It was a gorgeous day on Lake Michigan off Chicago yesterday. We dodged the forecast scattered storms and had a fabulous afternoon of diving. Waves 1ft or less. Wrecks were the Rotarian (80ft deep, 45F bottom temp) and the Wells Burt (40ft deep, 53F bottom temp).
The Rotarian was scuttled in the lake in the early 1930s due to old age. That's how they used to get rid of ships. She had been a speakeasy during Prohibition as well as serving as the Cook County Democratic HQ. I'm always amused by that as she's now on the bottom of the lake (I live in Cook County). There are lots of Prohibition beer bottles on her. You can look and even pick them up, but don't take!
The Wells Burt was a 201ft long triple masted schooner that went down in a storm in May 1883, all 11 hands lost. The dead eyes make this wreck. They were used for managing the ropes for the rigging. As there were three masts, there would have been three sets of dead eyes on each side. Ten dead eyes were stolen not long after the wreck was discovered in the late 80s.
The Rotarian is a pretty flat wreck. The only thing that sticks up is the firebox for the boiler and two partial walls very close together, but not enough room to swim through. If she was a schooner, I'd say those walls were part of the centerboard box, but not on an excursion boat.
The Rotarian was scuttled in the lake in the early 1930s due to old age. That's how they used to get rid of ships. She had been a speakeasy during Prohibition as well as serving as the Cook County Democratic HQ. I'm always amused by that as she's now on the bottom of the lake (I live in Cook County). There are lots of Prohibition beer bottles on her. You can look and even pick them up, but don't take!
The Wells Burt was a 201ft long triple masted schooner that went down in a storm in May 1883, all 11 hands lost. The dead eyes make this wreck. They were used for managing the ropes for the rigging. As there were three masts, there would have been three sets of dead eyes on each side. Ten dead eyes were stolen not long after the wreck was discovered in the late 80s.
The Rotarian is a pretty flat wreck. The only thing that sticks up is the firebox for the boiler and two partial walls very close together, but not enough room to swim through. If she was a schooner, I'd say those walls were part of the centerboard box, but not on an excursion boat.
