Diving the U-1105

Last weekend gave me the opportunity, which I have long held, to dive a wartime German U-Boat wreck down in the States. The U-1105 was built in 1944 and had only one operational patrol, in waters off Scotland, before the war ended and she surrendered to the Royal Navy. She was later transferred to the US Navy and brought to the Eastern seaboard, where she was subjected to experimentation and finally sunk in a trial of a new depth charge in September 1949.

Her resting place, where she is largely intact, but mainly buried in the silt, is off Piney Point in Maryland, in 85 feet of tidal water in the Potomac River. I made two dives in the company of local divers and enjoyed excellent conditions, though visibility, thanks to the heavy particulate content of the water, was pretty restricted. I joked with my fellow divers that it was the first night dive I've ever made in broad daylight. Put it this way, when my buddy (who was using two HID video lights) moved around a corner of the wreck, I couldn't even see the glow of his lights. It was pitch dark at 80 feet. I managed to patch together some video from a visit to the local Museum, where many artifacts from the submarine now reside, the trip out and the underwater experience. It can be seen here. Enjoy ! I may try to put together a trip to this wreck - and the nearby American submarine wreck, the S-49 next year. Clicking here will give you a access to an information sheet on the U-1105.

Stacked Hulls ? An Hour in the Water ? Why Not ?

The weather is definitely taking a turn for the better. When Todd, Jim, Gaetan, Matt and I made our way out to the Stacked Hulls this morning, it was quite clear that the water is warming up. We recorded 41℉ (5℃) on the shelf, and 39℉ (4℃) at depth. Visibility was probably about 30-40'. Two cameras were deployed. Todd's excellent available light shots will feature later. For the time being there's a mix of ambient and flash-lit pics here. Matt's day was made by sighting a Long-Nose Gar on the bottom on the way out. Less said about the encounter, the better though.. The line's in good shape, but may need a little bit of interpretation on the homeward leg. Just remember to maintain 310° Mag as you head for shore. Best way to pick up the line on the way out is to swim off shore at 130°, turn left at the bottom of the shelf and pick up the intact guideline from there.

Kinghorn Quest...

It's becoming a weekend staple, but there's no harm in that, while the weather cooperates. This morning, Todd, Dianne, Kevin, Jim, Adam, Vinnie and I took a dip in the water again at Rockport, visiting the Kinghorn from shore. The viz was OK - at about 25'. Water temperatures hover at about the same as the Lake - 45℉ (7℃). There was little to see in the way of wildlife. The more cunning divers exited by using a ladder on the back of a berthed diveboat. Others (and yes, I was one) took the hard way out at the corner of the dock. "Time spent in reconnaissance and all that . . . "

I liked it so much...

Yesterday's dive was so much fun that Dianne and I returned to Rockport and the Kinghorn today. It was no less enjoyable an experience, although there were fewer Crayfish to be seen. Conditions were very similar to yesterday, so I'll avoid repetition on that score. I'm providing a few pictures taken today with a wide-angle lens.






And here's a picture of the speedboat hull that lies about halfway out to the wreck along the line. It's adjacent to the 'STOP' sign that warns divers about the perils of being tempted beyond their personal levels of competence and training.



I didn't mention it yesterday, but it's important that anyone attempting this dive from shore appreciate the distance involved and the depth at the final destination (90' ±2' / 27m). While it's by no means essential to use enriched air on this dive, a larger capacity tank and, ideally, a redundant air source are advisable.

Triple Treasure...

At the invitation of a good friend, I was able to make three dives downriver today. The first was the always excellent Keystorm, on which the pictures were taken. The second the America and the third a type of wall / drift dive on a site called Devil's Oven near Alexandria Bay. The conditions on the wrecks were perfect with 70℉ (21℃) water and decent visibility in as low a current as I can recall for the St Lawrence. We were also lucky enough to avoid the hordes of divers that often descend (literally) on these popular sites. It was a special treat to see many large Pickerel busy on the hull of the America.

One Day two Dives

What an awesome day. Sunny, little wind, what else to do. ``Scuba Dive`` The plan was to make 2 dive`s today, the first will be the Comet, the second will be the George A Marsh. These would be Rob`s and my first 2 Nitrox dives since our course with Mike. Rob and I decided on EANx 32 for both dives. We were able to benefit with the short surface interval as well as longer NDL`s. The Comet was unbelievable sight, the paddle wheels were amazing. Just an amazing dive, visibility below the thermalcline was about 50 feet. Just a great dive. After a 2 Km boat ride and a 91 min. surface interval, we descended on the George A Marsh. Another great dive, let alone another great look at the past. It is always a wonder to me, as to just what kind of a storm would put such a large sailing ship to her grave, here on lake Ontario. The George A Marsh is a dive site that I will visit many more times in the future. There was just not enough time, to take in all of her Dead eyes, Pulleys, much of her deck hardware let alone the items that weren`t seen on a first dive. Even diving with enriched air there still wasn`t enough dive time on a wreck. I guess the next step is to either go to steel 120`s or duel`s. The George A Marsh as well as the Comet are two wrecks well worth the boat ride out, and diving on. Todd. V.

New wreck to me ...

There are a few wrecks out in the Lake that I haven't had the chance to visit yet, but amongst those closer to shore it's rare to come across something new. Today provided the chance to explore a site that had been spotted from the air. It's in the Bateau Channel and, when first sighted, seemed to promise quite a lot. Aerial pictures appeared to show the outline of a vessel quite clearly, in shallow water.

Today's visit therefore provided a mixed bag of results. The wreck is indeed present. It's about 250 feet long - a substantial ship - but most of the site is very flat. That's to be expected, it's quite shallow and will have been degraded over the years by ice action and wave motion. But, the bow and stern can be made out quite distinctly, and there's much of the timberwork on site. It seems likely that the ship was iron clad, but not many of the plates are immediately evident. Named bricks were seen on the site, so there's a possibility that they may contribute to identification.

I'm not sure that this will be a very popular location to visit; it's relatively undistinguished as a dive site, but the size of the ship is quite remarkable. The picture, by the way, shows the stern, lying on its starboard side.

Afternote: Thanks to Rick Neilson and Tom Rutledge it's been possible to identify this wreck. It is very likely the Chicora. The link gives a great insight into a very interesting ship. The tragedy is that her remains do her past very little credit. If you plan to visit, do be wary of the shoal just to the North of the site - and one section of the bow, which lies just a foot or two beneath the surface.

Tobermory Tales...

A long-held ambition to visit Tobermory has been realized this weekend. Although conditions have been less than ideal - high winds, fairly heavy seas and rain - the trip was made immediately worthwhile this morning when, at 90 feet, the wreck of the Arabia loomed out of the depths. She's a magnificent old schooner, with a largely intact bow, many fittings intact and in place and NO zebra mussels. The block lies just off the starboard bow and you immediately see - in about 60+ feet of visibility - the bowsprit, bow, twin anchors and railings. A massive windlass sits between the anchors.

The centre section and deck have collapsed, and the stern is largely gone, but good management has seen to it that deadeyes, shackles, much rigging and other fittings remain to fascinate divers.

One slight downside today was the water temperature. It brought back memories of the Lake a month or two ago. The bottom temperature on the wreck was 39℉ (4℃). Nevertheless, with a dive time of 30 minutes for a max of 96 feet, this was a great experience.

A second dive, on the James. C. King, a schooner that sank while under tow as a barge, was less exciting. She lies bow down on the rocky slope of an island, massive timbers still very evidently showing her substantial construction. But, there's little else to recommend a visit. Visibility though, again, was fantastic.

Exercising Stakeholder Privileges...

Work on enhancing the line to the Stacked Hulls was the order of the day today. As well as checking and cleaning the line, it's amazing how much algae and gunk accumulates in just a matter of days, today's aim was to put in some long-planned stakes and take some measurements.

For interested parties, take note - the swim to the edge of the shelf from the start point close to the beach is 380' (116m). We then installed the first three stakes - at 100' (30m) intervals. That took us to roughly half way to the Hulls. We'll finish the staking - and measuring - very shortly, but my guess is that the total swim is going to come out to about 1300' (396m).

Water temperature today - 42℉ (6℃). And the visibility - 60' or better, I think...

Guenter's photo expedition...

This late in the season every chance to get a special dive in has to be seized with enthusiasm. An opportunity to get out and visit the much discussed Guenter's Wreck arose today and we grabbed it with both hands. It had been an ambition to try and get some photography of this site for some time. Conditions were almost perfect, if you overlook the difficulty in getting water to circulate through outboard engines asked to work in freezing air temperatures.

Long and the short of it was that we got more than 30 minutes on the wreck, taking many pictures and enjoying the sort of light and visibility that only feature in the short, cold days of Fall and Winter. For the record - viz was around 50-60' and the water temperature seems to be stuck on 46℉ (8℃).

Surf entries on the Lake - unusual...

When a strong westerly breeze blows over the Lake for several hours, it can raise quite a wave on shore. But, that's no deterrent to the determined diver - and just to prove the fact - three of us made our way out to the Stacked Hulls this afternoon through some fairly heavy surf. I can't remember encountering quite so much surge in the shallows ever before. Understandably, the visibility was pretty poor in the early stages, but on the wrecks themselves we enjoyed about 30 feet or better - certainly enough to make for some decent video. I've decided that some of these big Bass are frustrated actors. They certainly mug it up for the camera. Check out the short video here. The water temp was the usual 50℉ (10℃). Total dive time, with about 15 minutes on the wreck, was 56 minutes.

Visit to the Cedar Island Wreck...

The opportunity arose today to make a late season expedition onto the Lake. Although the traffic to the wind farm project continues to be very busy, and the Wolfe Islander is in near constant motion, otherwise there's not much boating going on. That made conditions pretty good to visit one of the wrecks lying close to Cedar Island. These are infrequently dived on and it was my first visit to this particular one. I took the camera down in hopes of getting some record-quality shots, but the visibility of about 20 feet precluded that. Nevertheless, I got some decent pictures, one of which accompanies this entry. The wreck is not enormous - and it's hard to gauge what it might be. But, there are clues. It has the very blunt bow of a possible cargo barge - and a length, in all probability, to match. There is a rudder post present - and it's not large. The frames are not substantial - leading to a suspicion that the vessel was no warship. But, there are some vertical posts that defy attribution, unless, perhaps, they supported an upper deck...

Anyhoo... the answer lies with a more detailed examination another day. Today, the temperature was 57℉ (14℃).

Stacked Hulls ...

As suggested yesterday, the chance was taken today, in ideal weather conditions, to make an expedition to the Stacked Hulls. It's been a week or two since the line was checked, so there was no knowing what to expect. In fact, the line was easy to pick up and ran uninterrupted out to the wrecks, where the viz was in excess of 40 feet. There was at least one very large shoal of Perch on the wrecks and several large and lazy Bass. At the shore end, it's remarkable how quickly the weed beds in the shallows are dying back and thinning out. The plants are already mainly brown and lifeless. Anyone who wants to make us of this new line, which takes several minutes off the old swim to the Hulls, should e-mail me for info on picking it up. Alternatively, if you take the old line out of Portsmouth to the right-angled bend in it and 'jump off' there swimming 220° you'll pick up the new line at about the half way point. Water temperature today out on the Hulls (where a small thermocline could be felt at about 50 feet) 57℉ (14℃).

Outing to the William Jamieson...

Nine divers made it out this morning to the wreck of the William Jamieson at the far end of Amherst Island. The weather was a mixed bag. Occasional patches of sunshine were interspersed with light rain. None of that affected a good dive on an interesting wreck. The visibility, except where bottom disturbance played a role, was about 40 feet. Despite the fact that, elsewhere, the thermocline is now at about 55 feet, the water was a pretty reasonable 64℉ (18℃) from top to bottom. I almost regretted the hood and gloves I'd donned in anticipation of a colder, bottom layer. There wasn't a lot of fish life, but that's not unusual just now - especially in broad daylight.

Back to the wreck at Murney Tower...

Responding to a request from a visitor who'd looked unsuccessfully for the guideline previously, we provided a conducted tour of the wreck today. Conditions - visibility aside - couldn't have been better. The Sun was beaming down and the water was comparatively calm. There wasn't as much fish life as recently, but bright, clear conditions don't favour the fishies. It's worth noting that the thermocline today was right on 55 feet, which makes it just above this wreck's sides and superstructure. At the bottom, the temp was down to 62℉ (17℃). The return journey was used to clean up the line a little and to bring it back to the surface in the few places where the silt threatened to hide it.

Stacking up another dive...

After sailing plans were cancelled by high winds and an ominous weather forecast, and a quiet afternoon at home proved too quiet, the decision was made to go and check out the Stacked Hulls again. No bad thing, as it turned out, because the line had parted about half way out to the wrecks. Whether this is the result of an unintended anchor strike, or pressure from accumulated weed proving to be too much for the line at its weakest, most extended point, it turned out to be easy to by pass and temporarily address. The dive was otherwise unremarkable. That said, the number of fish seeking shelter in and around the hulls was considerable. Oh to have a video camera on days like this. Visibility was average, probably about 30-40 feet. Interestingly, particularly since I had elected to dive wet (Hyperstretch 7mm), the water temperature was down to 66℉ (19℃). If anyone is keen to make this new, line-guided trip to the Hulls, and considers their air consumption better than average (this dive was 63 minutes long and brought home 600 psi), give me a call.

Members turn out for Preserve Our Wrecks...

Several members of the Club attended the Dive 'n Dine event held by Preserve Our Wrecks this evening. A dive outing to the Wolfe Islander was followed by a delicious barbecue. Despite relatively poor visibility on the wreck, the dive was enjoyed by everyone in attendance. It was an opportunity for many to see the recently parked second motorcycle, a Yamaha and to play, 'count the gnomes'. A special treat for a few of the 14 divers was a rare sighting of an American Eel. For the record, there was no discernible thermocline and the water temperature was 68F (20C).

Stacked....

Tonight presented the first opportunity to check the line laid last week, in the dark, from a boat, between the Stacked Hulls and the shore near the Psychiatric Hospital. The delightful outcome was a 75 minute dive that began by picking up the cross line leading to the main one in less than a minute. Look out for details of the location very shortly. But be aware, this dive is not for the inexperienced or those who are a bit heavier on their air...

The swim out to the wreck took 20 minutes - the same as the testing run last week. One curious observation - since the line has been in the water only about 5 days - was the huge amount of weed that has drifted into it and accumulated on it. Perhaps not so surprising given the high winds and big seas experienced over the preceding 24 hours. Out on the two wrecks (are there more ?) the fish life was abundant, a mix of Perch and Bass. There was plenty of time to have a look around the whole site before heading back to shore - clearing some of the weed on the way to reduce strain on the line.

The low temperature on the wreck was 68°F (20°C) and the visibility about 30 feet.

Lucky Seven...

This evening's charter went directly to the wreck of the Cornwall. This is a point worth making, because so often we get blown off the intended target and diverted to the Wolfe Islander. Conditions were near perfect for the seven divers along for the ride, with just a gentle wind, practically no waves and good visibility. Most of the party had not visited the wreck before and this always makes for a good experience. The wheels on the wreck were starkly evident close to the descent line. They and the massive boilers are really signature equipments for the site. Another really neat feature to spot is the the line of small portholes that can be seen on the Port side forward. There wasn't a lot of variety in the marine life on show. Shoals of Gobies were flitting around whenever divers approached, but just a handful of fairly small Bass were also present. The knack this evening was to find the thermocline (at about 58 feet) and hover just above the top of the boilers in the 'warm' while enjoying a view of the wreck from above. For the record, the bottom temperature was 52℉ (11℃) and the visibility about 50 feet.

Stress Relief on the Munson...

So, tonight it was a run to the Munson to blow off some of the work day blues for Kevin. Going off the Collins Bay Pier, the trip is less than 10 minutes and just 2 miles running distance. The weather was clement, with the wind out of the North West and the Lake surface was showing just small waves. Mind you, when our dive flag fell in the water and had to be retrieved, it showed a pretty fair wind-driven surface current to be present.

The dive was everything you expect of the Munson. A dark descent into a cold environment that only slowly reveals the details of the wreck. Lights were an absolute must. After passing the thermocline at about 60 feet, the temperature dropped quite significantly, but not as low as recent experiences would have suggested. The minimum temperature was 52℉ (11℃). Visibility - though hard to judge beyond the range of our lights - was probably about 40 feet. One unpleasantness was moving through a 'soupy' layer of green gunky algae in the first 40 feet of the dive or so.

But, as a way to blow off the day's cares, this was a classic...