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After a couple of months of discussing it Chris, Butch and myself were finally able to head up to Milwaukee to dive the wreck of the St. Albans and the Car Ferry Milwaukee on board Bill Prince's Nordic Diver. The Nordic Diver is a great boat that can meet the needs of divers with all types of experience levels. Bill mostly caters to the technical diver.
Butch was at my place at 5:00 AM sharp for the 1 1/2 hour drive up to Milwaukee. We loaded up my car and was underway by 5:30 AM. We were to meet Chris at the dock. The Nordic Diver leaves sharply at 8:00 AM and we needed to get there 30 minutes early to unload the vehicles and get our gear setup and loaded on the boat.
We arrived at the dock just after 7:00 AM. Bill was already there and unlocked the gate for us to pull in. This was only the second time I've ever been to Milwaukee. So far, I'm not too impressed. The area where the Nordic Diver leaves from is scattered with abandoned buildings. We got our gear setup and loaded on the boat. The Nordic Diver left shortly after 8:00 AM.
Dive #1 - St. Albans
Max Depth - 165 ffw
Total Bottom Time - 15 minutes
Total Dive Time - 43 minutes
Water Temp - 41' F
Visibility - 50 feet
For this dive, we decided to do deco a little different. We decided to try using 36% Nitrox starting at 110 feet, then switch to 100% at 20 feet. Air was our back gas. The theory behind doing this was to start deco with a high ppO2 deeper to reduce bubbles faster. This deco schedule did shave off 5 minutes of deco time, but having to manage two deco bottles added a little stress. In my opinion, I didn't think that the 5 minutes of deco we saved weren't worth the added hassle of multiple deco bottles. After downloading the dive to my laptop, I saw that on our shallower stops we actually were still on gassing.
We arrived at the St. Albans shortly after 9:00 AM. There were a couple of people on the boat who had some difficulty with the two foot rollers Lake Michigan was giving us. Butch was one of them. Entry was done via a back roll off the side. Bill hung our deco tanks on a line so that we could don the tanks in the water while people were getting ready on the boat. Even though Butch was a shade of green, he decided that he could do the dive. He splashed in first, followed by myself and Chris brought up the rear.
I was wearing a new pair of dry gloves and had some difficulty donning my second deco bottle. Chris had to lend a hand. Butch was waiting for us at twenty feet. We did a quick bubble check and down we went. I went first to shoot some video of Butch and Chris coming down the line.
At 140 feet I left the line and started swimming around the deck, assuming that Butch and Chris would be right behind me. Bad buddy, bad buddy!!! I know better than that!!! I learned my lesson and will never do that again. As I swam in a circle I looked up and saw Chris giving me the thumbs up sign. As I ascended to him and Butch, Butch signaled that he wasn't feeling well. We signaled to end the dive, but Butch signaled he was OK and just wanted to hang out on the line at 130 feet. So Chris and I continued the dive, but stayed around the stern section and within a short distance to Butch.
The wreck is in great shape, albeit covered in zebra mussels. There is some debris scattered on both sides of her, but her rudder and screws are still intact. If you haven't dived the St. Albans, one of the coolest features is the rudder. The buoy line is tied into the rudder arm. So as the boat on the surface bobs up and down with the waves, the rudder arm also bobs up and down. The freaky thing is that the rudder is still attached to the rudder arm. So as you are on the bottom looking at the screws and rudder, you will see the rudder move up and down. At first you think this is due to narcosis, but it isn't. It really does move. Very cool!
At 15 minutes of run time we are with Butch at 130 feet and ready to head up for our deco. We finished our deco and did a slow ascent from 20 feet to the surface. Once back on the boat, we got out of our dry suits and tried to enjoy our surface interval. I say try because on the way to the next dive site, Butch had to feed the fish a couple of times. I wasn't feeling the greatest, but after sitting on the bow during our ride to the next site I felt better and got some much needed fresh air.
Overall, I can see why this is called Milwaukee's finest wreck. I wish we could have seen more of it. But I guess that means another trip back to the St. Albans, which is always a good thing.
I'll post another report for our second dive on the Car Ferry Milwaukee later. Hopefully, I'll be able to post my video to the video depot on ADM's web site once I get it finished. I'll post a link if Curt approves it.
Duane
Butch was at my place at 5:00 AM sharp for the 1 1/2 hour drive up to Milwaukee. We loaded up my car and was underway by 5:30 AM. We were to meet Chris at the dock. The Nordic Diver leaves sharply at 8:00 AM and we needed to get there 30 minutes early to unload the vehicles and get our gear setup and loaded on the boat.
We arrived at the dock just after 7:00 AM. Bill was already there and unlocked the gate for us to pull in. This was only the second time I've ever been to Milwaukee. So far, I'm not too impressed. The area where the Nordic Diver leaves from is scattered with abandoned buildings. We got our gear setup and loaded on the boat. The Nordic Diver left shortly after 8:00 AM.
Dive #1 - St. Albans
Max Depth - 165 ffw
Total Bottom Time - 15 minutes
Total Dive Time - 43 minutes
Water Temp - 41' F
Visibility - 50 feet
For this dive, we decided to do deco a little different. We decided to try using 36% Nitrox starting at 110 feet, then switch to 100% at 20 feet. Air was our back gas. The theory behind doing this was to start deco with a high ppO2 deeper to reduce bubbles faster. This deco schedule did shave off 5 minutes of deco time, but having to manage two deco bottles added a little stress. In my opinion, I didn't think that the 5 minutes of deco we saved weren't worth the added hassle of multiple deco bottles. After downloading the dive to my laptop, I saw that on our shallower stops we actually were still on gassing.
We arrived at the St. Albans shortly after 9:00 AM. There were a couple of people on the boat who had some difficulty with the two foot rollers Lake Michigan was giving us. Butch was one of them. Entry was done via a back roll off the side. Bill hung our deco tanks on a line so that we could don the tanks in the water while people were getting ready on the boat. Even though Butch was a shade of green, he decided that he could do the dive. He splashed in first, followed by myself and Chris brought up the rear.
I was wearing a new pair of dry gloves and had some difficulty donning my second deco bottle. Chris had to lend a hand. Butch was waiting for us at twenty feet. We did a quick bubble check and down we went. I went first to shoot some video of Butch and Chris coming down the line.
At 140 feet I left the line and started swimming around the deck, assuming that Butch and Chris would be right behind me. Bad buddy, bad buddy!!! I know better than that!!! I learned my lesson and will never do that again. As I swam in a circle I looked up and saw Chris giving me the thumbs up sign. As I ascended to him and Butch, Butch signaled that he wasn't feeling well. We signaled to end the dive, but Butch signaled he was OK and just wanted to hang out on the line at 130 feet. So Chris and I continued the dive, but stayed around the stern section and within a short distance to Butch.
The wreck is in great shape, albeit covered in zebra mussels. There is some debris scattered on both sides of her, but her rudder and screws are still intact. If you haven't dived the St. Albans, one of the coolest features is the rudder. The buoy line is tied into the rudder arm. So as the boat on the surface bobs up and down with the waves, the rudder arm also bobs up and down. The freaky thing is that the rudder is still attached to the rudder arm. So as you are on the bottom looking at the screws and rudder, you will see the rudder move up and down. At first you think this is due to narcosis, but it isn't. It really does move. Very cool!
At 15 minutes of run time we are with Butch at 130 feet and ready to head up for our deco. We finished our deco and did a slow ascent from 20 feet to the surface. Once back on the boat, we got out of our dry suits and tried to enjoy our surface interval. I say try because on the way to the next dive site, Butch had to feed the fish a couple of times. I wasn't feeling the greatest, but after sitting on the bow during our ride to the next site I felt better and got some much needed fresh air.
Overall, I can see why this is called Milwaukee's finest wreck. I wish we could have seen more of it. But I guess that means another trip back to the St. Albans, which is always a good thing.
I'll post another report for our second dive on the Car Ferry Milwaukee later. Hopefully, I'll be able to post my video to the video depot on ADM's web site once I get it finished. I'll post a link if Curt approves it.
Duane
