Tobermory Waterfront Cottage Shore Scuba Dive - August 2016

[treasurechaser]

Tobermory Waterfront Cottage Shore Scuba Dive - August 2016


music by: Royalty Free Music by Bensound | Stock Music This dive starts off about 75 F and drops temps quickly to 50 F. Great vis, there is supposed to be an anchor on this side and I have not found it yet. This dive shows you some interesting features, you can see where perhaps the last ice age scraped through here. There is a massive boulder down there as well. A nice relaxing dive, we dont stray too far into the channel as there is lots of boat traffic, so we stay safe, stay close to the dive. It can get really deep here but we stayed around 39 feet.

 

[shoredivr]

The anchor itself is about where the red marker is. You really can’t access it easily during the tourist season because of the tour boat dock at the end of HWY 6.

In the off season, I’ve dived it by parking on the roadway, circled in red. Gear up there and then walk to the little trail going down to the water’s edge. Enter at the red arrow, some nice limestone rock ledges for getting in the water.

You need to swim about five cottages along. The anchor is about 70 ft deep. Swim out to that depth and keep looking along the drop off.

The photo was taken by my buddy Jerzy Kowalchuck. We nearly missed it, despite it being so huge. Keep your eyes on the drop off.

 

[Vitesse2l]

Does anyone know about this style of anchor? I'd be guessing earlier 1800s. We found a similar one (minus timber) with about 8' shank just inside Prawle Point last year. I've also dived the nearby HMS Ramillies anchor with 18' shank.

It might be 'just' an anchor but when you consider how it came to be lost and what happened to the ships that owned them it makes you think. Both the examples I mention are off lee shores and Ramillies was the biggest naval disaster of it's day.

Sorry OP. Slight drift.

 

[shoredivr]

I’ve heard it described as an Admiralty pattern anchor with a wooden stock, mid 1800s.

The oldest wreck in the Tobermory area that I know of is the Arabia, built in 1853. Most of the other older wrecks are mid to late 1800s, so this anchor is probably of the same vintage.

 

[Marie13]

I’ve heard it described as an Admiralty pattern anchor with a wooden stock, mid 1800s.

The oldest wreck in the Tobermory area that I know of is the Arabia, built in 1853. Most of the other older wrecks are mid to late 1800s, so this anchor is probably of the same vintage.

The Arabia sank in 1884. Vessel launching date and sinking date are two very different things.

By comparison, the Sandusky in the Straits of Mackinac was built in 1848 and sank in 1856. She's the oldest located wreck in the Straits.

 

[Paul M]

The photo was taken by my buddy Jerzy Kowalchuck. We nearly missed it, despite it being so huge. Keep your eyes on the drop off.

Jerzy has a few shots of me in his gigantic portfolio as well. Small world.

 

[Vitesse2l]

Silly question then, was there access for seagoing vessels in Tobermory before the St Lawrence opened? Given the size of that anchor it had tp come from a decent sized vessel. The vis is impressive.

 

[Marie13]

Silly question then, was there access for seagoing vessels in Tobermory before the St Lawrence opened? Given the size of that anchor it had tp come from a decent sized vessel. The vis is impressive.

Yes! There are something like 6K wrecks or more on the bottom of the Great Lakes! You go through Georgian Bay from Lake Huron to get to Toby. There were schooners specifically built as "canallers." They were of specific size to go through the old Welland Canal between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario to bypass Niagra Falls. These schooners even had folding bowsprits and jib booms to enable them to fit through the Welland Canal.

ETA: There were schooners and later steamers going from the Great Lakes through the old Welland Canal and via the St. Lawrence before the Seaway opened in the 50s. We have a Dutch saltie (ocean going ship), the Prins Wilhelm V, that was a regular visitor to the Great Lakes in the years immediately before the Seaway opened. It was 250ft long and able to pass through the then-current Welland Canal. It sank in 1954 off Milwaukee after a freak collision with a barge. Neat dive.

 

[Vitesse2l]

Thank you Marie, thats a fantastic reply. I've always been fascinated with the wreck preservation you get on the lakes, especially after seeing HMS Ontario a few years ago.

That one's a bit deep but diving where you are is on the bucket list.

 

[Marie13]

Thank you Marie, thats a fantastic reply. I've always been fascinated with the wreck preservation you get on the lakes, especially after seeing HMS Ontario a few years ago.

That one's a bit deep but diving where you are is on the bucket list.

Thank you. I'm Great Lakes wreck obsessed since 1991! I live and breathe them, constantly reading about them.

The Arabia is well within your range if you've got AOW and are used to diving cold. 110ft deep.

Look up the Thomas Hume in Lake Michigan. That's my first dive after I'm tech certified this year.

They are addictive!