Chgoscubaguy
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I would recommend the Material Service Barge. It's at 30-40 max depth just off the Illinois/Indiana stateline.
Recommended Lake Michigan Dives for Beginner DIVERS.
- Thread starter KJackson60
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h2odragon1
Contributor
The George Morley is a beach dive off of Evanstons Greenstreet Beach. Only 12 ft deep, and not much left after 111 yrs on the bottom, but it is one of the more accessable wrecks.
Dean810
Contributor
The people on this board are a wealth of information, and there are all kinds of opportunities for new divers in Lake Michigan. The southern end of the lake is the shallowest and has some popular wrecks. The Material Service Barge, which sank in 1939, on a good day is a great dive, with easy swim throughs and lots of features. It's in only about 35 ft of water, but there can be a current and often the viz goes south due to it's location near a river. This dive is often combined with a trip to the Tacoma, a wooden tug boat that sank in 1929. Another good trip is to the Louisville, a wooden steamer that sank in 1857 in 60 ft of water, one of the oldest boats I have ever been on. If conditions are bad on the Material Service, I find the Louisville a good alternate. The main features there are the boiler, the propeller (this was one of the first propeller boats on the Lakes), a great mass of chain, and a bizarre looking eight legged steam engine. The details are hard to see however, because it is heavily encrusted with zebra mussels (unless they have died off by now). N'Pursuit in East Chicago frequently goes to these sites.
I'm glad you got Cris Kohl's Diving Guide. Half the fun of these dives is learning the history. For more details on some of these boats, I would also recommend Cris's "100 Best Great Lakes Shipwrecks" in two volumes. Volume two covers Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. It goes into more depth than the snapshots found in the diving guide.
I'm glad you got Cris Kohl's Diving Guide. Half the fun of these dives is learning the history. For more details on some of these boats, I would also recommend Cris's "100 Best Great Lakes Shipwrecks" in two volumes. Volume two covers Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. It goes into more depth than the snapshots found in the diving guide.
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sharkbitejeff
Registered
Capt. Bob with Dive Chicago Very fair and always a good time.
OP
KJackson60
Contributor
I know it has been 4 months but I thought all of you might be interested in the dive adventure we finally got to do. We went September 13 on the Lockwood Explorer Captained by Dan Johnson out of Milwaukee. The weather was perfect, low 80's and sunny. Slight breeze with just minimal wave action on Lake Michigan. We dove on the Dredge 906 first. Depth ranged from 40 to 70 feet, bottom temp at 58 deg. F. Viz was in the 50' range. What an awesome dive! Could not have asked for better conditions. the Dredge is a very interesting wreck and one I will return to. Just way to much to see on one dive!
The second dive was on the Norlond. It lies in the 60-65' range. Very broken up and heavily salvaged. The boiler, prop and rudder are still there as well as a lot of hull ribbing and planking. Bottom temp was in the low 60's with about 40' viz.
In case you were concerned about the depths and our training, we had completed our AOW course earlier in the summer and had practiced deeper dives in Lake Wazee. After diving in dark, cold (42 deg. F.)
water at Lake Wazee the conditions we had on Lake Michigan were a piece of cake!
Captain Dan and crew were fantastic. They really went out of their way to make our first wreck dive something special.
I would like to thank all of you for your input. It was a lot of help.
The second dive was on the Norlond. It lies in the 60-65' range. Very broken up and heavily salvaged. The boiler, prop and rudder are still there as well as a lot of hull ribbing and planking. Bottom temp was in the low 60's with about 40' viz.
In case you were concerned about the depths and our training, we had completed our AOW course earlier in the summer and had practiced deeper dives in Lake Wazee. After diving in dark, cold (42 deg. F.)
water at Lake Wazee the conditions we had on Lake Michigan were a piece of cake!Captain Dan and crew were fantastic. They really went out of their way to make our first wreck dive something special.
I would like to thank all of you for your input. It was a lot of help.
CheddarChick
Contributor
So glad you had a good time, it is amazing to think of the past as you swim past the wreckage...and Capt Dan is great fun...
The neatest part of the Norland is not the wreck itself, but the clay formations North and East of the wreck. Take a reel along next time and check them out.The wreck was salvaged using a clam shell bucket I am told. Sometimes interesting things can be found off the wreck.
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