Fatality while diving the wreck of the Madeira in Lake Superior 9/23/2017

[2airishuman]

Diver pronounced dead near Madeira ship wreck site

Man dies during diving excursion near Split Rock Lighthouse

I have dived the Madeira on two occasions in the past. It is a physically demanding shore dive due to: 1) the difficulty of entering and exiting the water with the usual wave action, 2) the vertical and horizontal distance over which gear must be carried from the parking lot, and 3) the swim to the wreck, which for me averages 6 minutes one way. The dive also requires good navigational skills both to locate the wreck and to return to shore. This is an extremely remote location with the nearest EMS being about 30 miles away.

Reported to me privately by an eye witness:

An instructor was conducting a training dive that combined AOW and drysuit training. The decedent was the instructor's student. It is not clear to me whether there were other students training with this instructor. The decedent became separated from his buddy and was found at 83 feet on the bottom with 0 air, an empty BC, and his weights in his weight pockets.

Other divers who happened to be present at the site assisted with rescue efforts.

 

[2airishuman]

My experience with this site

The Madeira is a popular site that appeals to beginning and intermediate divers because:

1. It is accessible from shore (though it is occasionally also accessed by boat)
2. The visibility is usually excellent
3. The dive is relatively shallow with most of the wreck being in approximately 70 feet of water or less [ETA: the dive site is large with some pieces widely scattered, and portions of the site do extend into deeper areas with some portions of the wreckage reportedly in 111 feet of water, see posts downthread]
4. The wreck is historically significant

There is typically no current.

Even so, this is a difficult dive that poses a number of hazards for which beginners may not be fully prepared:

1. Typical wave action makes a surface swim with gear nearly impossible. Gas planning must allow for the swim out and back to be performed on SCUBA. There must be a contingency plan for a safe return to shore. The shore entry and the swim out and back in heavy exposure suits make this dive athletic. Gas planning must consider the elevated SAC that results.
2. Excellent navigation skills are required especially this time of year since the mooring balls are usually removed for the season by now. The shore exit is not clearly visible from the wreck and requires skill to locate. This is particularly important since portions of the surrounding shore are sheer cliffs where water exit is not possible.
3. There is intermittent boat traffic in the area, enough to pose a hazard, not enough to be a reliable source of rescue.
4. The wreckage is spread out and despite the visibility it is easy to lose track of other divers due to line of sight being blocked.
5. The water is cold, and divers have the encumbrance of a drysuit or a heavy (7mm) wetsuit.
6. Weather conditions, particularly wind, must be considered.

I was on this wreck twice last year, once on 8/21 and once on 9/17. These were solo dives:

On 8/21, I dove with an HP120 and an HP40 stage. After checking that the back gas reg was working properly, I started the dive on the stage and switched to back gas once it was down to about 500 PSI. I recorded a temperature of 57 degrees and a maxmium depth of 76 feet. I used 99 cf of air and calculated a SAC of 1.27 for this dive as compared to a typical SAC for me of around 0.60-0.65 on a tropical reef bimble. Run time was 31 minutes.

On 9/17, I dove with an HP100 twinset and no stage. I recorded a temperature of 48 degrees and a maxmum depth of 69 feet. My rule-of-thirds gas planning brought me back to the vicinity of the shore exit having used 130 cf of air over about 50 minutes. I continued the dive near the safety of the shore for about 10 more minutes and recorded total air used of 145 cf over a runtime of 61 minutes resulting in a SAC of 1.01.

I had planned a dive on the Madiera earlier this year with my 18yo daughter, which we canceled. She does not have experience diving twins or a stage and due to the inherent difficulties of the site I did not believe it was a good place to learn these skills. I would have dived a HP100 twinset and she an HP120 single (which the uses routinely), with me carrying an LP72 stage for her use on the way out. We would then have clipped the stage off to our float basket so it would be out of the way during the main part of the dive. I had emergency oxygen in the truck and had provided Coast Guard and EMS phone numbers, dive plan, and site GPS coordinates to a non-diver who I would have notified of our start time and maximum dive duration had the dive proceeded.

Discussion

While the Madeira can be dived safely and does not require exceptional skill, the hazards common to any Lake Superior shore dive with a long swim out have to be considered. I don't believe it is a benign site suitable for working on new skills or using unfamiliar gear. There is no shortage of more suitable training sites in this area, with Lake Ore-Be-Gone being about an hours' drive away and offering similar depths and temperatures without the wave action or distance from shore. The accident started with a poor choice of site for the activities planned.

The fact that the decedent was found at 83 feet may indicate that the decedent was lost since most of the wreck is in shallower water. That the decedent was found with no air left may show mistakes made in gas planning although it could also be explained by a freeflow either due to equipment failure or loss of the primary regulator incidental to a medical event [ETA:Newly released information indicates that the diver reached the surface and signaled distress which would not appear to be consistent with a medical explanation for what went wrong]. Buddy separation on a dive that was not planned and executed with the reserves and mindset of a solo dive, may have contributed. That the dive was instructional but the instructor was not aware of the events in sufficient time to intervene, is troubling.

I doubt if enough evidence will be found to determine, conclusively, whether a medical event or mere panic was the proximate cause of the accident. Either way, there is no shortage of lessons to be taken from the sequence of events.

 

[2airishuman]

This landing is partway from the parking lot to the shore and has benches for gearing up. The steep steps down and the rocky, gravelly shore itself are part of what makes the entry and exit difficult.

Signage at the site with safety warnings, and a map showing the wreck being approximately 600 feet from the shore entry point. I did not experience any erratic compass readings but was alert to the possibility and had memorized landmarks as well as bearings.

Photo of Gold Point as seen from the shore entry point. This is the water's edge closest to the wreck. It is far too steep to exit the water here absent considerable rock climbing ability

This is the actual shore entry point.

 

[chuck_ed]

Not to pick on you, but I'm surprised you are posting details about both the Madeira and the fatality as you seem to have very little information about either:

1) The Madeira is often and preferably accessed by boat due to the long gear haul and long surface swim.

2) The visibility can at times be excellent but can also be very poor, especially after long periods of rain (like the last couple weeks for example). The viz can be down to 10 ft at times. I have seen only 10-15ft viz on this wreck.

3) The depth of portions of the divesite reaches well over 100 ft. Checking my dive log, 3 of my last dives on the Madeira were over 90ft and the deepest being 111ft. Remember, they found the guy's body at 83ft.This is not a shallow divesite, especially considering the cold water.

4) Yes, the wreck is historically significant. You got this right. It is the only such known wreck of schooner-barge from that time period in the Great Lakes.

Your statement, "While the Madeira can be dived safely and does not require exceptional skill..." is very misleading, especially if you consider the overall size of the divesite, the cold water, the depth, the surface swim and especially the penetration. There are multiple areas of penetration possibilities on the Madeira, and only divers who are so trained should attempt this as there are many places to get hung up and part of the stern section is falling apart. Therefore, the Madeira is considered an advanced divesite for very good reason.

Finally, I don't find it wise or helpful to report secondhand information about what happened without waiting for a complete report. Let's not rush to judgment about the instructor w/o getting ALL the facts. How many dives did the deceased have? Did he have any dives counting towards the certifications he was seeking? Did he have any drysuit dives? Was there any equipment failure? Details like this will matter in the final judgment. Again, not to pick on you personally but rather to correct some of the things you have said.

 

[horsediver1]

chuck_ed Just wanted to thank you for your very in depth response. Speculation prior to any official report resolves nothing, the latest update is only the diver surfaced in distress asking for help and submerged before anybody could get to him. I just prefer to wait for facts especially when tragedy like this is involved.

 

[2airishuman]

Several news reports do indeed indicate that witnesses saw the diver surface and call for help, then descend again.

Update: Shipwreck Diving Victim ID'd as Twin Cities Man

Diver who died exploring North Shore shipwreck ID’d as New Hope man – Twin Cities

The diver's name was released, and reports indicate that he was 42 years of age.

 

[wgw04024]

Regardless of whether it's speculation from someone who spoke to an eye witness, or a factual report (which is always highly unlikely), any respectful well meaning information, is always helpful imho. Plain and simple, it makes the people who read this think. If you are going to wait for a formal report on every incident....don't hold your breath....

 

[CT-Rich]

My condolences to the family.
The info provided was labeled a speculative and he sourced it as second hand. I though the discussion of the site by all parties was pretty good. Every one has their own take on particular site and it looks like it is a pretty interesting dive. Definately doesn't sound like a novice dive,especially with a drysuit learning curve. I found out the hard way this summer how different a drysuit is on the surface verses a wetsuit. L

 

[2airishuman]

The same individual who provided me with the information in the opening post has shared the following additional details:

• Weather conditions were clear, warm, with a light breeze and low surf. Water was 58 degrees F.
  
  
• The decedent was part of a group of approximately 18 divers who were being led by one instructor. My source believes that all of them were AOW students for whom this day of diving was to fulfill one or more of the required the adventure dives. The decedent and possibly others were also taking a drysuit specialty course as part of the dive. [While this is certainly possible, it is also common for Twin Cities area dive shops to organize shore diving trips that include a combination of students and more experienced non-students who are simply along to enjoy the dive and to socialize. It is my experience that watching such a mixed group does not always reveal what the instructional relationships are. --2Air.]
  
  
• The decedent had been asking questions and said he wasn't comfortable at the outset of the dive, but continued the dive anyway.
  
  
• The decedent's buddy said that the decedent had been having problems under water. The buddy saw him surface so the buddy thought everything was fine. The buddy continued their dive without realizing that the decedent was out of air and had descended after surfacing.
  
  
• The decedent was carrying approximately 35 pounds of lead.
  
  
• The decedent's only air cylinder was an AL80, which was out of hydro.

 

[jhnmdahl]

Regardless of whether it's speculation from someone who spoke to an eye witness, or a factual report (which is always highly unlikely), any respectful well meaning information, is always helpful imho. Plain and simple, it makes the people who read this think. If you are going to wait for a formal report on every incident....don't hold your breath....

I think reporting second hand information, clearly identified as such, adds to the conversation and can be good fodder for thought and provide details not likely to make it into the local media. I also don't see anything particularly inaccurate in 2air's description of the site, although saying he has very little information despite having been there and posting photos does seem inaccurate.