The World through our Lenses

More to come as well from what I understand as well.
A few years ago

This past Summer

This Past Fall/early Winter

This Winter

Now the dredging begins, got a couple of shots off before they closed the gates again

So the work finally begins nearly 10 years later after getting the dock ready the first time, then 3 years ago the move of the boat ioto the dock and now it’s finally drained.

A complete history of the drydock can be read here. Enjoy some history

Today I finally made it to the gym then Sean and I headed out to go exploring. Driving down the road leaving Deseronto we found this place. Apparently the Rathburn Marina complete with a few boats left on site. At one time the owner owned float planes and was a big player in the region. The gentlemen that was working on his boat and 24 beside the building stated that one day they packed up and left. Perhaps due to a death in the family, he wasn’t sure.

Complete photo shoot here.

Hopefully my new lens and my health improve so I can get back into the water, the new lens if it works will give me the ability to make mosaics of wrecks so I am looking forward to it.

More history of the desoronto area in pictures

Enjoy

During the second world war the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was in full swing in Eastern Ontario, with at least 10 stations providing pilot and gunnery training. Kingston was of no exception.

The aerodrome hosted the Royal Air Force No. 31 Service Flying Training School, which provided advanced flight training in Battle and Harvard aircraft not with incident several aircraft crashed into the lake and still haven’t been recovered. Two were recovered and built into one at the entrance to the airport to pay tribute to the airmen that trained and lost their lives in the fight for justice and freedom for all.

Over the years the Hanger played host to many military related tasks and storage duties till 1972 when the property was turned over to the city for a municipal airport. Named after a popular politician Norman Rogers was ready for business.

The hanger was then used for aircraft maintenance, Training School, Tennis Courts, Fitness centre and finally a golf centre.

Pictures from the building in a state of demolition here.

So after waking up at 530 am for the last couple of days and getting over the fact that there is a 530 am. One of my dive buddies finally makes the leap to Mix gas diving it took some extra training with the instructor and a lot of my personal time to make his goal achievable but it was worth every minute of it.

So the final dive was to 165 for 25 mins on 18/45 with deco starting at 70 feet on 50% for 30 in the warm waters of the St Lawrence River and all went extremely well for him and his dive team.
So back to store for Dan to pack up his stuff to head home to Alberta while Chris and I plot our return to the dive fest already in progress.

So starting tomorrow back to the gym as I think my knee can handle a work out again and I already have an invite to do some urban exploration as well. So it’s starting to look like more adventures to come for the last month of summer. Stay tuned.

So today I hooked up the new garmin in Polly’s car and went crusing up and down the back roads north of Kingston till I was sure I was lost and hit the home key to play with the GPS. Worked like a charm and got back to a main road in a few kilometers.

The first thing I spotted when I turned the corner was this bus and next to the property was an abandoned farm house. So I stopped and started shooting pics, within five minutes a guy pulled up in a van and jumped out asking what I was doing . I told him taking pics and he started to calm down. Then he came over to talk to me about all the problems he was having with his grandparents home.

It seems that he has a prospector outbreak like the rest of the residences in the county. Up to sometime during the first world war or just after it, people purchasing land got everything, water, mineral and land rights. Then during the roaring 20′s from what I gather that changed and mineral & water rights were no longer part of the deal. Those with them were grandfathered and life went on. Then during the great depression as people fell into tax debts with our government they were offered a break in lieu of taxes as the government reclaimed mineral rights. During the second world war a company moved into the farm land and started mining lead, feldspar and something else right on the grandparents land.

The guy remembers as a kid in the 50′s playing with lead and stuff. When his grandparents passed on his uncle moved in and stayed for years. He felt the need to burn all his garbage and bottles where discarded behind the shed. Bottle collectors in the 80′s and 90′s constantly came to the farm looking for treasures.

In the late 80′s his uncle died and the home remained empty for winters and summers they used it as a guest house and hunting cabin in the fall. Sometime in the 90′s Hydro came along and informed them that the main wire running to the house was not up to snuff and turned off the hydro till it was repaired. Hydro actually were the ones that installed the original wire but due to a standards change were not on the hook for upgrades.

Since then he has had his uncles trucks stolen, and many prospectors staking out the property, he lets them do all the staking then removes them afterwards under the trespassing act. Recently after over 100 years of drinking the well water on the property, the township has condemned the water with just a little over the allowable lead content.

Full set of pictures here. Enjoy

Kingston has been an transportation hub since it’s inception. Despite the many bad hands the various forms of government has dealt Kingston it still survives. Railroad travel was a big thing and a major mode of transportation for many a Canadian. Then after the second world war people became mobile and the automobile became king of the road.

After the construction of the Queens Highway 401 many travelers took to the open road at the expense of the ladies of the rail. The Grand Trunk Railway had a small station in Ernestown, a very small hamlet now a part of the City of Kingston. It closed after the highway opened up but still remains standing like many other stations in the region. If one wants to explore it the back window was wide open as well, I think you may need a flashlight to look around though. Take only pictures and memories if you decide to visit.

The full set I took is located here. A comprehensive history of the the station is located here.

Today I actually completed 2 1/2 hours at level 19 on the stair master and was burnt out pretty good making me forget about my need for 12 pills in the am and 3 in the pm. The best thing is that spring is going to come Easter Weekend.

So Sean finally got out of bed after I had a hell of a work out Level 18 three hours, I took the weekend off then was able to get that out. We started looking for the abandoned house on Channel View and after an couple of drive bys it was located. Nothing worth looking at so we took the ferry over to Howe Island and found lots of abandonments and stuff. Complete series of pictures here.

For the next time we know where to stop and have a look, next time Sean is off we are hitting Wolfe Island hopefully and if we do I will give Paul a call as he likes Wolfe Island alot. On the way home off to shoppers to get my month meds and work on my latest shots.