2010 Dive Trips

Fall is in the air and the 2009 dive season is about over. That means it's time to plan for next year! I currently have two Great Lakes wreck diving trips planned for next year (more to follow).

On July 10-11, 2010, I'm going up to Harbor Beach, MI for a very special trip. I have booked the morning charter both days with Rec and Tec Dive Charters and my good friend Capt. Gary Venet. We're going to try to get to the seldom-dived stern section of the Daniel J. Morrell. The Morrell was a 586 ft. steamer. In November 1966, the Morrell was upbound on Lake Huron in a horrible storm. Near the tip of Michigan's thumb, she broke in half. The bow section sank as the stern, still under power, steamed another 5 miles until it sank. Due to it's distance from shore and the uncertainty of the weather, neither of the sections of the Morrell are visited a lot, and when people do get out, they usually do the bow section. Our other objective for the weekend is the newly-discovered Charles A. King. Gary tells me the King is an upright, intact schooner. He and his colleagues discovered her several years ago and have been diving her to identify and document her. 2010 will be the first year Gary will be running charters to her. Be among the first of the diving public to see her.

On July 22-25, 2010, I'll be diving Lake Huron near Presque Isle, MI. I used to dive that area 2 or 3 times per summer until about 2005. Last I led a trip there and fell in love with the area all over again. To read the trip report, which includes descriptions of the wrecks, look here.

Trimix certification is required for both trips, as depths of the wrecks range from 165'-200'. Obviously the target wrecks may change due to weather. Contact me at rick@GreatLakesTechDiving.com for more info and keep an eye on my website, www.GreatLakesTechDiving.com for more trips.

Online SCUBA Training?

I would like your opinion of SCUBA training. As some of you know, teaching diving is my avocation. My "real" job is in the education field, specifically distance/online education. So when I recently had the chance to review some online SCUBA materials, I jumped at the chance.

Now, using the internet to deliver SCUBA training is not a new concept. Recreational SCUBA agencies have been using it for years. The course materials I reviewed were for TECHNICAL diving classes. The modules are designed to present the academic portion of a given course as well as present demos (via video clips) of some of the in-water skills. Obviously you cannot deliver an entire technical diving course over the internet, but it may be helpful for students to go through the academic portion prior to the in-person sessions. The academic modules I saw were PowerPoint-style slides with narration and the occasional video clip. Just to be clear, students are still required to read the student manual, so if you prefer to see things in print, or are a computer-phobe, fear not.

So what do you think? If you're already a tech diver, think back to your last tech course, would you have benefited from reviewing the entire "classroom" session before meeting with the instructor? Would you have liked to have seen videos of the in-water skills? If you're not a tech diver (yet), would the online experience I've described sway you one way or the other? If you think an online component would be valuable, what dollar amount would you put on it? Would you pay $50 to access these materials? $75? $100?

Feel free to respond. I'm curious what people think.

2010 Course Schedule

I'm beginning to sort out my 2010 course offerings. If there's a course you're interested in taking next year, let me know. This early in the process, I can almost guarantee you'll get your choice of dates (almost).

1000 Islands Trip Report, Aug. 11-14, 2009

When I tell people at work I'll be gone diving for a few days in warm, clear water, they ask where I'm going. Florida? The Bahamas? No, I'm not leaving the Great Lakes. "Oh, so it'll be cold," they say. Nope, 73 degrees. "But that's on the surface probably." Wrong again, it's 73 degrees top to bottom, no thermocline I tell them. "Ooooo-Kayyyy" they say, now convinced that perhaps I do need a few days off.

The 1000 Islands region of the St. Lawrence River is one of my favorite places to dive. The St. Lawrence connects Lake Ontario on the west to the Atlantic Ocean on the east. The 1000 Islands region is the section of river nearest to Lake Ontario. The St. Lawrence has long been a major transportation route, even before the man-made "Seaway" existed. Hence, there are all sorts of shipwrecks to dive. And due to the constant mixing of the water by the current, there's no thermocline and the water warms up quite nicely in the summer.

This year, I seem to have picked the worst possible week to go to the islands. Everybody I asked was already busy or couldn't get vacation time, so it turned out my "group" trip consisted of Marshall and Renee Allan and me. Renee was completing her Adv. Wreck course, so wreck penetration was the objective.

Our first dive day we dove the Ash Island Barge and the Kingshorn. While "Ash Island Barge" isn't a very glamorous name, it's actually quite a nice little dive in about 100'. The Kingshorn is always a favorite of mine. She's a wooden schooner in about 85' in decent condition and only about 5 minutes from the resort dock. We jumped in on the Kingshorn and it was time for Renee to do some coursework. She ran a guideline inside the wreck, we followed the line out blind, went back in, did lost line drills and just as she thought it was over Marshall threw in an out of air for good measure. After returning from diving, we headed to Brockville for dinner at the Keystorm Pub, in honor of our dives the next day.

Day 2 found us doing two dives on the Keystorm. The Keystorm was a 250' steel steamer built in England in 1910. She was only two years old when she ran aground in dense fog October 26, 1912. Her crew escaped and she lay stranded on the shoal for five hours at which time she slid off the shoal into deeper water. Today, the Keystorm is one of the most popular dives in the area. Still lying on the shoal that sank her, the Keystorm offers a variety of dive profiles. Her bow lies in only 25' of water, with the deepest part of her stern in 115'. We moored amidships. On our first dive, we swam to the deeper part of the wreck and went into the engine room. On our second dive, we headed to the bow (shallow) and visited the captain's bathtub as well as the wheelhouse and forward superstructure.

After returning to Caigers and cleaning up, we headed over to Dive Tech for air fills and to see owner Dan Humble. Dan has a knack for finding new gizmos you just can't live without. In all my travels around the Great Lakes, I have to say that Dive Tech has the most extensive retail offerings, largest gas blending operation, best service and all around most pleasant atmosphere I've seen. Our tanks filled, we headed back to Brockville for dinner at Bud's on the Bay for dinner on the outdoor patio. It was a beautiful evening to sit outside and have a piece of chocolate chip pie for dessert!

On day 3, our dive objective was the Daryaw. The Daryaw, originally named the Marinier, was built in France in 1919 and came to the Great Lakes in 1922. She was 216' in length and sports the unique feature of having twin screws (two propellers). Her name was changed in 1935. She ran aground in a dense fog on November 21, 1941 and sank near Brockville, ON. The Daryaw lies in about 90' of water, upside down. Her upside down orientation on the bottom makes it easy for divers to view both of her propellers. Once again, we did two dives on her. On the first dive, we ducked under her upside-down hull and visited the bow briefly before heading to the stern. We penetrated the aft cabin area and conducted more drills for class. On our second dive, we explored the stern further and, at the end of the dive, we drifted off the wreck and did our deco drifting along with the current, rather than fighting it on the mooring line.

On our last dive day, we headed to the Roy A. Jodrey. The Jodrey may well be the signature dive of the 1000 Islands. A modern day, steel freighter, she was built in 1965 for the lucrative ore-carrying trade. She's a huge shipwreck at just over 600' in length.

In November 1974, she was carrying 20,000 tons or iron ore pellets on their way to Detroit, MI when she struck Pullman Shoal. Taking on water, she tried to beach in shallow water near the US Coast Guard Station on Wellesley Island. Unfortunately, there was no shallow water to be found and she eventually filled with water and sank in a little over 200' of water. The Jodrey lies against the wall of the channel just beneath the US Coast Guard station.

As the Jodrey is in the channel, there is no mooring attached to her. Divers enter the water upstream of the wreck and navigate down the wall to her. Our captain suggested we try a new route to the wreck, one not familiar to me. We decided to give it a try. Dropping down the wall where we were directed, we didn't find the wreck. I couldn't believe it. How could we have missed a 600' ship? I figured the current must have carreid us a bit too far downstream, so we started working our way upstream. After about 8 minutes, I decided I made the wrong choice so we turned around and drifted with the current and sure enough, before long I could make out a large shadow looming in our path. The shadow soon materialized into the bow of a huge ship. Drifting in the current plays funny tricks on one's mind. As you drift towards the wreck, it's easy to believe that you are stationary and the ship is actually coming at you!

We were able to enjoy our dive on the Jodrey and explored the forward area pretty extensively despite losing precious minutes finding the wreck. Our ascent was much less dramatic than our descent. As our captain predicted, following the wall up brought us up just upstream of the boat. In fact, we spotted the anchor line when we arrived at our 15' deco stop.

Sadly, that was our last dive and it was time to leave. By the time we got back to the hotel, packed up and got on the road, it was nearly 3 pm. Now, all we have to do is drive 9 hours and we'll be home free. We ended up arriving at my house about 12:30 a.m., so with brief goodbyes, Marshall and Renee continued on home and I went to bed.

As always, our trip to the 1000 Islands was great. Thanks to Caigers Resort, Thousand Island Pleasure Diving and Dive Tech. I'll be returning to the 1000 Islands in 2010 to teach a full range of technical diving courses. If you're interested in doing a course, or just joining in our group to go diving, drop me an e-mail.

Harbor Beach Trip Report (7/24-25/2009)

This past Friday and Saturday I once again had the pleasure of diving Lake Huron near Harbor Beach, MI. The object of the trip was to complete the dives necessary for Brian, Glenn and Jeff to achieve certification as TDI Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures Divers. The plan was to dive the Dunderburg Friday afternoon and the bow section of the Morrell Saturday morning.

As planned, we met Gary Venet at the marina about 2:30 for a 3pm departure. The Sylvia Anne is without doubt one of the most comfortable dive boats I've ever been on and Gary runs a ship-shape operation. When I reserved our spots on the boat a couple months ago, the guy at the dive shop said we got the last 4 spaces and the trip was full. When we arrived Friday however, we were pleasantly surprised to find out we were the only 4 on the boat! A beautiful Friday afternoon, calm seas, and only 4 divers on the boat. Now that's living!

We arrived at the Dunderberg, reviewed the dive plan and hit the water. I have to say that I've done this dive more times than I can count. But instead of becoming repetitive and boring, the Dunderburg is like an old friend: you may only get together once in awhile, but when you do, it's like you never were apart. It's especially fun to take divers on it for the first time. The Dunderburg is one of the prettiest, most intact, and accessible wooden schooners in all the Great Lakes. Visit this link to see some of Andy Morrison's excellent photos of this beautiful wreck.

After returning to port, we had dinner, debriefed the dive, returned to the motel and rigged equipment for the following day. The "dive in the afternoon one day and early morning the next" schedule doesn't leave much time in between dives. We finished rigged equipment as the sun set and just before the rain moved in.

Saturday morning it was cloudy and windy. I went to the boat at 7 a.m. and Gary had the weather satellite image on his laptop. There were lots of thunderstorms in the area, one right over the site of the Morrell. Not good. Even worse, there were more lines of storms lining up further west, heading our way. But, if the storms missed us, we might, just maybe, be able to get to the Dunderburg again. We waited. The storms kept marching towards us. At 9 a.m., Gary canceled the morning dive. Our friends from Divers Inc in Ann Arbor, MI were disappointed. My friend Rich Synowiec, owner of DI, had the morning charter booked, so we had booked our spaces through Rich. Long drive for no dive. My team was especially bummed since the cancellation meant we couldn't finish our coursework. Gary called Dale Musser from Sea Level Scuba, who had the afternoon charter booked and asked if there was room for my students and me so we could finish our course dives. Luckily, there was space. Now if the weather would just cooperate.

Brian, Jeff, Glenn and I went into town for breakfast at Al's Restaurant. Breakfast at Al's almost makes it seem OK that the dive was canceled. Homemade food at reasonable prices and outstanding coffee. We headed back to the boat about 11, where we stood under an awning in a downpour, but the wind had dropped to nothing. Storms still on the radar, we still wait. Finally about 1:30 Gary said, "OK, load up. We'll give it a shot." It may be cloudy and drizzly, but it should be calm. We headed out to the Dunderburg. There was no disappointment on our part doing the "D" two days in a row. During our debriefing the previous evening, much of what I heard was "And the next time, I want to check out the holds," and "If we get to dive it again, I have to go out to the crow's nest." The conditions were surprisingly good after a stormy morning. Not much wave action, no rain, and even a few peeks of sun.

My team was the second team in the water. They executed the dive nicely and stayed within all the parameters we had discussed on the surface. And they managed to enjoy themselves at the same time. The water seemed warmer than usual; 43 degrees (F) on the bottom, 67 at the surface with the thermocline lurking around 70 feet. We had an excellent dive and there were smiles all around on the boat ride back in.

After unloading the boat and debriefing the dive, we split up to head our separate routes back home. Thanks to Gary and his loyal minions Charlie, Skippy and Tom. Thanks Dale for letting us "stowaway" on your afternoon charter. And most of all, congratulations Brian, Glenn and Jeff!

1000 Islands August Trip, Still Room

There are still a couple spots open on my August trip to the 1000 Islands. If you're not familiar with this region of the Great Lakes, you do not know what you're missing. The 1000 Islands are in the St. Lawrence River near Lake Ontario. Since it's a river, there are no waves to speak of, hence no seasickness, no dives canceled to to rough seas, and the best part, warm water. In August the river should be in the mid-70's with no thermocline. There are lots of cool wrecks to dive in all depth ranges as well as drift dives. Check out my website for more info on this area.

Dive dates are Aug. 11-14. We'll be driving up on Aug. 10, diving the 11th through the 14th and driving back later on the 14th. Contact me if you're interested.

Presque Isle Trip 2009 (Lake Huron)

I just got back this evening from 3 days diving Lake Huron near Presque Isle, MI. Presque Isle is about 30 miles north of Alpena, MI (15 miles south of Rogers City). Some more information is on my website here. The photo at left is a model of the Cornelia B. Windiate on display at the NOAA Thunder Bay Marine Museum in Alpena, MI.

We chartered with Greg Such (www.shipwreckadventures.com) to take us out to such famed and beautiful wrecks as the SS Florida, Cornelia B. Windiate and the Kyle Spangler. This area is known for fickle weather patterns and Greg did a great job of watching the forecasts and picking good weather windows. We didn't miss a single day of diving. He runs a nice boat and was great helping us gear up and get in the water (although he'll back off and leave you alone if you prefer).

Anyhow, I was a day late joining the group. On day one, they dove the Windiate. More about that later. On day two (my first day), we met at the boat launch a 7 am to get out before the wind came up. We dove the Kyle Spangler. The Spangler is a beautiful wooden schooner upright and intact on the bottom in about 165'. Both masts are standing, complete with crosstrees (kind of a crow's nest). Look here for more info on the Spangler. Be sure to click on the link at the bottom of that page to see some awesome photos of the Spangler.

The next day found us once again at the boat launch at 7 am. The weather was sunny, blue skies and no wind. We made the early trip out to the SS Florida and were rewarded with just about flat seas. I've been on the Florida a number of times, but it was my buddy Steve's first time. We dropped the 175' to her deck and I gave him the whirl-wind tour. We dropped into the hold amidships and swam forward past barrels of flour, some floating up against the overhead. We saw blue enamel pots and pans, hand carts and cans and cans of something. Popping out of the hold near the bow, we eyed the forward capstan cover with the engraving still quite legible. Check out the anchors and time to start working our way to the stern. Down the deck past fallen masts. Huge collision holed on the starboard side. Look inside the aft cabin that looks like a storage area or workshop. Keg of nails on the deck. Brass lantern laying on the deck. Time is fleeting. We drop to the bottom at 195' to see a bell. Over to the exposed engine to check out the gauge panel and it's time to get to the upline and ascend. Man, what a dive. We need about 3 more dives to go back and investigate the Florida in more detail.

Today, our last day. Our hope was to return to the Florida. However, the wind was picking up, so we did the Windiate instead. Not a bad consolation prize. The viz was a little disappointing on the way down. But when Steve and I hit the top of the forward mast at 90', we could clearly see the entire wreck below us. We could see the other buddy team, Marshall and Renee, swimming around the wheel at the stern. We dropped to the deck some 70 feet below the top of the mast. We swim around the bow, with anchors still there. Heading to the stern, we check out the sail hoops and booms still attached to the masts. There are even some small brass grommets (from the sails?) lying at the base of one of the masts. We swim around the wheel at the stern and drop to the bottom (about 180'). The yawl boat is on the bottom on the starboard side. Time to head forward to the line. We swim forward and I marvel at the hatch covers still in place. She surely must have settled slowly to have remained this intact. Before we know it, it's time to head up.

The lake was still behaving herself and the ride back in was pleasant. One on shore however, the wind came up and within 30 minutes, it blowing hard.

The trip, of course, was too short. We had a great time, great dives, and great friendship. The best epitaph for a trip like this is "Just wait until next year!!!"