Saturday, June 07 – 2008
15:00 – 16:00
Dive Number 132
Start: 15:15
Roads: Dry / clear
Visibility: 24km
Temp: +30C
Water Temp: +18C
Area: Welland Canal Recreational Waterway – Train Bridge
Vehicle: Black Sunfire
Weather: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility: 2m
Divers: Wolf & Chuck
Maximum Depth: 10m
Plan: Exploration
We parked at the small parking lot near the Old Train Bridge and kitted up, entered the water and did a quick gear check. This time Wolf had fins, and Chuck had a dive float. We started our descent to 10m and headed southbound. There was a lot of rubbish all over including sign parts, beds, roto-tillers, and a new white Rexall trolly. The area go boring very quickly and we found a couple of mud puppies to play with and later we had some fun with some beer bottles we found.
We found a large upside down bucket but in turning it over, stirred up the visibility in the immediate area so bad we had to move along.
When we surfaced there were a few other divers topside sizing up the area. We packed our gear and headed out.
Strangely later in the evening I went to wash all my gear down with a product I use called Nikwax Tech wash. Tech Wash is a completely eco-friendly inert substance that is safe to use in delicate waterways, and even safe to ingest.
I loaded my DUI Drysuit into the bathtub with my BCD, and sprayed the Nikwax Tech Wash on them as I always do after every day of diving to keep them clean and dirt free.
To my surprise, when I sprayed the NikWax from the original NikWax atomiser bottle onto the BCD and drysuit, it fizzed and made a gas! I accidentally inhaled the gas and it made me cough and burned my eyes! I rang the poison control centre and they stated it’s nearly impossible for Tech Wash to react as it is completely inert.
The next day I e-mailed NikWax which has it’s head office located back home in England and they stated that Tech Wash is inert, and sent me the safety data sheet on the product, and then advised me after a couple of days their R&D department stated they have no idea what substance could have made the Tech Wash react. They also made a recommendation we refrain from diving in that water if something in it can make an inert substance react.
