|
|
Updated 18 July, 2008
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
|
Latest News
17 Jul Plans are well advanced for the inaugural Kingston Underwater event, which will take place over the weekend 8-10 August. Visit the event website for full details of what promises to be a valuable insight into our maritime heritage and those who have explored it and work to protect and conserve it today.
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.
14 Jul Fairly turbulent waters on the Lake today proved to be no deterrent to our Mooring Director, who ventured forth to replace a temporary line on the Annie Falconer and to position one of our new buoys on the site. The work was done with no problems and there was time for a tour of this wonderful wreck - in great visibility. A successful search for an abandoned mooring block nearby was also completed. It's hoped to move this block, if it can be freed from its substantially embedded position, to the wreck of the China. Thanks to Tom Rutledge and Mike Hill for assistance with the work. Some of Tom's excellent pics from the trip can be viewed by those with access to the Ontario Diving Forum.
7 Jul More mooring work has been taking place. Many thanks to Harold again - and his divers. And to Tom Rutledge and Jim Brandeau, who have been preparing lines of various kinds to go to the wrecks. One piece of disturbing news this weekend has been the loss of a buoy from the wreck of the Frontenac (N 44°01.12 W 76°36.12). Unfortunately, this is not the first time that this mark has been lost. POW would much appreciate any information on the circumstances of loss. There is no evidence of collision and accidental loss, given the care with which the buoys are placed, seems unlikely. A temporary marker has been placed on the line while a decision is reached on whether to place another permanent buoy.
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.
15 Jun This weekend saw some great work completed on moorings under the watchful eyes of our Mooring Director, Harold. The first of the newly acquired buoys, marked up to promote POW, and in some cases announcing sponsorships, which are very important to us, were placed. Temporary mooring buoys on the Katie Eccles and the Glendora were replaced with permanent ones. There was also some work on replacement of lines. The assistance of Jim Brandeau with line preparation was very important to the success of the weekend. Jim also prepared a line that will go to Duck's Dive in Point Traverse to help them with moorings they are good enough to maintain on behalf of the Organisation.
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.
11 May More great work by Harold today. Four more lines were raised, on the ever popular City of Sheboygan, the Cornwall, Glendora and the Katie Eccles. Be aware that the latter three are currently marked by temporary jugs. Six new buoys will be introduced very shortly. Check out the Mooring Status Update for full details of the wrecks now accessible to charter operators and divers.
10 May Mooring Director, Harold Vandenberg raised four more mooring lines today. The latest report is available on our Mooring Matters Page. But if you want to save time, the wrecks now accessible are: the Frontenac, George A. Marsh, Maple Glen and the Queen Mary. There are some great underwater pictures taken during the work on the Ontario Diving Forum website.
7 May Moorings were placed on three more of the popular wrecks today.
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.
12 Apr The Board of Directors met today and confirmed the following appointments: Mike Hill to be President; Dan Haslip, Vice President and Jennifer Bush, James Pate and Chris Haslip to serve as Directors. Nick Drakich was confirmed as Secretary / Treasurer. Harold Vandenberg will continue an excellent tradition as Chair of the Mooring Committee. Chantelle Bennett is to be our Communications Chair and James Pate will take responsibility for Membership.
12 Apr The Board of Directors have identified the date for next year's Heritage Symposium. It will take place in Kingston on Saturday, January 24th. Mark the date in your 2009 diaries now.
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 As a key function of our Organisation's drive to protect local wrecks, the placement of moorings at the start of each dive season is a major feature. This year's work will be done in early May and offers of assistance are already coming in from charter operators. The call for suitably qualified divers to support the mooring work will be going out soon.
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.
Board of Directors
The Organisation's Board of Directors for 2008 comprises the following members, who were nominated and elected at the AGM.
 POW President Mike Hill retired in 2005 from a full career in the British Army. His interest in diving grew during the latter years of that employment. Building on basic certification in 2001, he has advanced to instructor in the intervening years. His practical experience includes part-time employment with a busy dive centre in Northern Virginia and a training role with the Canadian Forces Club in Kingston, Ontario. He aims to get in about 250 dives in any calendar year.
He completed Level One training with the Nautical Archaeology Society in 2007, which was put to immediate use on the Twisted Sisters project. He has been a member of POW, Kingston since moving to Canada in 2005.
Mike’s other interests include dive travel, underwater photography and keeping fit to maintain what some describe as an unhealthy dive addiction.
 POW Vice President, Dan Haslip has been diving sometime now having re-certified in 1996. His start to diving was years ago when you could buy gear from the Sears catalogue. Since 96 he has been able to obtain various courses including his instructor's (NAUI), wreck courses, cavern and cave, among others. Being an active member in the military, he has had the chance to dive in various locations in the world including Belgium the Canary Islands and the Red Sea. In Canada and specifically in Kingston, Dan recognises that we have some of the best diving anywhere, which is why he feels it is imperative that we save local shipwrecks and history through organizations like Preserve our Wreck. Dan would like to invite everyone to come learn about Kingston’s marine heritage, which spans centuries, providing something of interest for everyone.
 POW Director, Chris Haslip started diving in 1996, taking his open water course in Sarnia Ontario. Currently, he is completing his divemasters course. He was drawn to POW due to the history behind many of the shipwrecks. With so many different histories and ease of diving he considers Kingston to be truly a world class diving location. Chris is always interested in learning more about diving or the wrecks that we are diving on and loves to share his knowledge and experiences with the general public. Like most divers his simple recreational past time has turned into a truly enjoyable obsession.
Jennifer (Jen) Bush - picture and bio to follow
The Board of Directors will be ably supported by Past President, Tom Rutledge; Secretary / Treasurer, Nick Drakich and Chantelle Bennett, who has agreed to produce a regular newsletter.
 Chantelle Bennett did her first dive in 1984, in the tropical waters of Venezuela, but did not pursue diving upon returning home. In 2005, she finally did her Open Water course in Florida, for further diving in Cuba. Once reality set in that there really was diving in Canada, she fell in love with the freshwater diving that our country had to offer. Chantelle took her Advanced and Nitrox courses in Florida as well, and decided to take GUE Fundamentals in 2006. Since then, she has spent most of her free time under the waters of Kingston and Brockville. Scheduled training for 2008 is Tech 1 in Kingston, and Cave 1 in Mexico.
When not diving, Chantelle works in Promotional Products by day, and trains horses in the evenings.
|
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.
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.
|
|