It was my first time on Lake Superior and it was great. The weather couldnt have been better and the lake was really calm, literally like glass at times. I know this is not the norm for Superior so I guess we were lucky. It made the surface time very easy, so much so, I didnt really want to get out of the water.
We dove the Bermuda twice, once at night, the Smith Moore twice, the Herman Hettler, and a quick shore-dive off of Sandy Point beach. The trip was through Urge to Submerge in West Bend Wisconsin they run a great operation. I had a blast. The bold descriptions of each wreck that I pasted in below are all from http://www.shipwrecktours.com/dives/list.html which has more history on each of these wrecks and a lot more. Check it out for some great reading.
Bermuda:
A merchant schooner of 394 tons, she was launched at Oswego, NY, in 1860, and sunk with no loss of life in October of 1870. Although this wreck lies in only 30 feet of water, it is protected from ice and wave damage. The result is an intact 145 foot schooner sitting upright and waiting for visitors. The BERMUDA was 136 feet in length, 26 feet in beam and l l feet, 9 inches in depth.
This was a nice shallow dive. The wreck sits perfectly upright. My max depth was 26 to the bottom. It couldnt have been more than 12 or 15 to the deck. Saw lots of fish on the night dive. Temp was a nice balmy 57 F. The wreck is in great shape considering its age and its so shallow. Some of the deck is starting to cave in but overall, it was a real nice wreck to explore with a variety of fish species.
Smith Moore:
A 260-foot three masted steamer which sank July 13, 1889. Bound from Marquette with her holds filled with iron ore, the freighter was running in a dense fog when she was rammed by the similarly sized steamer JAMES PICKANDS. The PICKANDS never stopped and, though she remained afloat for some time, the MOORE was fatally damaged. After the fog lifted, her distress signals brought the freighter M M DRAKE to her assistance. The MOORE's crew was taken off and the steamer herself taken in tow, but she sank on her approach to Munising.
This was my deepest dive in Munising. My computer showed a max-depth of 94 on the first dive and 85 (to the deck) on the second. The temp was 46 F. There were some interesting artifacts laying on the edge of the deck about mid-ship. Im not sure what each item was but there was what looked to be an old pipe wrench and some other hand tools. Somebody laid these items here for everyone to see very cool. There was also what looked like a radiator towards the bow. Visibility was about 30'. IMO, this was the most interesting wreck of the trip. I'm glad we got to do it twice. I did take my camera down on this one on my second trip but my deep-water photography skills needs some work yet...
Herman Hettler:
A 235-foot wooden steamer wrecked on Nov. 23. 1926, was launched in 1890 at W Bay City, MI as the steamer WALTER VAIL. The HETTLER was laden with a cargo of table salt when she encountered a typical November storm in 1926. She was headed for the shelter of Grand Island, near Munising, Michigan, when she struck a reef along the island's west side and was destroyed on the 23rd. All of her crew escaped before the steamer broke up. In 30-40 foot depths of outstanding visibility.
There wasnt a lot of this wreck remaining because they blasted it due to it being a navigational hazard. The section of the ships frame that lies near the mooring line is still solid wood. From what I've read, there are pieces of this wreck scattered around the area. I wish I would have known beforehand. I would have ventured out a little further. Lots of crayfish swimming on the rocky bottom. The visibility on this wreck was good. It was a nice relaxing second dive of the day. Temp was 59 F.
SandyPointBeach:
Located about 2 miles east of Munising Falls. This was a quick shore-dive about 15 minutes but very impressive. I had just under a half tank or so left in my cylinder from an earlier dive that I wanted to use up. As the name suggests, it was an easy sandy entry. After wading out a ways on flat sand, the shoreline dropped quickly to 56 and was still dropping sharply when we had to head back. We could have gone a little further but I'd rather error on the side of caution when it comes to gas. Nothing much to see here but a few fish but it was a few more breaths under water which is always good. A very nice shore-dive. I would recomend it to anyone just wanting to get out and do some diving.
Do check out the history of these wrecks at the link above. It's very interesting
Happy Diving!!!
We dove the Bermuda twice, once at night, the Smith Moore twice, the Herman Hettler, and a quick shore-dive off of Sandy Point beach. The trip was through Urge to Submerge in West Bend Wisconsin they run a great operation. I had a blast. The bold descriptions of each wreck that I pasted in below are all from http://www.shipwrecktours.com/dives/list.html which has more history on each of these wrecks and a lot more. Check it out for some great reading.
Bermuda:
A merchant schooner of 394 tons, she was launched at Oswego, NY, in 1860, and sunk with no loss of life in October of 1870. Although this wreck lies in only 30 feet of water, it is protected from ice and wave damage. The result is an intact 145 foot schooner sitting upright and waiting for visitors. The BERMUDA was 136 feet in length, 26 feet in beam and l l feet, 9 inches in depth.
This was a nice shallow dive. The wreck sits perfectly upright. My max depth was 26 to the bottom. It couldnt have been more than 12 or 15 to the deck. Saw lots of fish on the night dive. Temp was a nice balmy 57 F. The wreck is in great shape considering its age and its so shallow. Some of the deck is starting to cave in but overall, it was a real nice wreck to explore with a variety of fish species.
Smith Moore:
A 260-foot three masted steamer which sank July 13, 1889. Bound from Marquette with her holds filled with iron ore, the freighter was running in a dense fog when she was rammed by the similarly sized steamer JAMES PICKANDS. The PICKANDS never stopped and, though she remained afloat for some time, the MOORE was fatally damaged. After the fog lifted, her distress signals brought the freighter M M DRAKE to her assistance. The MOORE's crew was taken off and the steamer herself taken in tow, but she sank on her approach to Munising.
This was my deepest dive in Munising. My computer showed a max-depth of 94 on the first dive and 85 (to the deck) on the second. The temp was 46 F. There were some interesting artifacts laying on the edge of the deck about mid-ship. Im not sure what each item was but there was what looked to be an old pipe wrench and some other hand tools. Somebody laid these items here for everyone to see very cool. There was also what looked like a radiator towards the bow. Visibility was about 30'. IMO, this was the most interesting wreck of the trip. I'm glad we got to do it twice. I did take my camera down on this one on my second trip but my deep-water photography skills needs some work yet...
Herman Hettler:
A 235-foot wooden steamer wrecked on Nov. 23. 1926, was launched in 1890 at W Bay City, MI as the steamer WALTER VAIL. The HETTLER was laden with a cargo of table salt when she encountered a typical November storm in 1926. She was headed for the shelter of Grand Island, near Munising, Michigan, when she struck a reef along the island's west side and was destroyed on the 23rd. All of her crew escaped before the steamer broke up. In 30-40 foot depths of outstanding visibility.
There wasnt a lot of this wreck remaining because they blasted it due to it being a navigational hazard. The section of the ships frame that lies near the mooring line is still solid wood. From what I've read, there are pieces of this wreck scattered around the area. I wish I would have known beforehand. I would have ventured out a little further. Lots of crayfish swimming on the rocky bottom. The visibility on this wreck was good. It was a nice relaxing second dive of the day. Temp was 59 F.
SandyPointBeach:
Located about 2 miles east of Munising Falls. This was a quick shore-dive about 15 minutes but very impressive. I had just under a half tank or so left in my cylinder from an earlier dive that I wanted to use up. As the name suggests, it was an easy sandy entry. After wading out a ways on flat sand, the shoreline dropped quickly to 56 and was still dropping sharply when we had to head back. We could have gone a little further but I'd rather error on the side of caution when it comes to gas. Nothing much to see here but a few fish but it was a few more breaths under water which is always good. A very nice shore-dive. I would recomend it to anyone just wanting to get out and do some diving.
Do check out the history of these wrecks at the link above. It's very interesting
Happy Diving!!!
