Year to Date

[BLU DIVER]

As 2009 starts to wind down (57 days left as of today). Yes, there is plenty of time left to do some great diving. However, looking back "Year to Date" what was your favorite or most memorable dive(s) and diving location(s)?

[Atlaua]

Mine would have to have been a dive called "bookends" off of Little Tobago, which had Red Sea like clarity.

[b1gcountry]

Bar none, it was the Rouse Simmons off of Two Rivers, the "Christmas Tree Ship". From Wikipedia:

[It was an old ship.] Despite this the journey began at noon, with trees crammed into every possible corner of the ship. The weight of the trees was far above recommendations, especially in the bad winter weather, and was certainly going to contribute to the tragedy. During the night, with storms hitting the Simmons hard, two sailors were sent to check the lashings on deck. Both seamen were swept overboard by a giant wave that collected them, many bundled trees, and a small boat. Now that the schooner was slightly lighter and more maneuverable Captain Schuenemann directed it towards Bailey's Harbor. Suddenly, and tragically, the storms worsened; ice formed on the sodden trees and winds battered the hull.[4]

When the Kewaunee Life Saving Station spotted the Rouse Simmons on 23 November 1912 it was low in the water with tattered sails, flying its flag at half mast to signal that it was in distress. Logs from the station show that a surfman spotted the Simmons at 2:50pm and alerted station keeper Nelson Craite. Craite found that the station's gas tugboat had left earlier in the day and, at 3:10pm, Craite telephoned the nearest other Station. George E. Sogge of Two Rivers, located just south of Kewaunee, sent out the power boat Tuscarora on a rescue mission, but the Simmons was not seen again.[3]

The Simmons was not the only ship to go down during the storm, with the South Shore, the Three Sisters, and the Two Brothers suffering similar fates.[3]
[edit] Wreck and debris

A message in a bottle from the Rouse Simmons washed onto the shore at Sheboygan. It had been corked using a small piece of cut pine tree and, other than the occasional trees caught in fishing nets, was the only remains of the vessel discovered for many years. The message read:
“ Friday … everybody goodbye. I guess we are all through. During the night the small boat washed overboard. Leaking bad. Invald and Steve lost too. God help us.[5] ”

In 1924 a fishing net trawled up a wallet belonging to Captain Schuenemann. The wallet, well preserved because it was wrapped in oilskin, contained business cards, a newspaper clipping and an expense memorandum.[6] In 1971 the wreck itself was discovered by scuba diver Gordon Kent Bellrichard from Milwaukee. Bellrichard was searching for the Vernon, a 177-foot, 700-ton steamer that had sunk in a storm in October 1887, and had been told about an area in which local fishermen had frequently snagged their nets. When his sonar appeared to have located something he dived down to a shipwreck on the bed of the lake 172 feet below. Despite his light failing, Bellrichard managed to survey the wreckage with his hands and concluded that he had instead found the Simmons.[3]

A forensic study of the wreck suggested that the ship had steerage and was sailing for shelter when it sank. The mizzen mast snapped off above the deck and the upper portion was not located. The main mast was found forward and to the port side of the wreck with the base missing. The foremast is intact and lies nearly parallel but on top of the main mast suggesting at least one of these masts fell out of the mast step as the ship went down.[7]

Many of the trees are still in the ship's hold, though two were extracted and shown as exhibits. Several items recovered from the Rouse Simmons are now housed in Rogers Street Fishing Village Museum in Two Rivers, including the ship's wheel. The ship's anchor was retrieved and now stands at the entrance to the Milwaukee Yacht Club.[3] The remains of the wreck are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[8]

[M&P+4]

We stayed pretty close to home this year with funds being tight. Most memorable though would be the north shore of Wazee in July when we had 50'+ vizabilitly above the themocline. That's the best we've ever had for a summer time dive in WI.

[theskull]

This year's best dive (so far) has to be the deep dive I made at Beaver Lake with my sweetie. It was her first dive with required deco, which we have been training toward for many many dives now, and it unfolded flawlessly according to plan.

theskull

[nauifins73]

Mine would be the Black Forest off Grand Cayman this past October. Warm water, great vis, and a great dive buddy.

[BLU DIVER]

Wreck Diving in Lake Michigan has definetly been the highlight for me this year. Good times, great dive buddies/friends and some awesome wrecks.

Has anyone dove Isle Royale on Lake Superior?

[b1gcountry]

No, but its on my todo list. Access is the biggest challenge there it seems to me. I will be diving Presque Isle next year, which many consider the best diving in the Great Lakes.

Tom

[SLIM]

I will have to say the last dive I did was my best, (just got home from a GEM RB class with a student). The worst dive is the dive I did not get to do.

With that out of the way, I will have to say mine took place in Jan over on Coz in a cave system that I got to be a Safety Diver, Explorer, and be in a video production team. We spent 7 days pushing a system there on the island and I was a big but small part of it. My main job was Safety Diver for the camer men and the team but I also got to lay about 300-400 feet of new line in unexplored area with some survey data. I was not part of the PUSH team that laid over 1000' feet of new line and survey data gathered but still to be apart of the great team work we all had was awsome. If you have the UWS the story was in there.

SLIM

[ScubaAl]

Wreck Diving in Lake Michigan has definetly been the highlight for me this year. Good times, great dive buddies/friends and some awesome wrecks.

Has anyone dove Isle Royale on Lake Superior?

Can't say enough good things about Isle Royale. Already have next years trip book with http://www.mn-blackdogdiving.com/ Also have to agree about the Kamloops, for me a close second would be the Congdon stern.

I have only done a couple of Lake Michigan dives and got blown out this past Aug. at Presque Isle. But at least for now NO zebra mussels at Isle Royale. When you put your hand on the wreck, your hands on the wreck not a bunch of bivalves

Al

[DeepDiverBob]

I guess mine is going to have to be the upstream tunnel at Hole in the Wall cave in Marianna. It was like swimming in a history lesson with all the fossils in there. Not only was that my favorite dive this year, that is my favorite cave I have dove yet.

[scububa]

My favorite dive, too, was Hole in the Wall at Marianna. Absolutely fascinating cave. Doubly delightful as it had some good lessons learned, gear up wise, that caused me to almost miss the dive and that it was a great end to an already great trip that showed me three systems that I had not been in before.

I also did a couple of Lake Michigan dives this year, one with my daughter, and hope to build on those next year in the Great Lakes.