What can you tell me about Great Lakes diving?

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jbd

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A friend wants to do some diving in the Great Lakes. Those who have been there done--what can you tell me about it? Conditions, environment, equipment etc.
 
Cold(40f), dark. Killer shipwrecks. Lots of Zebra mussels. I dont know where your diving but Alex Bay in the 1000 Islands right now is 74f down to about 140ft then it hits a small thermocline but thats in the St. Lawrence river. Shipwrecks are the only thing that are worth checking out. To me its better then reef diving. If you look at my web page there is some pics I took this summer in Lake Ontario but there is an excellent web page linked off of mine called Ontario Scuba Diving. This guy is a real nice guy and will answer any questions you might have. He also takes the best pics of Shipwreck diving in the Great Lakes that Ive seen.
 
JBD;

Where will you be going? Diving in Lake Ontario isn't like Erie isn't like Georgian Bay, isn't like Superiour, you get my drift. Also are you going in on the US or Canada side. (good exchange rate up here in the GWN!)

Great diving in Kingston, Penetang, the St. Lawrence, Tobermory. Common themes are wrecks, cold water, good diving buddies, great beer. <See below!> Just ask around there's plently of CanCon (Canadian Content) on the Board, or drop me an e-mail and I'll help out where I can.

There are some good links on the web for Canada. (Try http://www.yahoo.ca -> Outdoors -> Scuba -> regional.)

Just a point of trivia - there are more missing ships in Lake Superiour than in the Bermuda Triangle!

I'd suggest 3/2 7mm with hood for anything under 40 ft tho

Regards.....

 
(I'd suggest 3/2 7mm with hood for anything under 40 ft tho)
I must be a wimp because I dive with a drysuit on even in Alex Bay where the temp is 74f. I just dont where a hood and for gloves I use reef gloves. My dives are usually quite long using double 95's and deco time added to it and I dont like to be even a tad uncomfortable.
There,s not much to see above 40ft in Kingston is there? All the wrecks I've done (munson,davie, sheboygan,wolf islander, marsh, comet, cornwall)are all below 70ft. What part of Ontario are you from Ontario Diver? If you are ever around my area, Rochester, NY come and dive the St. Peter with us out here. If you like 3 masted Schooners like the Marsh you will love this wreck. 120ft down 137ft long in sailing condition. They say its haunted by the wife of the captain (Martha). Captain was the only survivor.
 
Scubanarc;

There are not alot of good reasons to dive in a wet suit in cold water, :cold: Here are my top ones:

1) To prove to the world that you are the toughest dude and more macho than a busload of WWF superstars. :mean:

2) Because you can't afford one. ;-(

3) My buns look soooooo cute in Neoprene - due to its fantastic slimming qualities :tease:

I'm out of Toronto. I routinely dive in a 3/2. I use a hood and reef gloves for most dives. I'll use thicker gloves only if I have to.

There is some under 40 ft wrecks in Kingston (according to Cris Kohl) - but they seem to be pretty beaten up by the weather. Penetang has some nice scenic wrecks in and around 30' - 40'.

I've got family down in Binghampton/Vestal area, so a road trip might be in order <G> If you get time, tell us more about the St. Peter?

(And yeah SN, only wimps carry those double 95's down to the dive boat in one hand and the compressor in the other. <G>) I'm strickly a Rec Diver; Decompression Time = Miller Time. Well, this year anyway.....

 
I'm definately in the panzie catagory as well.

Let me know if want specific info on the northern Great Lakes (Traverse City/Alpena north). I can say, in general, that the temp at 140' in the Straits of Mackinaw is 50F and it's about 40F in Superior at 140'. Visibility has been great at 40'+.

Mike
 
Diving in the Great Lakes area is great. The St-Lawrence Seaway is known for the best shipwreck diving in North America (I would personally say the world). This is due to the colder water and the zebra mussels. You could dive a different wreck between Brockville and Kingston every day for months.
Wearing a drysuit is optional (depending on where you are from and what you are used to diving). I dove this weekend with a skin and 7mm suit. I wore tropical gloves and no hood. The visibility was awesome. The water temp was between 68 and 72F.
There is a great charter operation in Brockville. I believe it is called Under Pressure Dive Charters...
 
Try Bottom Time Charters out of Brockville. I took some advice from someone on this board to try this charter out. The guys name is Evan. He is so accomadating. He had a cooler full of bottle water and handed them out every time he helped you out of your gear. He handed out suckers. He played Island music on his very well equiped sound system. He had an awesome boat. 30ft with a 12ft beam. 12ft by 4ft dive platform on the back with a very nice ladder. This outfit really knows how to treat their divers. He also went out of his way to take us further down the river to dive the wrecks we wanted to dive and didn't charge us anything extra. Cost us $41 US for a 2 tank boat dive.
Ontario Diver how can I carry double 95's in one hand and a compressor in the other. I have to leave the compressor on the dock because the one hand is used to carry that cooler full of Great Canadian Beer.
http://bottomtimecharters.com/
Here some info on the St. peter
http://www.dreamscape.com/pchurch/scuba/stpeter.html
 
Here's a book that might interest your friend. I tshould be in most bigger book stores.

Shipwrecks of the Straits of Mackinaw

By Dr. Charles E. Feltner & Jeri Baron Feltner

There's another book with all the preserves, but I can't seem to find it anywhere for the specifics.

Mike
 
Originally posted by scubanarc

Ontario Diver how can I carry double 95's in one hand and a compressor in the other. I have to leave the compressor on the dock because the one hand is used to carry that cooler full of Great Canadian Beer.

That's why I look up to you! <G> Us wimps gots to roll the keg(s) on first. That's the real definition of a one or two tank dive.

(Of course, scubanarc and OntarioDiver carry on this thread in jest.....NEVER, NEVER, mix alcohol and diving. Save both your bragging stories and your alcohol for after the last dive; and before drinking the night before consider the impact on your diving the next day.)





 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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