Vernon Dive Report

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abnjm

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Location
Springfield, IL
Dove the Vernon with Shipwreck Adventures ( http://www.shipwreckadventures.com/index.html) on May 10th, 2003.

The Vernon was a 560 ton steam driven passenger and package freighter built by JP Smith of Chicago in 1886. She was sunk in a gale on October 25th, 1887 approximately 6 miles Northeast of Two Rivers, WI in 220 feet of water with 41 lost and one survivor.

Five divers left the Two Rivers harbor on the Taylor A at 0800 in thick fog and flat seas. By the time we hooked to the stern mooring line, the fog was gone and it turned into a beautiful spring day. After assisting the first team into the water, my buddy and I splashed in and headed down for a 15 minute dive at 190'.

After passing the first team at their 120' stop, I could see a large portion of the ship 60' below us. As my buddy had dove this wreck many times, he led us to the stern and we checked out the beautiful scrollwork adorning the ships name. We proceeded along the starboard side to the first open cargo hatch. (I've read reports that the ship was overloaded at the time of loss causing the cargo doors to be left open.) I did a swim through to the port side cargo hatch, checking out the engines. My buddy decided to push a little forward and check out the hold and crew quarters. The ship is in great condition, the wood is well preserved with the caulking still visible between the planks. Unfortunately, there appear to be some zebra mussels taking hold of the ship. We met back at the port hatch and made our way to the stern mooring line.

At our 90' stop my buddy removed a large fish hook embedded in the ascent line. I was a little surprised to see the first team still at their 20' stop after we did our 70' gas switch. It turned out one of the diver's 70' reg took a crap on him, so they did a back gas / 100% O2 deco with the attendant extra 16 minutes in 38F water. I had my own problems after doing our 20' gas switch. I blew the o-ring connecting the hose to my second stage, and had to switch reg sets with my buddies 70' bottle. I also noticed my dry suit was developing a leak. Other than that, deco was uneventful. :rolleyes:

The first team had been in the water for over an hour and a half, and my freeflow problem left me without enough O2 to do a second dive. So, we decided to call it a day and head for shore. We ended up grabbing a fishing charter (The Bald Beaver!) later that afternoon, and spent the afternoon telling stories, drinking a few cold ones and catching a few fish. Sunday turned really snotty with 35 mph winds coming out of the Northeast generating small craft advisories. We packed it up and went home. All in all, the dive was well worth the 12 hours of round trip driving!

Max Depth: 189'
Water Temp: 34F at depth, 38F at surface
Vis: 50'
Run time: 46 min
Back Gas: 18/45
70 ': 50%EAN
20': 100% O2
 
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