kidsdream
Contributor
I left my house at O' Dark thirty (5:30 am) to make the 103 mile ride up to Harbor Beach which is located 30 miles north of Port Sanilac up the Thumb. The trip was a little spooky with more than a a bit of fog on the roadway that included 60+ miles of 2 lane road that hugs Lake Huron's western shore. I did get to see the incredible sunrise over the big lake. The air temperature in these wee hours was a brisk 42 degrees - Fall is here in Michigan. With deer randomly crossing the road in front of me, I hoped my current ride did not see the same fate as my VW Touareg with another direct buck impact.
My objective was to finally dive the Dunderberg, a 187' schooner that plied the Great Lakes less that two years after the end of the Civil War. By 1868, the Dunderberg was sitting on the bottom, resting upright in 152' of water (the deck is at 135'), the victim of an impact with the Empire State. The Dunderberg is in amazingly good shape with rigging and even the remains of a least one of her masts still standing. The ship's hold which was full of corn at the time of her sinking is fully accessible - something to be explored during a future dive.
Statistics: 140' max, 67' average (mainly effected by my deco time) with a total run time of 48 minutes. The water temp was 43 degrees at the bottom. with the primary thermocline at 70'.
Nitrox 26 back-gas, and 65% in my 40 cu. ft. deco bottle.
The vis. was in the 30' range, reasonable but not stellar. Here are the best narcosis induced images I could muster.
The bowsprit with rigging (you can just make out the masthead carving in the background)
The Dunderberg's signature reptile(?) masthead carving.
Here is the intricate scroll work on the bulwarks just aft of the bowsprit.
A couple of blocks (on the right) still hanging in place.
Doing our deco obligation - temps were a toasty 60 something above the thermocline.
By the time we returned to the dock, temps had reached a balmy 70 degrees. Another perfect day on the water - and I was back home by 1:00 which allowed for a full intake of football and stock cars.
My objective was to finally dive the Dunderberg, a 187' schooner that plied the Great Lakes less that two years after the end of the Civil War. By 1868, the Dunderberg was sitting on the bottom, resting upright in 152' of water (the deck is at 135'), the victim of an impact with the Empire State. The Dunderberg is in amazingly good shape with rigging and even the remains of a least one of her masts still standing. The ship's hold which was full of corn at the time of her sinking is fully accessible - something to be explored during a future dive.
Statistics: 140' max, 67' average (mainly effected by my deco time) with a total run time of 48 minutes. The water temp was 43 degrees at the bottom. with the primary thermocline at 70'.
Nitrox 26 back-gas, and 65% in my 40 cu. ft. deco bottle.
The vis. was in the 30' range, reasonable but not stellar. Here are the best narcosis induced images I could muster.
The bowsprit with rigging (you can just make out the masthead carving in the background)
The Dunderberg's signature reptile(?) masthead carving.
Here is the intricate scroll work on the bulwarks just aft of the bowsprit.
A couple of blocks (on the right) still hanging in place.
Doing our deco obligation - temps were a toasty 60 something above the thermocline.
By the time we returned to the dock, temps had reached a balmy 70 degrees. Another perfect day on the water - and I was back home by 1:00 which allowed for a full intake of football and stock cars.
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