Posted on 12/30/2015 12:03:59 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The divers -- Russ Green, Joe Hoyt, and Tane Casserley -- are underwater archaeologists with the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They are wearing rebreather systems that scrub the carbon dioxide from their breath and recycle the air, allowing them to dive deeper and stay down longer than divers with traditional open-circuit scuba gear. In a few minutes, they will drop 165 feet through the clear, cold water to the wreck of Pewabic, a 200-foot-long freighter that sank in 1865 after a mysterious collision. Pewabic is one of hundreds of wrecks and suspected wrecks in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary off the northeast coast of Michigan. Together, these historic ships embody the entire history of modern transportation in the Great Lakes -- the story of the opening of the American continent to settlement and industry.
"About 30 seconds to rail," says Nunn, who is from East Carolina University, cueing the divers to approach the edge of the deck.
"I've been waiting all day for this moment," says Hoyt, visiting Thunder Bay from the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary in Virginia, before he lumbers over. One after another, the divers step out and disappear.
Twenty-five minutes later, an inflatable bag surfaces a few yards from Storm. This is the signal to Nunn that the divers are all together, and the prompt for him to send out two safety divers -- NOAA archaeologist Stephanie Gandulla and East Carolina University's Mark Keusenkothen. A second bag pops up to signal that everything is okay and the divers are waiting 60 feet below for safety purposes.
"Business as usual," says Casserley around 20 minutes later as he hauls himself back onto the deck, with no little effort, and begins the laborious process of removing his equipment.
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
(Courtesy Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary/NOAA) Defiance emerged from a dense fog in the early morning hours to an unexpected sight: John J. Audubon, one of a fleet of new, fast sailing ships, closing in. Because of its speed and the tight Lake Huron sailing lanes, Audubon couldn’t avoid a collision. The ships ultimately sank within miles of each other, but no lives were lost.
That is amazingly well preserved for a ship sunk 161 years ago.
The masts really impressed me. Almost looks like a crane and some duct tape, and back in business. ;’)
bflr
Indeed. And no doubt incredibly amazing from the diver’s view.
Man, SunkenCiv, you never fail to fascinate and educate! Thank you so much and wishing you the best this coming year!
My great grandfather was an ore boat captain on the Lakes in the 1880s and 90s. I remember my g-grandmother telling us stories of his trips. She died in 1956 at 96 when I was 10. I remember her house in Lakewood OH. It was yellow brick and two floors with a finished attic and a finished basement. It was full of massive furniture and ships-in-bottles and all sorts of neat stuff. There was a widow walk on the roof.
***amazingly well preserved ***
Maybe it is because of all that DDT we were told had settled to the bottom of the Great Lakes. Wonder if it will be disturbed and start killing bugs again.
Sounds like my Uncle Chet, but he was also able to come up drier.
Wow, thanks for the kind remarks! And Happy New Year! Unusually, I’ve got nyeve plans in the real world, I prefer to have them over and done, and be home before 2 am when the bars close. :’)
I once heard (from a non-scholar, but the source was credible) about how many ships had sunk in the Great Lakes during the period when most (or all, if long enough ago) vessels were wood, and a little quick unassisted math yielded a figure of a ship going done every six days for 150 years. It’s amazing, and of course, I may have been waaaaay off, or the speaker was.
A guy I knew a little, who was involved in wreck mapping on the Lakes, said they’d find an insurance job once in a while — newer vessel, often modern materials, but with all the brightwork systematically removed before it was “lost” in a “storm”.
That was a great read! Thanks for the ping.
So cool!
Thanks!
My NYE plan is to watch hockey and football and then the ball drop. We go out tonight. NYE reservations are hard to get, prices are jacked up and they are putting out so much food the quality suffers. And there are too many drunks out.
LOL! In any case be safe and have a fantastic time. We are entertaining folks at home so at least we won’t be driving. Added benefit: I don’t have to spare the tequila - Cheers!
My pleasure!
:’) [singing] mas tequila!
:’) If I didn’t have these plans, I’d probably be eating out in the old hometown, then start crashing parties.
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