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.

Dive Weekend 2009- Dives 1 and 2

Every Year, Lagniappe's Keeper (LK for short) and I get together for a Great Lakes Dive Weekend.

This time instead of one charter we decided to do two for a total of four different shipwrecks in two days. As usual we signed up with charters being run on Captain Gary Venet's boat Sylvia Anne of Rec and Tec dive charters - as always a great boat to go out diving on the Great Lakes.

We left my place on Friday and drove up near Port Sanilac to camp out. We met up with Amy, a diving friend of LK's from Minnesota. Unfortunately she got lost around Lansing, diverting from Highway 69 onto Highway 96 and ending up near Detroit before getting reoriented in the right direction. So we got together, got our tents setup and went into town for dinner and turned in relatively early in preparation for our dives to start early Saturday morning.

The dives for Saturday were the North Star and the Mary Alice B.

The North Star was a 300' long steal propeller driven freighter.
The North Star sank on November 25 1908 after being rammed by her sister ship the Northern Queen with no lives lost and is resting in 96 feet of water.

The ship is broken in two and is lying on the bottom on its side. As before, we went down the line on the stern. Conditions were somewhat better than the last time we dove her and it was a nice wreck to see. We made an uneventful ascent and had a surface interval before diving the Mary Alice B.

The Mary Alice B was a tugboat that sank in 1975 just a few months before the famed Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald. It rests in 92 feet of water and access is possible to the pilot house and the engine room (the roof of the engine room has been ripped off so egress is quite simple). It was fun to float in and turn the ship's wheel, which moves quite freely and look out at the lake beyond.

The Mary Alice B when she was named the Bonanka (The letters are starting to show underwater under the Mary Alice B's name now that divers have been rubbing the area on the bow where the name is to see it).


The Mary Alice B as she looks on the bottom:


LK by the Mary Alice B:

Me by the Mary Alice B:

As you can see there was a lot of particulate in the water and visibility wasn't perfect, but it was decent enough.

Once I'm done editing the movie footage I'll add some to this post as it is much more clear than the photos.

After the dive we returned to the campsite and then went to the Lapeer Pit for a little shooting (and watching some seriously goofy shooters what Tam would call far below your Lowest Common Denominator Shooters - more on them and some other goofballs we encountered during this trip later) and then we made dinner at the campsite by grilling some brats and toasting our diving success with some nice cold beer and then to sleep to prepare for Sunday's dives.

Labor Day Weekend Saturday - Wreck Dives

On Saturday we awoke at 4:30 and piled in the car and were on the road by 5.

After stopping at an open diner in a small town on the way for a filling breakfast we drove into port Sanilac and the marina nice an early .

Once again we went with Rec and Tec Dive Charters - simply the best.

We first dove the North Star. A steel steamship that was 300' long. It was built in 1888 in Cleveland, OH. The ship is in two pieces but lies in an upright position. The pilot house is intact. The wreck is located about 5.5 miles SE of Port Sanilac and 10 miles NE of Lexington. The ship sank in 1908, after a collision with its sister ship the Northern Queen.

Visibility was bad, about 10 feet or so for this dive and my camera does not yet have external strobes so the pictures did not come out well at all.

Lagniappe's Keeper had a little issue and we had to break the dive off early and get back to the boat. A nice wreck and I hope to return again when there is better visibility to truly appreciate its enormity.

After a surface interval we went to the Regina. I had first dove the Regina earlier in the year.

This time we had company on the wreck -


Quite a few other dive boats came by to dive the wreck and after our surface interval we headed on down.

The visibility was considerably worse than it was back in May, again about 10-20 feet or so. There was also a nice current flowing from the stern towards the bow so getting back to the boat anchored on the stern (by the rudder for you non-nautical types out there) after the dive took a bit of work.

The dive however was worth it.

Here's Lagniappe's Keeper by the wondefully huge propellor and rudder of the ship.


Here he is right above the rudder -


A porthole by the stern -


We also checked out the huge smokestack lying beside the ship and peeered into the great crack in the ship's hull.

Here I am hanging out -


After making our way kicking back to the stern thought the very visible current (particles in the water were really flying by, sadly opposite to the direction we wanted to go) we did our nice slow ascent and returned on board without incident. A great way to end the day.

Simply an excellent couple of wreck dives,Rec and Tec has never disappointed yet. On the charter we met some very nice divers from the Ford Sea Lancers Dive Club that had the other 8 of ten spots on this trip. A good bunch of divers to be in the water alongside with.

Then the long trip back to my house for a festive BBQ with the family and folks.