Diving in The Straits of Mackinaw

[mhoag]

Those are my two favorite wrecks in the Straits- The William Young with all those deadeyes perfectly lined up and the Eber Ward - what a site that is! Glad you had a great time! Those currents are tough in the Straits, especially for divers like myself who don't have tooooo much experience with currents.

 

[Wolfie]

We are on the Cedarville right now because it was too bumpy to dive the Carl D. Bradley. It is bumpy in the Straits too today but surface currents don't seem very strong. The guys brought scooters so that helps too. Nice diving up here for sure!

Hey Jitka,
BTW welcome to the board......
It was nice meeting you when I was there visiting Stan
I'll likely be there again next year. Hope to run into you.

I'll likely get flamed here but I really don't understand why all those people are messing around with scooters up there. The wrecks (except for the Cederville) are 80 to 180 feet long. You need to go slow and take it all in, doing laps only kicks up a bunch of silt.... I'm just sayin'

 

[CrispyCritter]

I was just diving the Straits last weekend with Staights Scuba (Straits Scuba), and they were incredible dives. This was my first trip focused on wreck dives, and I did four dives: the Maitland, the Sandusky, the Cedarville, and the William Young.

The surface conditions on both Saturday and Sunday were like glass, it was so calm it was a little strange. Saturday was completely calm, on Sunday there was a little surface current that was gone by 20 feet or so. Thermocline was around 30 or 40 feet both days. My computer had 73 degrees on the surface and 46 at depth.

Diving near the Mackinac Bridge (the world's third largest suspension bridge) was a blast, and when I was on the Young you could hear the traffic on the bridge. Kind of a strange howling/resonant sound.

Here is a link with info about the wrecks in the area:
Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve

 

[CzechDiver]

I will be planning a trip there in 2013 for a number of SB members that get together a couple times a year in various places. I have heard great things about the Straits so we are all looking forward to it. We will be coming from Ontario, NY, PA, IL, WI and possibly other areas. I will be seeking information in the future to start booking things but for now enjoy reading up on the trips others are taking.

Let us know when you are ready to plan your 2013 trip. We trailer Molly V to the Straits - it is a six-pack dive boat and very comfortable. See www.ShipwreckExplorers.com Thanks.

 

[dsc2679]

Here is a link with info about the wrecks in the area:
Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve

Here is another site that we are working on: Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve > Home. We're hoping to have more content added soon. We would like it to be the definitive "go to" site for the Straits Preserve. Take a look and PM me or post any comments, suggestions, omissions... Hope you find it helpful and thanks for looking. Forgive me too for hijacking the original post, it just seemed apropos.

 

[CzechDiver]

Hey Jitka,
BTW welcome to the board......
It was nice meeting you when I was there visiting Stan
I'll likely be there again next year. Hope to run into you.

I'll likely get flamed here but I really don't understand why all those people are messing around with scooters up there. The wrecks (except for the Cederville) are 80 to 180 feet long. You need to go slow and take it all in, doing laps only kicks up a bunch of silt.... I'm just sayin'

It was nice meeting you too! The scooters are useful on the surface in case of strong currents and it is a good safety freature... getting around the Cederville too but other than that they are not necessary. They break my back carrying them in and out of the water especially the ones almost as tall as me with a 50lbs camera attached up front. I could barely lift that one... shrug.