Lake Michigan Wreck Diving (report) - Printable Version +- MNScuba.com (http://www.mnscuba.com/forum) +--- Thread: Lake Michigan Wreck Diving (report) (/showthread.php?tid=87) |
Lake Michigan Wreck Diving (report) - jasondbaker - 07-08-2002 Imagine diving on 3-masted schooners built in the mid 1800's, enjoying 30+ foot visibility, and 68deg water temperature -- all accessible by shore. Â Sound like some tropical paradise? Think again. Â This is wreck diving in Green Bay and Lake Michigan. Â And this is my report.<br><br>I drove to Sturgeon Bay, WI, located at the foot of Door County. Â For the uninititated, Door County is the finger-like peninsula on the eastern coast of Wisconsin. Â I visit my folks in Sturgeon Bay a couple times a year.<br><br>My father, who stopped diving in 1984, recently told me about some of the wrecks in Door County. Â Many of the wrecks are accessible via shore. Â In fact, the dive shop in Green Bay has identified at least 30 quality shore dives in Door County alone. Â The visibility has greatly improved recently due to the zebra mussel invasion. I conviced my father to take a scuba refresher course and get his old equipment serviced. Â He even went out and bought a new wetsuit.<br><br>We set out Friday for our first day of diving. Â We planned to do two shore dives from the Quarry Co. Park, located west of Sturgeon Bay, in Green Bay. Â I expected the Bay side to be warmer and have less visibility than Lake Michigan. Â <br><br>Our first wreck dive was the "Hurd". Â The Hurd was a 128' wooden steamer built in 1869 and scuttled in 1913. Â We entered the water via a boat ramp. Â The water temp was mid 60's at the surface and a cool 46deg below the 15' thermocline. Â The visibility was about 15-18' -- not bad at all by MN standards. Â I was amazed to see such an old wreck. The hull was still intact and I could see the wooden decking. Â This was also a surprisingly big wreck. Â I also could not believe the number of fish here. Â I enountered a school of at least 50 walleye, each was 20+ inches. Â This really felt like ocean diving. <br><br>One note about the zebra mussels. Â These critters are EVERYWHERE and on everthing. Â I can see why the visibility has improved greatly over the years. There must be billions of them in the lakes.<br><br>All of our shore wreck dives were VERY shallow -- 12-25' -- making these dives suitable for novices. Â In fact, these were my shallowest dives of the year. Many of these ships ran aground or struck shoals close to the shoreline. Â <br><br>Our second shore dive was in a location about 500 yards south of our first dive. Â We entered the water via a very rocky shoreline. Â The entrance was a bit tricky. Â The rocks were slippery and the wave action had increased. Â The second wreck was the "Mueller". Â The Mueller was a wooden freight steamer built in 1887 and scuttled in 1933. Â The visibility was not as good (10') as the first wreck due to the waves. Â Again I saw an abundance of fish at this location.<br><br>We decided to go to the northern part of the peninsula for our second day of diving. Â We drove to Garrett Bay on the northwest side of the peninsula. Â Garrett Bay was still on the Green Bay side. Â We entered the water at an old boat ramp and proceeded out to about 25 feet of water. Â The water temp was about 54deg at the bottom. Â The visibility was amazing -- 30-35'. Â We dove the "Fleetwing". Â The Fleetwing was a 3-masted schooner built in 1867 and sunk in 1888 due to pilot error. Â This wreck was located in several big pieces. Â We found the collapsed hull with the ship's ribs marking the general shape of the hull. <br><br>After this shore dive we drove up to Gills Rock at the tip of the peninsula. Â We visited Dinosaur Divers -- the only dive shop in Door County. Â They offer daily boat charters to the deeper wrecks. Â They dive on huge wrecks that are incredibly well preserved. Â Daily charters cost $60-80 for two wreck dives. Â You need to provide ALL equipment. Â Tank fills are expensive -- $8. Note, these trips can take 6-8 hours due to the long travel time required to reach some of the wrecks. Â Plan ahead. The deeper wrecks are located in VERY cold water (30's). Â A drysuit is highly recommended. Â I plan to take a charter trip with them next time I visit.<br><br>Our fourth and final dive took place at Jacksonport, on the eastern shore of the peninsula in Lake Michigan. Â I figured that this would be the coldest dive of the trip. Â I was wrong. Â It was the warmest. Â We entered the water at the boat ramp by the local park. Â The bay here is very shallow. Â We had to dive through moderate surge for a couple hundred yards to reach more than 15' depth. Â The water temp was a balmy 68deg. Â We reached an old pier structure at about 12'. Â There were remains of several unknown wrecks scattered throughout the area. Â <br><br>Door County offers wonderful diving only 5 hours from Minneapolis. Â You can do charter trips or inexpensive shore dives. Â The dive shops in Green Bay provide a really nice map of regional shore dives. Â Also, I bought a great book called "The Great Lakes Diving Guide" by Cris Kohl. Â Buy this book now. Â It includes over 900 known wreck sites (of the 10,000 lost ships) across all of the Great Lakes (including North Shore dives). Â <br><br>I plan to dive in Door County again in the near future. Â Next time I might have to take some local buddies. Â <br> :)Re: Lake Michigan Wreck Diving (report) - LKunze - 07-08-2002 Jason that sounds awesome. Definately let me know when you're going back I'd love to go! Re: Lake Michigan Wreck Diving (report) - DanL - 07-08-2002 Jason,<br>Great report! Thanks for taking the time to tell us about the trip.<br>Sounds like a great dive trip. I would definitely like to go along, and that charter dive sounds unmissable!<br>Thanks,<br>Dan<br><br>(do zebra mussels transfer on dive equipment, etc?) Re: Lake Michigan Wreck Diving (report) - jasondbaker - 07-09-2002 <br>I don't see how zebra mussels could attach themselves to your dive equipment. Your body, and equipment, don't present an optimal location for the mussels. Plus you are only diving for a short period of time. The edges of the mussels' shells may present a snag or tear hazard. You won't find the mussels on the deeper wreck sites. <br><br>A local boater told me that he anchored out for an afternoon and at the end of the day his anchor was completely covered with mussels. The critters work fast.<br><br>Part of me wishes that these mussels were in the local lakes just for the increased visibility. But, I'm sure there are significant environmental impacts. Re: Lake Michigan Wreck Diving (report) - MNLakeDiver - 07-09-2002 Great report, I'd love to head out for a weekend dive trip Re: Lake Michigan Wreck Diving (report) - hgs_notes - 07-13-2002 I saw that a dive shop in Virginia, MN is planning a weekend trip to Door County in August. It's called Tall Pine Scuba. and thaey do have a web site.<br><br>HG |