of members who have renewed for 2009. It was a particular pleasure to conduct business in the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes, a venue with which POW has been closely associated over the years.
Full Minutes of the meeting (pdf 76Kb) can be downloaded by clicking here. Members will be interested to know immediately that the Board composition has changed. Three of last year's directors, Jen Bush, Dan Haslip and Christopher Haslip did not stand for office again. Their work for POW in 2008 is much appreciated and their support is sought in what will be a busy year for the group. Mike Hill, who indicated his willingness to continue service on the Board was confirmed as a director. New directors, who were elected to the positions indicated in a follow-up Board Meeting on the day, are Marg Barker (Secretary); Dianne Groll (Treasurer); Harold Vandenberg (Mooring Director); Steve Chew (Vice President) and Kevin LeBlanc. Mike Hill was elected to the office of President for a second year.
Members will immediately notice that, for personal reasons, Nick Drakich has reluctantly given up the duties of Secretary and Treasurer. Nick's commitment to POW - and his vast institutional memory and considerable local experience - will be sorely missed. It is the intention of the Board to co-opt him regularly, as his time and circumstances allow, to assist in its deliberations.
7 Jan 2009 Members will already be aware that POW takes the confidentiality of information shared with us very seriously. Formal assurance of this fact can be gained by reviewing our Privacy Policy. It's a small downloadable document to which a link is provided in the column opposite.
A very Happy New Year to all our members and readers. Dive safe !
25 Dec The Board of Preserve Our Wrecks wishes all our members - and everyone else committed to the work of preserving and protecting historic wrecks and other underwater sites - all the very best for the holidays.
Don't forget to put Saturday, January 24th in your new diaries and calendars. The Annual General Meeting will take place in the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston, starting at 2 pm. There will be opportunities for those of you who haven't already renewed your membership to do so before the meeting.
1 Dec As announced in an interview published today in the Kingston Whig Standard with Jonathan Moore, a Parks Canada archaeologist with that Agency's Underwater Archaeology Service, POW is to coordinate volunteer support for a major, non-intrusive survey that will take place in Kingston waters next year, 2009. The project, which will be professionally supervised, will capitalize on the tremendous experience available in the avocational archaeological and dive communities. The activity is in its early planning stages and no approaches should be made to POW at this time for information on participation or other aspects of the work. It's likely that the Annual General Meeting of the Organisation, to be held in Kingston on January 24th, 2009, will provide an opportunity to reveal more details.
30 Nov POW members were delighted today to attend the book launch presentation, at the Marine Museum in Kingston, of the new work by Jonathan Moore, a marine archaeologist with Parks Canada's Underwater Archaeology Service and leading authority on Kingston's shipwrecks of the War of 1812. His liberally-illustrated presentation on the subject brought the wrecks to life and introduced non-divers to the riches that lie beneath the City's local waters. Priced very reasonably at
C$ 8-50 and available from the Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation at 611 Princess St, Kingston, the 30 page work has many wonderful images. It is an excellent summary of current knowledge on the origins and current status of the wrecks concerned. A highly recommended stocking stuffer and a worthy companion to the other titles in CARF's series on local archaeological treasures.
23 Nov POW was pleased, earlier this year, to participate in the laying of a new guideline to the well-known Stacked Hulls dive site in Kingston. Now a down-loadable guide to finding the line, with pictures of both the entry point and the site itself is available to interested parties. It is requested though, that divers who intend to visit this particular site pay close attention to the cautionary note included in the Guide. Download the Guide to the Stacked Hulls. Dive Safe !
16 Nov We're delighted to announce today that the Fall edition of our Newsletter is available for download. Simply go to our Newsletter page and select the new edition. It's been a good year for POW and the Newsletter, I think, proves it.
Now it's time for all of you to stump up your annual membership fees and give the Organisation a cash injection. You can be sure that, when you do, your money is going to a good cause that directly benefits divers and those who support them in the Kingston area. Look out for news of the AGM date and venue - coming soon.
1 Nov Thanks are due to Jim Brandeau and Steve Flaherty for some sterling work on buoy retrieval and mooring maintenance today. They pulled in no fewer than 7 of the remaining marks. See our blog site for full details, or consult the status report accessible through the 'mooring matters' page on this site.
29 Oct Work continued in the last week or so to remove the buoys we place each dive season from the sites on the Lake. Sites affected most recently (i.e. no longer marked by mooring buoys) are: Munson, City of Sheboygan, William Jamieson and Terry's Tug
1 Oct It seems like no time at all since we were planning and executing the placement of the buoys for the 2008 season. Now, we are beginning to think about removing them and dropping the lines for the fast approaching Winter. Whoever nominated Labour Day as the end of Summer certainly seems to have had a feel for the seasons. The weather since then, generally, has been pretty wet and miserable, which makes the prospect of ending charters a little more reasonable. As our Mooring Director completes the work to prepare for Winter, with the assistance of the various dive charter operators and others, we'll keep you in the picture on the availability of buoys and moorings, just in case you can still get out to them.
30 Sep Dr Tim Abel, Director of the Jefferson County Historical Society in Watertown, NY gave an interesting talk tonight in Kingston on the remarkable efforts by the US, in the Winter of 1814, to construct warships for a new campaign on Lake Ontario in the Spring of 1815. Titled 'Wilderness Battleship', his presentation explained how Storr's Harbour (near Sacket's Harbour) had been pressed into service as a shipyard when it became clear that Sacket's lacked the capacity to meet Navy demands (and the expectations of Washington). The title, it became evident, related to the fact that, in the period concerned, upper NY State was little more than a sparsely occupied wilderness territory. Constructing major warships, including some that matched, and potentially even exceeded, records for size and armanent at that time, was a major undertaking.
1 Sep Cooperative efforts involving POW members, divers from the Great Lakes Underwater Explorers and others has opened up another shore dive site. Lying just a few hundred feet directly south of Murney Tower, in 60 feet of water, the wreck of a wooden-hulled, probable canal barge has substantial sections of the bow and stern intact as well as long sections of her sides. A line has been laid from shore just below Murney Tower - starting at a depth of about 20 feet. More comprehensive directions, and pictures and video, are accessible from our blog site.
29 Aug 'HMS Montreal' ? There has been a great deal of publicity recently about the 'discovery' of a wreck that some claim to be HMS Montreal, one of the vessels that carried the flag of a British admiral during the War of 1812. Anyone can, of course, make any claim they wish. But, records maintained by this organization and many private researchers, as well as marine archaeologists serving with Parks Canada, comprehensively conclude that the site concerned has been known to divers and archaeologists alike for quite a long time. Although features of the vessel involved have much in common with warships of the period concerned, it has not yet been possible to draw any firm conclusions about its identity. In fact, it would be difficult to do so, since no significant survey work has been undertaken on the site. This highlights an important issue arising from the exaggerated reporting that has been set before the reading public. Sites of scientific and historical significance are best left alone until professional survey work can be completed. Although there is no question of placing wreck sites off limits (with just three exceptions in Ontario waters) the cooperation of divers in avoiding disturbance of unexploited sites is strongly encouraged. This ensures that the most accurate results can be obtained when full surveys are completed. Naturally, the best way to avoid the risk of disturbance of a site - and confusion in its later interpretation - is to stay away from it.
20 Aug Now that the dust has settled, it's possible to look back at the inaugural Kingston Underwater event and take stock. A wrap-up report written by the organizers can be viewed here. The event aimed to focus attention on Kingston as a dive destination and to highlight the fragility of our marine environment and the wrecks and other historical resources that are so much a part of it. It certainly succeeded in those aims, though it would have been great to see more visitors and to benefit from greater publicity, especially from the broadcast media. Much effort was made to advise local journalists and radio and TV stations of the event and press packs were sent out in time to allow them to plan coverage. Disappointingly, with very few exceptions, they ignored the event.
The response of other groups invited to participate was more encouraging. Excellent exhibits in the City's Memorial Hall included outstanding environmental displays, booths promoting local conservation bodies, dive centres and charter operators and other educationally relevant stands. Visitor feedback on the whole event was very positive.
Inevitably, the question arises, 'will there be another Kingston Underwater event?'. It remains to be seen. For many reasons, there was little or no financial support for this year's show. Clearly, another can only be genuinely successful if some sponsorship is forthcoming. There is a limit to how much a handful of volunteers can achieve faced with what is a professional grade organizational challenge. If you live in Kingston and you think that the event is worthy of support, please let your elected representatives know your views. The City's maritime heritage deserves more support than it currently receives.
16 Jul Hurrah ! Our Summer newsletter has been published to the web. Just click here to download and read it. (It's just under a Mb for those of you on dial-up...). Hopefully, everyone will find something in the newsletter to enjoy. Now the work on preparing the Fall edition begins. Please consider sending us contributions.
5 Jul Members' attention is drawn to the first annual Kingston Underwater show, which is to take place in Kingston City Hall and at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes over the weekend of August 9/10. Exhibits will include one from POW and the SOS traveling display as well as others highlighting diving, environmental and maritime heritage topics. Look out for a website for the event - launching in a day or so at http://www.kingstonunderwater.ca.
1 Jun Members of POW are currently working on a research project being completed for a Master's Thesis by a visiting Marine Archaeologist. The site concerned lies in waters close to the Royal Military College under the control of the Canadian Forces. The vessel, of wooden hulled construction, is about 60 feet long and lying in shallow water. Volunteers will be working for a week or more to complete a survey and, hopefully, attribute the wreck to a particular time period and class of ship. More information daily on our blog.
21 Apr A mooring status update has been posted on our website. The document is intended to provide an up-to-date statement of the mooring situation on our most popular wrecks. Please have a look at it and provide any comments to our team (use the contact form on this website). During the dive season, we'd particularly welcome news of any problems with moorings.
17 Apr James Pate, elected to the Board of Directors at this year's AGM, has resigned. It is now likely that members will be invited to submit nominations for a new Director. Candidates will be considered at the next general meeting of members, which is likely to take place in July.
15 Apr Here's a diary date to mark in your 2009 calendars. The Society for Historical Archaeology will be holding its 2009 Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in Toronto from January 6-11. Co chairs for the Conference, Jonathan Moore and Erika Laanela, are well known to POW. Keep an eye on the Society's website for more information.
11 Apr POW's Annual General Meeting took place on Sunday, March 2nd at the Day's Inn in Kingston. A colourful and captivating presentation on the wrecks of Truk Lagoon was given by guest speaker, Warren Lo. This year's recipient of the Gary Thibault Award for Lifetime , Achievement in Marine Heritage was announced as Barbara Carson. Barbara has dived the waters around Kingston since the early 1960s and, with other underwater pioneers is credited with finding, recording and actively campaigning for the protection and preservation of many of our best known local shipwrecks. A new slate of Directors was elected and some introductory notes are provided on most below.
11 Apr Members and other interested individuals will want to check out our online blog, a medium through which we intend to pass interesting news and information quickly and regularly. When you visit it, please note our interest in having you contribute your views and commentary.
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Membership
We welcome as members anyone who shares our aims and ambitions. Divers are particularly encouraged to join since they benefit directly from the work of the Organisation and can contribute directly to the protection of wrecks by adopting good dive practices and promoting them in their various clubs and dive groups. Membership fees and other details are given in our application form, which can be viewed and downloaded by clicking here.
You can also join by using the Canada Helps website. Simply check our application form for the appropriate sum and donate it through this excellent resource. Credit cards are accepted.
To contact us for further details on membership - or with any other questions - please use the form on our 'Contact Us' page.
Weblog (Blog) for Preserve Our Wrecks
Be sure to check our Blog regularly. Breaking news and items of interest will appear there first.Privacy Policy
POW is committed to protecting the private information members share with us. A specific policy has been adopted. It is based on the Canadian Standards Association best practice guidelines and can be viewed as a download (92 Kb) by clicking here.
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