The May 16 2010 Kick-Off Dive

Now that the computer is pretty much restored, I can finally download the pics and recall the finest Great Lakes dive I've had so far.

May 16, the sun was out, and Lake Huron was unusually calm as we left Port Sanilac on Captain Gary Venet's boat, the Sylvia Anne.  All on board were DIR divers, all from the same dive group so both the weather and the company promised to make it a very nice dive indeed.

The Lake remained blissfully clam throughout the dives, and the water clarity was absolutely fantastic.   Most times, I can never take a picture due to all the particulate in the water.  This time the photos came out pretty nicely.

We dove the North Star and the Regina, two wrecks that I've already dove, but each dive lets you see some other part of these huge ships.


First we dove the North Star - In 96 feet of water, this wreck, sunk when it was rammed by her sister ship the Northern Queen, is broken with the bow detached from the rest of the vessel.

I hit a max depth of 89 feet as I didn't try to hug the bottom but instead took in the wreck from above and along the deck.

Here's Keith looking at one of the Boilers:

 Here's some more shots of the North Star:

Then after a surface interval we headed to the Regina.  The Regina sank in the Great Storm of 1913 and wasn't discovered until the late 80s.  One of the best wrecks to Dive in the Great Lakes in recreational limits at 80 feet, especially if you're penetration trained, which I'm not, but its in the works.

The most outstanding exterior feature of the Regina is her huge Prop:

That's me with the prop and rudder in the background.

The funnel, broken off and lying beside the ship is also impressive, big enough to swim through and still stained with soot from her last voyage, almost a hundred years ago:

We left the Regina in an organized fashion, with the lake so calm no one needed to hold the upline during the ascent.

Great dives, then all of us went to Reichy's place for an excellent cook out with buffalo and elk burgers and copious amount of beer - Molson Canadian in honor of the CSL Regina and Great Lakes Brewery's Edmund Fitzgerald Porter for the North Star.  A great way to end an excellent dive trip.