Want to dive Great Lakes -- where to start?

[Marie13]

Just some wreck recommendations to give you ideas. Yesterday was my first Great Lakes charters of the season. I always dive here with Double Action (DRIS's dive op arm). Their main boat, Sun Dog, goes out of Hammond, IN, just over the border from Chicago.

Mornings are always the closer in wrecks (which happen to be shallower ones) to Hammond. We did the Tacoma and the Louisville. Afternoons are often the deeper wrecks, which are closer to the north side Chicago. Yesterday we did the Straits of Mackinac and the Wells Burt. I have to say the Wells Burt is my new favorite wreck. A wooden schooner, 40ft to the sand, and almost entirely intact, amazing for a wreck that shallow. She sank in a storm in 1883, taking all 11 crew to the bottom with her.

Wrecks, depth I went, and water temp at deepest:
Tacoma - 35ft, 50F
Louisville - 57ft, 46F
Straits of Mackinac - 72ft, 43F
Wells Burt - 38ft, 47F

Dead eyes on the rail of the Wells Burt

Another favorite is the Louisville. One of the first propeller driven vessels on the Great Lakes. She burned to the water line in 1857. She sits at abut 60 ft. Gorgeous prop and engine on her. Boiler is also interesting.

 

[al248005]

Just got back from a charter on Erie with Osprey Dive Charters. Water was dead calm and clear! We visited the Dean Richmond and Indiana wrecks. Both at right at 100'. Water temps were around 43 on the bottom and 48 at the surface!

 

[INQuarryDiver]

Is there much aquatic life around the wrecks?

 

[Marie13]

Is there much aquatic life around the wrecks?

Depends on the wreck/location. Lots of small gobies and some other small fish I can’t ID on the wrecks this weekend.

Frankly, the lack of marine life is one of the nice positives in my book. I’m diving to see wrecks, not fish.

 

[rhwestfall]

deep(ish) water Erie wrecks will have Gobies and Burbot (Eelpout).

 

[Marie13]

Double Action will help with fins, gloves, help up the ladder if needed, or you can even hand up your tank if needed. There was a DM in the water 2nd charter on Sunday, which doesn’t always happen. He buddied with me as I was alone on the boat and the other two divers wanted to penetrate the one wreck, which I didn’t want to do.

 

[al248005]

Yeah usually not much in the way of marine life but in Erie not many people are there for the fish...they are there to see the wrecks

 

[matt86]

On Sunday we dove the wreck of the Atlanta in Lake Michigan. We saw burbot, gobies, and got swallowed up by a massive school of alewives.

Is there much aquatic life around the wrecks?

 

[rhwestfall]

Contrast that with the Thousand Islands (St. Lawrence River), where the schools of bass and walleye can be amazing....

Couple years back, I peeked over the bow of the A. E. Vickery, and below her in the gravel had to be 100 walleye facing into the current. Magical! America us usually hosting a good school of bass and walleye, and the Keystorm has a good number on her too...

 

[Marie13]

Finally had my trip to Thunder Bay. 3 planned days of diving were compressed into 2 due to high waves (as high as 8ft) forecast for today.

Thunder Bay has a lot of high quality wrecks of varying depths.

Day 1
Grecian, 93ft, 48F
Monohansett, 20ft, 68F
Montana, 66ft, 52F

Day 2
Lucinda Van Valkenburg, 60ft, 48F
DM Wilson, 49ft, 52F
Nordmeer, 40ft, skipped due to topside conditions

There were 6 of us total on the trip. We had a couple who are experienced warm water divers, but had wanted to do the Lakes. They got drysuits and cold water regs in preparation for the trip. They really enjoyed it. Another gal was a first timer on the Lake, but was well used to her drysuit from cold quarry dives. My buddy and I, as well as another guy have GL experience ranging from a bit to medium.

Day 1: We had wanted to do the EB Allen, a schooner that went down in 1871 that sits at 100ft, but after doing the Grecian in 2-2.5 waves, we moved to a protected site, the Monohansett, which was much calmer. Then we did the Montana.

Day 2: we started off on the Lucy with very small waves. We got a stern tie. Then the DM Wilson. We started out with a stern tie, but I could tell conditions had gotten rougher as the mooring line was jerking up and down on our safety stop. Came up to find the captain had flipped from a stern tie to a bow moorning. Conditions deteriorated to 3ft waves by the time we got to the Nordmeer. I strongly dislike trying to get on/off the boat in those conditions. Even though I really wanted to do this wreck, I didn’t do the dive due to the conditions. It was the correct call.

Pics and video to follow.