Great Lakes, not so exotic but worth it just the same!

I love this part of the wet pixel forum! It's a great spot to see some terrific pics and gather ideas of unique and exotic dive destinations (usually warmer ones)! But in stepping outside the box, I thought I would post a few pics from our trip last summer to Presque Isle, Michigan. The PI (as the locals call it) is a wreck divers paradise with stellar viz, pristine wooden 1800's sailing ships, and early 1900's steamers, submerged in the chilly and sometimes even brutally cold Lake Huron waters (mostly less than 200ft/60m). But if you are dressed right, i.e. drysuit, dry gloves, heated vest etc; you are in for a real treat not found in other parts of the world and well worth the visit! We did it with Lust4Rust.co diving excursions (noted for CCR/OC wreck diving in such exotic locales as Truk, Bikini, Sri Lanka etc.). We called it “Lust for Wood” so to speak.

Hi Warrior,

that looks realy great!!!

I am not sure if you can find wrecks like this anywhere else.......
Our lakes in austria are too small and deep, the meditarean sea is not a good place for wooden wrecks, like any other salty water.....

Looks impressive.
I think i should do a rebreather class.....
All the big tanks while trimix diving and a big camera setup ist old school ;-))

Regards,
Wolfgang

That certainly is a problem with tek diving, gear gear and more gear, but I do have to say CCR is especially nice in cold water since the breathing air is warmed by the chemical reaction of the scrubber. Drysuit heating technology has also made this much more comfortable as well. I am ashamed to admit that the great lakes are in my own backyard and I am just now discovering these gems. If you are interested, there is another trip this year, check out Lust4Rust.co for more info.

cheers

steve.

Such a trip would have never even occurred to me but wow, that does look fascinating. Excellent pics, thanks for sharing.

Hi Steve,

You are right. The Great Lakes is something very special indeed. Photographically its a wonderland. I havent had as much fun for a long time. With the zebra mussels being introduced into the lakes a few decades ago it really has cleaned up the viz. All these wrecks we are working on in Presque Isle is in the 45-55m mark. Its pretty cool on the bottom (3ºC) and ascending to 10 meters water warms up to 10ªC and a further five degree increase at the last deco stop (which is very welcoming!) Getting over the colder waters by wearing the proper gear is totally worth the hassle.

The ambient light is lower but water is crystal clear. I have a Nikon D810 and been putting it through its high ISO paces. Just remember that these wrecks are unique. Nowhere else in the world can you dive 158 year old wooden schooners which are sitting bolt upright. They are so intact and pristine all you need to do is bring them to the surface, put sails on them and off you go!!

Here are a few shots. Hope you like them. Of course there are over 6000 wrecks in the Great Lakes and range in all depths from just below the surface to 100m + deep. obviously the deeper ones are more virginal and not effected by damage (but then you have to spend long periods of time decompressing in the cooler waters).

Typo, three masted Schooner 40m (137 foot) built 1873, sank 1899

Kyle Spangler 40m (130 foot) Schooner built 1856, sank 1890

Few more shots.

Cornelia B Windiate built 1874, sank 1875

Florida, wooden steemer, 82m (270 foot) built 1889, sank 1897

Nice shots! And nice not having to deal with trails of bubbles through the background with (presumably) a group of divers down there. Is there much access to the internal areas? Anything in there?

Why yes! there is penetration, and some interesting artifacts such as telescopes, engine room gauges, and various cargos still in pristine condition. Fortunately, these era time pieces are protected by law and generally not looted by fellow divers.

Steve/Pete, you have some great shots there! Friends of mine travel to PI annually, but I have yet to make the trip from Tobermory! It looks spectacular.

So many people seem to thing that great diving has to be in warm water. Last year, I travelled to both the east and west coasts of Canada as well as a few spots in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence. Personally, I love cold water diving, plus you can hang your beer in a bag off of the boat and it comes up "just right"! :-)

Wow, some cracking pics here - really nice work.

It does look damn cold down there though!

Steve/Pete, you have some great shots there! Friends of mine travel to PI annually, but I have yet to make the trip from Tobermory! It looks spectacular.

 

So many people seem to thing that great diving has to be in warm water. Last year, I travelled to both the east and west coasts of Canada as well as a few spots in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence. Personally, I love cold water diving, plus you can hang your beer in a bag off of the boat and it comes up "just right"! :-)

Hi Stoo,

I am super excited to make other trips round the Lakes, Tobermory, Isle Royale, Two Rivers, Milwaukee, Whitefish etc etc. You are so right about cold water diving. I guess anyone if given the option will want to go for the 30ºC water but people shouldnt discount colderwater dives. There are cracker sights to be enjoyed and the water temp is a slight logistic to think about avoiding freezing your balls off! Want to give that Gunuilda a nudge too!! Cant wait!

Pete

Wow, some cracking pics here - really nice work.

 

It does look damn cold down there though!

Thanks for your kind words Tim, No hiding though it is cold. But I thought I wouldnt be able to handle the colder waters. But with proper gear, dry gloves etc it didnt ever become a problem. We were doing on average 100min dives.

Pete

Thanks for your kind words Tim, No hiding though it is cold. But I thought I wouldnt be able to handle the colder waters. But with proper gear, dry gloves etc it didnt ever become a problem. We were doing on average 100min dives.

 

Pete

100 mins in that temperature? Clearly they breed then tough around you!

As for that cold post-dive beer, you could make mine a mega-hot chocolate

 

 

100 mins in that temperature? Clearly they breed then tough around you!

 

As for that cold post-dive beer, you could make mine a mega-hot chocolate

Mainline infused!

Great lakes = Bucket list!!! Nice shots here!

Great images! The divers provide a very nice sense of scale too.

Very nice. Grew up in Michigan and learned to dive there. Before I could afford a camera.

If you can dive there, you can dive anywhere.

Very nice. Grew up in Michigan and learned to dive there. Before I could afford a camera.

 

If you can dive there, you can dive anywhere.

Its a beautiful part of the world alright. Just finding my feet there and really looking forward to spending August each year exploring the Great Lakes.

Pete

a few more