Tiny Bubbles
Contributor
I'm anxiously awating Scott's trip report & photos (he's the only one that brought a camera), so I'll get the ball rolling... Stsiddall & myself launched the dive boat Tiny Bubbles at Lexington Harbor at 11:30 Saturday Morning. If you're not familiar with my boat, it's a 14.5 foot sea-doo jet boat, and diving the Great Lakes off of such a small boat is always an adventure. With 2 divers with 2 tanks each, the boat is crammed full of gear. We planned on doing one or two dives on wrecks TBD, and we decided on the Regina & the Eliza H Strong.
Regina - It's about a 6 or 7 mile bouncy boat ride to get to the Regina. There was just enough chop that I had to limit our speed to between 15 and 20 knots, and we had to dodge a freighter or two, so it took us about a half an hour to get to the wreck. There's 2 mooring bouys on the Regina. The north bouy ties in to the hole in the center of the wreck, and the south bouy ties in to the stern. We tied in to the stern, and ran a granny-line along one side of our boat. We geared up in the boat, did a back-roll entry, and descended down the mooring line. The line took us to the massive rudder & propeller. I hope Scott's pictures came out OK -- the vis wasn't too bad but it wasn't outstanding. We descended down the back of the rudder to the sand to find the name of the ship on the stern, and all the other great stuff that we missed on our last trip here. Then we made our way forward along the bottom, past the engine room and the smokestack, to the giant hole in the side. We turned around and went back to the propeller, and then up along the keel. We went as far as the other mooring line, where I found a large spoon (fishing lure) stuck in it. Neither of us are avid fishermen, but it seemed like a good find. I cut the monofiliment off of it and was working to free it from the line, when Scott signalled me to come over to him. I came over, and he pointed in the hole -- Big ugly fish. That's cool, but I went back to get the spoon. After I got the spoon, It occurred to me that I didn't have any way to carry it without getting poked by the hooks, so I just held on to it with my hands. As we're swimming along, I couldn't help but notice that Scott has this brightly colored mesh stretched over his tank. I put two and two together, and snuck up behind Scott, and hooked the lure into his tank mesh. Now I didn't have to carry it any more. We visited the giant prop & rudder a 3rd time. It was time to go, so we started up our mooring line. Back at the surface, we're getting ready to clip off to the granny line & start doffing our gear in the water, when I tell Scott to "turn around". He turns around, but wants to know why. Yoink! "Because you had a fishing lure stuck to your tank!"
Eliza H Strong - We made the voyage back from the Regina a little more quickly. The chop had eased up some and we made 25 knots in the little boat without getting beat up too bad. There was a fishing boat in the area when we arrived at the Strong. When we tied off to the mooring bouy, the fishermen reeled their lines in, and raced over to us with their horn blowing. It was my co-workers from the office, aboard the 23ft Power Trip. They had seen my truck in the parking lot and knew I'd be out there somewhere. We gave them the fishing lure we found on the Regina, and they thanked us and they were on their way. We took turns switching out our tanks in the crowded boat, then geared up & backrolled in, same as before. There was yet another fishing lure stuck in the mooring line here. Scott took the lure, handed it to me, turned around, and pointed to his tank.
Everybody says there's nothing to see at the Strong don't waste your time, but it's not entirely true. The bottom deck, keel, and ribs are still somewhat intact, and the wreck is littered with artifacts like nails (the big square variety), hooks, pulleys, etc.
-Ray
Regina - It's about a 6 or 7 mile bouncy boat ride to get to the Regina. There was just enough chop that I had to limit our speed to between 15 and 20 knots, and we had to dodge a freighter or two, so it took us about a half an hour to get to the wreck. There's 2 mooring bouys on the Regina. The north bouy ties in to the hole in the center of the wreck, and the south bouy ties in to the stern. We tied in to the stern, and ran a granny-line along one side of our boat. We geared up in the boat, did a back-roll entry, and descended down the mooring line. The line took us to the massive rudder & propeller. I hope Scott's pictures came out OK -- the vis wasn't too bad but it wasn't outstanding. We descended down the back of the rudder to the sand to find the name of the ship on the stern, and all the other great stuff that we missed on our last trip here. Then we made our way forward along the bottom, past the engine room and the smokestack, to the giant hole in the side. We turned around and went back to the propeller, and then up along the keel. We went as far as the other mooring line, where I found a large spoon (fishing lure) stuck in it. Neither of us are avid fishermen, but it seemed like a good find. I cut the monofiliment off of it and was working to free it from the line, when Scott signalled me to come over to him. I came over, and he pointed in the hole -- Big ugly fish. That's cool, but I went back to get the spoon. After I got the spoon, It occurred to me that I didn't have any way to carry it without getting poked by the hooks, so I just held on to it with my hands. As we're swimming along, I couldn't help but notice that Scott has this brightly colored mesh stretched over his tank. I put two and two together, and snuck up behind Scott, and hooked the lure into his tank mesh. Now I didn't have to carry it any more. We visited the giant prop & rudder a 3rd time. It was time to go, so we started up our mooring line. Back at the surface, we're getting ready to clip off to the granny line & start doffing our gear in the water, when I tell Scott to "turn around". He turns around, but wants to know why. Yoink! "Because you had a fishing lure stuck to your tank!"
Eliza H Strong - We made the voyage back from the Regina a little more quickly. The chop had eased up some and we made 25 knots in the little boat without getting beat up too bad. There was a fishing boat in the area when we arrived at the Strong. When we tied off to the mooring bouy, the fishermen reeled their lines in, and raced over to us with their horn blowing. It was my co-workers from the office, aboard the 23ft Power Trip. They had seen my truck in the parking lot and knew I'd be out there somewhere. We gave them the fishing lure we found on the Regina, and they thanked us and they were on their way. We took turns switching out our tanks in the crowded boat, then geared up & backrolled in, same as before. There was yet another fishing lure stuck in the mooring line here. Scott took the lure, handed it to me, turned around, and pointed to his tank.
Everybody says there's nothing to see at the Strong don't waste your time, but it's not entirely true. The bottom deck, keel, and ribs are still somewhat intact, and the wreck is littered with artifacts like nails (the big square variety), hooks, pulleys, etc.
-Ray
