My Diving Experiences

[Teacher Terry]

Beautiful!

[Tradd]

Tradd, is the single source of light down under surface light? Or do you guys have lightson your helmets?

Helmets are only for cave divers.

There’s a lot of ambient light, depending on depth. We do carry dive flashlights.

This is video someone else took Sunday. We’re in the wide open cargo holds (and lots of openings above) of the Material Service Barge. 35ft to the sand. I come along about the 4:10 mark. Tried to swim under the bar, when I should have gone over. Stirred up the silt some as a result.

https://youtu.be/afT6Tfd22Gs

[Tradd]

It gives me such joy to see how you've become so fearless and accomplished!

Still get overly nervous at times, but it’s so much better than it used to be.

[catherine]

Still get overly nervous at times, but it’s so much better than it used to be.

It's admirable that you work through your fear and do it anyway. That's the definition of courage.

[Tradd]

Yesterday, I did both charters (morning and afternoon) on my local charter boat, Sun Dog (Double Action Dive Charters). I have a season pass for the boat.

We did four wrecks, the Louisville (wooden propeller steamer, sunk in 1857), a new wreck known as the "mystery barge" (I didn't do this dive as I didn't like the surface conditions), The Straits of Mackinac (a coal-fired car ferry that operated between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan from 1928 to 1956 when the Mackinac Bridge opened - this wreck was sunk in Lake Michigan in the late 2000s as fish habitat and diver attraction), and the Wells Burt.

The Wells Burt was a triple-masted wooden schooner, massive at 201 ft long (201' x 33'5" x 14'2"). She was built in 1873 and sank in a storm off Evanston, IL, in May 1883, going down with all 11 hands. Despite a lot of wreckage, none of the crew were ever found. She is almost entirely intact, amazing for a wreck only 40ft deep. This is my favorite local wreck. The deadeyes are the highlight of this site for me. They were used to manage the rigging.

Pics and video were taken with an Intova Nova HD. This is a small waterproof camera with the camera body built into the floating housing. It was only $140 off Amazon a couple of years ago. Video isn't the greatest, but it gives you an idea of this awesome wreck.

Some more advanced divers have shrugged off this wreck to me, saying it's too shallow for them to bother with. Their loss! It's just incredible. What makes it even more incredible is that it survived so intact at just 40 ft, not having been beaten to pieces by the winter ice and wind. I've read that ice on the Great Lakes can go as deep as 70 ft. And with this shallow of a wreck, you can spend more time on it.

[Tradd]

More from the Wells Burt

Deadeyes - used for managing the rigging on a sailing ship. This first photo would be a great Halloween one!

[Tradd]

Videos

[Tradd]

[razz]

Those photos are so amazing to see. Wonderful how much enjoyment you are getting out of your diving experiences.

[Tradd]

Thank you! It’s been life changing.