Mary Alice B

[gtxl1200]

This Morning Diver_paula, DiverBrian and myself took a little charter with Recntech charters out of port Sanilac to dive the Mary Alice and the Col. Williams. Due to weather conditions the Captain decided to do the Regina rather then the Col. Williams. The weather was cloudy Misty and about 45 degrees With very little wind. So the water was not rough probably 1foot or less chop. After arriving to dive site and donning gear. We did a giant stride off the back of the boat to water temps at depth of 41deg. Due to the fact I have ear troubles and Diver_paula was diving for the first time this year we do a nice slow descent down the bouy line. We reached the deck of the Mary alice at a little over 75 or so feet with the sand at about 84 to much of all of our surprise of 30 to 40 feet of vis. Thank you Zebra muscles. I had some bouyancy issues at first then a dry suit hose come disconected. Trouble free after that. I realized later that I was possibly narced. Most of the dive was kind of fuzzy to me. So I blame all my problems on being narced wink wink brian and paula. So any way what I can remember of the dive the Mary Alice sits upright. and is fully intact. The pilot house is penetrable but there isnt much there but the Helm or steering wheel in layman terms. Make sure you look in the Head or bathroom and look in the toilet with all of the silt built up it looks like someone just got done using it if you know what I mean. There is an Ax still haning on the back wall of the pilot house. and a few other things I didnt see no fish but some divers said they did. I was narced though remember. That is pretty much it all in all it is a good recreational dive. Good dive for a first timer in a Cold water wreck dive.
MY computer
83 FFW
41 deg
24 minutes
The second Dive I called off due to ear problems on the regina So I will have paula or Brian tell you about that.

 

[diver_paula]

Today my much too long surface interval ended. Guess the fourth weekend is a charm. 1st - lost my voice / sinuses, 2nd - sinus / breathing issues, 3rd - stolen gear, 4th (today) - 2 wrecks! Yeah!!!!

As announced previously on this board I am a schooner snob. If given a choice I will always vote no to The Cedarville and/or The Regina. Just too much metal for me.

However, today we had the best vis I had ever seen on The Regina. I thoroughly enjoyed the dive. Saw things I hadn't seen on my many numerous dives on her including a shoe and a boot. & the same cans, hand trolley, metal nameplates, huge prop, etc. 'twas a very nice dive. Will have to make sure Ted gets on this one next time. Wait! Does that mean I just voted for another metal dive?

The Mary Alice was nice as well. & not as eventful as Ted has led others to believe. It's a shame to see so much missing from the wreck. As it is to see the mussels taking over. But, vis is better. Much better. It's still a great dive.

Paula

 

[diverbrian]

(Or where has the normally post-happy Brian been hiding all day?)

Why, I was preparing a small report and photo essay.

GTX, Paula, and I did indeed enjoy the charms of the Mary Alice B. As Paula says, I got better photos on the Regina, but still need to make another trip back to both this year to get photos.

First Dive:

Mary Alice B. Surface temp: 48 degrees, Water temp: 41 degrees. Runtime 27:00 Max Depth: 84 ft. (Yes GTX, it is possible that you were narced.)

As the photos will show, this wreck is in good shape excluding zebra mussels. I also have bonus pics of Gtx and Paula.

 

[diverbrian]

....enter into the photos. Again note the good condition of the wreck.

 

[diverbrian]

No admittance, (of course I wouldn't try to fit in a ship this size in SCUBA but)....

 

[diverbrian]

This poor ship went down in a famous 1913 storm. All hands were lost.

Now it is a great dive. The hazards of sea duty were real then as they are now.

 

[diverbrian]

Remember that the Regina is upside down. This is the reason that I did NOT turn the picture with name on the ship. It reads upside down, LOL.

BTW, we this dive a surface interval of an hour and half. Other conditions;

Air temp: 50
Water temp: 43
Max depth: 74 ft
Dive Time: 31 minutes.

Thank you for inviting me out for a superb day of wreck diving!