Sanilac Shores 4/18/09 Report

[bladephotog]

I'm jealous. I can't wait to get up there. The Mary Alice B. sank in 1975 after taking on water, and it's rumored to be an insurance job but who knows. The Regina did indeed sink in the Great Storm of 1913 and it's one of my favorite wrecks anywhere. It's a great dive with a heartbreaking history.

 

[diverbrian]

I have personally never found reason to try any charter out there outside of Rec and Tec. Capt. Gary Venet has always treated me right .

There is an interesting tie-in between the Mary Alice and the Regina. I believe that the divers who found the Regina were working for the insurance company who who had the policy on the Mary Alice B.

The Regina was completely overturned by the storm and is at about sixty feet. There is all kinds of debris around it. Great vis would make that more obvious.

The Mary Alice is what I sometimes call a "time capsule" wreck. It landed softly on the bottom and is in perfect shape. It sits upright in about ninety feet of water.

 

[tiggrr]

I have personally never found reason to try any charter out there outside of Rec and Tec. Capt. Gary Venet has always treated me right .

There is an interesting tie-in between the Mary Alice and the Regina. I believe that the divers who found the Regina were working for the insurance company who who had the policy on the Mary Alice B.

The Regina was completely overturned by the storm and is at about sixty feet. There is all kinds of debris around it. Great vis would make that more obvious.

The Mary Alice is what I sometimes call a "time capsule" wreck. It landed softly on the bottom and is in perfect shape. It sits upright in about ninety feet of water.

The great thing about Great Lakes charters is that they are all good in their own way and customized for all types of divers. We are really lucky in that way.

Thanx for more interesting info about those wrecks.

 

[diverbrian]

The great thing about Great Lakes charters is that they are all good in their own way and customized for all types of divers. We are really lucky in that way.

Thanx for more interesting info about those wrecks.

I am a loyalist. I tend to stay with the charters that treat me well. The others are good as well. I just don't often have reason to change.

The information is no problem. I sometimes use those wrecks for "warm-up" dives to start my wreck season. I have seen a Deep Sea Detectives episode on the Regina as well.

The Mary Alice B. is almost an artifical reef, but an interesting dive for all of that. The favorite photo of many is the diver in the wheel house behind the ship's wheel steering the ship with the fire axe in the background. (It is still mounted on the wall behind where the wheelman would have stood.)

There used to be all kinds of booze in the debris field of the Regina, but much of it was recovered before our wreck preservation laws came into being. The screws leave an interesting background for photography of divers as well. They are large and fairly undamaged as I recall.

 

[kidsdream]

... and his overall seamanship. Once he is comfortable with your ability, he pretty much lets you do your one thing - my style of diving. I also appreciate Gary's sensible diving conditions philosophy - if the seas are cooperative, just bag the trip and go out on another day. As most of these wrecks I have done many times, no sense beating yourself up just to get in another trip.

But than said I occasionally "spread the love". My first trip out with Bruno's was when Gary was out diving some deep stuff up North last fall and I had a great time as well. Bruno's trips to be centered around the group and lots of fun is had by all aboard. And with Bruno's shop so close to my house, I have been heading there more often for fills and what not.

Even in in the Keys I regularly dive with 3 shops depending on the trip I am looking for and the weather.

I am a loyalist. I tend to stay with the charters that treat me well. The others are good as well. I just don't often have reason to change.

 

[brewmasher]

I have personally never found reason to try any charter out there outside of Rec and Tec. Capt. Gary Venet has always treated me right .

There is an interesting tie-in between the Mary Alice and the Regina. I believe that the divers who found the Regina were working for the insurance company who who had the policy on the Mary Alice B.

I feel the same way about Gary and Rec & Tec!

There is also an interesting tie in with the Regina and the Price. Seems a body of a Regina crew member washed ashore wearing a Price life jacket. This lead to thoughts that the two ships may have collided. It is now speculated that it was the work of scavengers looting the bodies that washed ashore.

Half the fun of wreck diving is researching the history and antidotes about the wrecks!

 

[rickydazla]

I did a little bit of research on the Sanilac Shores wrecks last year and wrote up the following for Bruno's Great Lakes Diver website (click the individual links on the right side of the page): The Great Lakes Diver - Wreck Diving in the Sanilac Shores Underwater Preserve.

I tried to be as thorough as possible but if anyone knows that something I've written is incorrect/incomplete then please let me know.

Cheers


Rick