Portwashington,Wi Dive Report

[moneysavr]

Well it started out as I was unable to find parking at the marina and was about to park in a spot good for several tickets,and weighing the tickets I would get next to a milwaukee dive charter = but some one left!
The lake was not too flat 2'-3' waves, so a slow run North, I had no#s for several wrecks, and like most they were no good,got off Oostburg and did my first search for the Advance=a 1885 schooner wreck 117' long,in about 75' of water,well one set no#s put me on shore a mile or two,and other set put me in over 95' of water,I would ponder this and did a short run east to the site of the Byron,
Well as I got to the site nothing the No#s I had were at the depth of 135' and I started a search less than a hour wham I had a SWEET HIT !! In about 136' of water,north of the GPS location I started at about 10 passes over I could see she was on the bottom,I marked the site and was not going to drop on her solo with out a buddy and top man to keep a eye on the boat,will be back to diver her and get some photos this weekend!
Back to the Advance,now Im stoked a junior wreck hunter with tons of bad No#s due to Loran conversions,stuff off old nautical maps and so on! I looked at the depth, and my no#s and new they had the depth close,but my east -west were off,I started a search and in 20 min wham a mooring float on some 5/8 poly in about 75' of water,I tied off,the lake was laying down a bit as the winds swiched,
So I did a solo dive. as I got down the mooring looked like lots of silt came off the line leading me to figure that this wrecks not hit all the time,
viz was down to 20'-30' making me look hard as I came down the line. and my mind pulling shapes out as I looked hard to see the shape of a wreck I have not hit come out of the haze! Wow a rush to me! she sits up right,sides laid down,bow sits up right and you can see a hatch door to the stern,large winch and rope laid over it ,and center board sits up right, looks like a large site to cover in one dive and with poor viz I stayed close to the wreck,Next weekend hope to hop down with my Bud Jim and get some photos!

Dive safe!
Brad



This dive was for you Steve,I know you had my back covered!

 

[moneysavr]

Wow this was a great day to dive the big pond! Got to Swimjims and launched from his beach with the help of his tractor SWEET! Did the trip north 10+miles in no time on the ssmoneysaver, to Oostburg,the search was started in 135' of water,and at first GPS was slow then we had a faint hit on the sonar,
1. Wreck located! Jim did some work on the sonar & dropped a marker and we had a good hit,4 drags and no hook,5th try we hooked the wreck and did a dive plan to check our hook,on the way down the long line we came to the wreck,she was SMALL about 40' long,Viz was 75'+temps 39-41 I would call this wreck a ketch,like a small sail boat,fun dive but not much to see,Our anchor was a dead nuts midle hook over a small side rail-one in a million hit! time to go up,as we hear a large prop buzz by-top side it was a barge.
2,dive two in about 75' feet of water was the Advance not too far from the Byron site,as Jim worked on a flash problem on the last dive we tooled to this site,after a 1hr+ SI time to dive this site,I did a recon last week,on the way down viz was much much better than last week,But I got cold hand's after a while! with temps in low 40's!
I shot a ton of photos,this is a nice schooner to dive near us for a newer diver due to depth and not too busted up.
Great day to dive! hope Jim got some photos too,


Wich Advance,Lawyer on Advance

 

[SwimJim]

The Byron is a tough little wreck to locate and hook. We managed though and had a nice dive. This wreck is small, only forty feet. The Advance is a pretty good size schooner. She is also broken up. Fun dive though. Good wreck for those getting a first taste of wreck diving.

Jim

 

[moneysavr]

Well its been a long time since a Portwashingyon trip report! Since the Byron/Advance dive with SwimJim,Had Dariuszpl on the Niagara His FIRST WRECK DIVE! H
Had Pastor Mike out the next weekend-and some Great news was to be had his wife is in the way were you cant dive! Congrats Mike !! a new diver is on the way!
Then the find of the Mahoning and Port has a dive site in rec limits,60'

This last week the State WHS research divers were up and let us join them!
Let's say I allways said it was "the boys who had all the toy's" NOT Tamara Thomsen had some nice photo & video equipment! some was the states most other was hers and Keith Meverden's. Put it this way thease folks like their jobs.
Such a Great group of folks and volunteer's.
see link I will try to post on new shipwreck found to see some photos of the site.
Brad
Dive safe!

 

[moneysavr]

Wow lake was flat weather Great and water cool! Had a great dive With Pastor Mike And John from Mad city,
First dive was the new re found wreck Mahoning vis at depth 20-30'ish water temps 41 ish,did a total tour of the site then left to Niagara,,.
Dive No. 2 Niagara
Viz was Great 45-55'+ water 39 ish and it was great,John stayed top side a said he seen us go under and past the boat,Tons of new china parts found!! real great dive but man my hands froze in wet gloves= I dove dry guess I'M the whimp,The others dove wet it was a bit cool but the vis from South of Port to six miles north was night and day!
Then we did a drop of my underwater video cam on some hits and no new wreck to report Today!
Brad
John sets wreck line,Mike top side,Mahoning wheel hub

 

[navillus]

Brad, I had a great time. Thanks for taking me out. The Lake was awesome and the visibility was unbelievable. I even got my sermon done for tomorrow morning (well, I guess it's today as I write this burning the midnight oil). Can't wait 'til next week.

 

[navillus]

Hi all,
Since it was a personal record day, moneysavr suggested the I post the report. Moneysavr and I dove the Northerner and Mahoning today. Thankfully the boat didn't leave, eventhough I was 1/2 hour late. Thanks again for your patience, Brad.

It was a bit cool, and the waves were picking up a bit (They were about 3-4 feet), but the sun was shining, and there were very few boats out on the lake. We got to the Northerner, and I was very excited to see this boat (it would also be my first 3 digit dive). We descened and at 75 feet I could already see the wreck The visibility was awesome. You could see it, bow to stern, so the visibility was 60 feet+. I had my first sensation of well being and silence on this dive. I could not tell if it was the nitrogen, excitement, or the beauty of this magnificent wreck!

We looked at the windlass, rams horn, looked into the cargo holes and saw the lumber she was carrying. . . But, because of my stupidity (I will blame it on the narcosis) I called the dive 8 minutes early thinking that we were too close to our No deco time limit. The entire way up I wished we could have stayed there longer (And we could have, except somone "me" made a mistake in executing his dive plan. Thankfully the mistake was on the side of safety, but it was never-the less a mistake). The temperature at depth was comfortable for my wetsuit (my computer read 50F)

Our second dive was to the Mahoning. On top of the water we heard geese hunters, and saw a fire in the distance. It was a little choppy up top, but not too bad. We anchored in on the second try. The viz was 25 - 30 feet. The temperature was 50F - again, comfortable for my wet suit. We took a bearing off the wreck and found the rudder. We also saw a big dead fish. We play around on some of the wheels and stuff on the ship wreck (that shows you how much maritime knowledge I have) and went safetly back to the surface after ca 30 minutes. A great dive.

It was a great diving day. Thank you again Brad for a wonderful time diving. I will be dreaming about the Northerner all night. (And my wife is still not back to tell her all about it. I feel sorry for her already. :yl2jump:

 

[moneysavr]

Was a Great Day to DIVE! Mike its better to play it safe than play it dead!,
The wheels we seen today on the Mahoning were on a hand cart or push cart used to move cargo in her hold,and the wheels still spin a 140+ years later! Hope the winds hold and we may get some more dives in Sunday!
Brad

 

[moneysavr]

WOW
The lake was to have 2'-3' and we had mostly 3-4 footers out on the Big Pond,Lake Michigan. My sone Aron was top man and with a storm heading in Mike and I did one dive on the Northener.
The seas were out of the SE with strong winds,we found the mooring as we tied off we took one over the bow! Capt.Aaron was as wet as Mike after his dive diving wet,And no one had a towel,as I was diving dry.
The dive was sweet,but at 90' I found my dry suit inflator hose poped loose=my fault I did not pull on it prior to hitting the water! as I got a bit of suit squeeze Mike hooked it back on.
Viz was as it was yesterday Nice 60+ water temps were in the mid to high 40's, we both did the whole tour and did drop off the stern to just look how sweet she sits on the lake floor,so quiet,so nice,so peacefull at depth.
Then off to top side the lake was kicking up a bit and we called the second dive,set the GPS for the harbour gap, and as we got top the dock Mike R. and a group of divers from the local club were on the way out to dive the same site. Hope they had fun and got back prior to the storms,man no football you got to Dive!
Dive safe,
Brad
Photo of the Northener by Swimjim

 

[navillus]

Hope your wife wasn't jealous of the drysuit hickies. Thanks again for a great dive!