ADAM HAYDOCK

SHIPWRECKS OF THE CHICAGOLAND AREA, THE MACK, WELLS BURT, LADY ELGIN

July 14, 2012

Wells Burt Shipwreck

Chicago is famous with its shipwrecks as this was a city that exported a significant amount of grain from the great plaines back to other states out on the eastern coast and overseas for produce. Chicago was considered a hub for importing and exporting steel grains and other goods for the nations people and economy.

Boiler wreck of the Silver Spray

We went to visit a few wrecks out on the lake which was a nice day to get out and swim around a bit in the cool waters and enjoy some of Chicago's great historic shipwrecks. Most of the shipwrecks are what some might consider be "Piles of Wood" as I have heard that term used by other divers, which a lot of them are severly broken up debris fields BUT the historic significance of these shipwreck still take me back to the late 1880s when these handcrafted vessels carried supplies people relied on and the families of the crew supported hands as they played a crutial but risky role that unfortunately costed some of their lives. If your not much of a history buff, than its always a bit interesting to get a group of divers to perform a successful dive in the cold dark waters of the great lakes which can be a lot of fun in itself.

Boiler Wreck of the Silver Spray

The Wells Burt is a rather intact shipwreck that sank in the 1880s and lies a few miles off shore off the north side beach in 30ft of water. Its not that deep as it appears that it is a sand bar of sorts but the deck, railing, windlass, and other artifacts are in tact. The Mack was another shipwreck that we visited in 65ft. of water but this wreck is an artificial shipwreck which is a steel steamer and is pretty much in tact. It is more of a play ground for divers and a good place to practice dive skills. The Last Wreck we went to see is a shore snorkel out to the wreck of the silver spray. This one sank in 1908 while carrying university of Chicago students as it hit the shoal on 43rd street beach. From what I understand the Chef attempted to cook a meal for everyone so they would stay calm while the captain attempted to convice everyone that the ship was ok. After an hour the crew caught on and took boats to the shore and the remaining crew abandoned the wreck while ice and waves destroyed the wreck over the next few years and the locals used the wood to build fires on the beaches.

Wells Burt

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SHIPWRECK OF THE TRANSFER & THE GILLEN TUG

July 13, 2012

Another early morning start from Chicago as I wake up in a sweltery summer humid morning street lights still on and very few cars on the road to give suspension to anyone driving around at this hour in Chicago. The drive is 70 miles to Milwaukee to meet up with Jerry Geyers Len-Der charter and get on the lake once again before afternoon storms roll in. I always enjoy Diving the great lakes yet to many people it sounds like a terrible place to be, deep underwater, water temp, 45 degrees or less, and the creepy mystery of the great lakes, but I find it to be fascinating and rather relaxing to be in the clear water heavily protected with a thick exposure suit and a overfilled tank of air for the dive. I love it!!

Shipwreck of the Transfer Milwaukee

After dodging drunk drivers, weary late night trucks, and police speeding traps, I made it to the loading dock in the city of Milwaukee. Jerry always seems to manage to get a lot of divers to join him on his dives which is good business form him and a great opportunity for me to meet other like minded shipwreck cold water fanatics.

Shipwreck Of The Transfer

We get the diesel powered steeler out past the break wall and onto the lake. We had 1’s and 2’s as we made our way out to the Shipwreck of the Transfer

Barge Transfer (80268) – Built 1872 at Gibraltar, Michigan by Linn & Craig as sch. bge. William McGregor - 200.0 x 33.9 x 13.7 ft., 732 gt., rebuilt as barge Transfer at Milwaukee, 1910. - The big barge Transfer had been owned by the Milwaukee Western Fuel Co, who abandoned her in 1910. After many years, she was towed out into the lake and intentionally sunk on December 6, 1923. Her unloading machinery was removed prior to her scuttling and placed in the EMBA. Her possible remains are believed to have been located by Jerry Guyer. (Runge Card File) ( http://www.baillod.com/wuaa/Milwaukee3.html)

Shipwreck of the Transfer Milwaukee WI

I just got all of my technical dive gear trim fitted to what I thought was my liking and got in the water for the first time with it. I tried it all out in a pool at first but now I took the plunge to drop down to a depth of a 100ft and swim around the wreck. She was pretty badly broken up and was not much to see other than the collapsed deck, haul planking and the skeletal remains of the haul. There were some other artifacts around the debris field.

Shipwreck of the Transfer Milwaukee WI

Even though it may not sound too interesting in words, the clear 60-80 ft. of viz makes it look like you are starting out into a blue hazy desert with an old relic in the middle of nowhere. I find it interesting to dive these shipwrecks and fully support the preservation of these important artifacts.

Shipwreck of the Transfer Milwaukee WI

I started to ascend and I noticed I lost a shiny belt piece that floated down from where I was. My bouyency was pretty rough and quickly I started to struggle with my new dry suit, twin low-pressure 108s and 55lb bladder. It got interesting but thankfully I was going a recreational dive so I just had one 3 minute stop at 15 ft. I cannot stress how important it is to get your technical dive outfit dialed in before attempting ANY dive ESPECIALLY a technical dive.

The next thing I made sure I did was register for a intro to tech diving class so I could prepare for the advanced nitrox/decompression procedure class.

Shipwreck of the Gillen Tug Milwaukee WI

The Next dive was around 60ft on the Gillen Tug

The Tug Boat foundered on June 3, 1981 as it capsized and sank 2 1/2 miles east of Milwaukee, Wis. while testing a towing winch on the U.S.C.G. cutter Westwind.

Shipwreck of the Gillen Tug Milwaukee

I descended onto the wreck after an hour SI without any incident and came up to the Tug Boat. She is pretty much intact and has a couple small rooms to penetrate into I worked my way into the bridge house and traced around the wreck a bit more.

Lower level of the Gillen Tug Shipwreck Milwaukee WI

This was a great day of diving and a lot of fun to see two more shipwrecks of the great lakes.

Shipwreck of the Gillen Tug Milwaukee WI

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GEORGE MORLEY SHIPWRECK

June 16, 2012

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SLEEPING BEAR SAND DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE

May 22, 2012

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SHILOH CAVE

May 12, 2012

Shiloh Cave, Indiana

Tom Campbell and I set out from Chicago and headed on over to the bloomington area to meet up with Danyele, Sam Frushour, Chris Parks, Quentin and Heather on a amazing trip to Shiloh cave

Shiloh Cave, Indiana

The cave itself it near a quarry and is on private land so only a small number of groups are allowed to enter the cave a year so we got the chance to see this beautiful system coming down to the cave.

Shiloh Cave, Indiana

We entered the cave and had to swim about 200ft to a near low space passage that opened up into a larger borehole passage.

Shiloh Cave, Indiana

We worked our way down the large trunk passage which was quite impressive with all of the formations and the beautiful cave species we got to see along the way.

Shiloh Cave, Indiana

We finally made it to the Black Damp Passage which was unlike anything I have ever seen in Indiana anywhere

Shiloh Cave, Indiana

The black Damp Passage is a side passage that had some amazing alien looking formations, scalloped water cut slot passage that looked quite razorlike and erie as well as some interesting colored passage that made for some amazing traverse challenges.

Shiloh Cave, Indiana

There were some waterfalls and some interesting karst faucets that leaked water from all directions which made this cave a wonderland of Karst development.