Call it luck, call it odds, moons and stars lining up, or whatever bohemian fortune-teller mumbo-jumbo that carries around in the news today... 8 fortunate club members got a chance to dive on.. not one, but two... great wrecks in the St-Lawrence seaway that seldom get the publicity or recognition for greatness they truly deserve.
Kim, our Activities Coordinator, secured a charter with Thousand Island Pleasure Diving out of Caigers Resort today. We were treated to their largest vessel, the Osprey (pictured in photo 1), which can carry a large number of divers, and is fairly well laid-out for big groups, or plenty of gear for those multiple-tank diving activities.
After clearing Customs at 1000hrs (since both wrecks are in American Territorial Waters), we set off to the Keystorm. See picture number two for a shot of the forward wheelhouse. The ship was built in England as a canal cargo ship, and hit a shoal in late 1912. It sits on its Starboard side, at a very steep angle, with its bow at the 30-ft range, and its propeller sitting in 110-115 feet of water. Yours truly got a bit of nitrogen narcosis in the deepest portion of the dive because of the disorienting way the ship is sitting in the water.. It is slightly strange to have the whole deck of the ship on your right hand side as you descend deeper towards the stern... What an eerie feeling it was to swim underneath this behemoth, and find yourself faced with the keel of this massive ship.
As if the disorientation wasn't enough on the first dive, our second dive was on the America, which sits completely upside-down. Picture number 3 is Josee next to one of the twin propellers that are quite apparent at the stern. At the time of its sinking, the America was a blasting ship, tasked with annihilating dangerous shoals with explosives. The information I could find on the vessel is limited, but basically states that it sank and went belly-up after an explosion.. It sits in 75 feet of water, with its massive stabilizing pillars reaching upwards towards the surface, silently calling out for divers to visit her watery remains.
A great time was had by all, though everyone came back to shore feeling the lethargic effect of doing 2 deep dives in a relatively short period. I wish to extend my personal thanks to Kim for organizing the event, and to Thousand Island for the opportunity to dive on these great wrecks.
El Presidenté
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