Finally, I have some pics of me moving!

[Stoo]

After many years of solitude on the lake, a friend finally bought a RIB and he snapped a few shots of us this weekend, up in Tobermory, Canada. The last one is me diving on the wreck of the Forest City in about 125'. The water temperature was about 38, but we had visibility of close to 150'! I could see the sun from the bottom, in 155'!

[Lets go boating]

that wreck looks amazing, clear water too, nice pics mate

[Ian M]

Originally Posted by Stoo

we had visibility of close to 150'! I could see the sun from the bottom, in 155'!

Outrageous, shouldn't be allowed

[Stoo]

Originally Posted by Ian M

Outrageous, shouldn't be allowed

For the past couple of years, the visibility here has been "out of sight". I think it's partly because it has been quite dry, so there has been very little run-off.

The Great Lakes are filled with wrecks, about 5,000 in total, and many of them are in great shape. And they're still being found. There's at least a half dozen "new" sailing vessels that were just found in Lake Huron. Wrecks like the Cornelia Windiate are almost completely intact.... It's a great place to be a wreckie!

[willk]

Originally Posted by Stoo

It's a great place to be a wreckie!

Yes, and you don't have to rinse your gear or flush the outboards.

Lucky git.

Flipside is that you're a popsicle for eight months

[Stoo]

There are many advantages to diving here... You have mentioned the two obvious ones.

Our Lakes are also ideal for chilling beer. If one hangs a bag of beer off the side of the boat, the little buggers are chilled to perfection in a matter of minutes. (I appreciate that you fellas prefer your wobbly-pops luke-warm, but I can't understand that anyway...)

We also aren't bothered by all of those pesky fish, dolphins and whales getting in the way of our old lumps of wood. Not to mention that annoying coral stuff...

As for the cold, in the right dry-suit it really isn't an issue. I did 5 dives last weekend. The warmest water was 41, but at depth, it was 38 - 39. All of the dives were between 110 and 190 feet, and most were 40 to 50 minutes long. A thermocline certainly makes the deco stops more comfy, but an extra sweater makes all of the difference...

[Bigmuz7]

That pic look amazing .. how clear is that ?

[Stoo]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

That pic look amazing .. how clear is that ?

The Windiate is quite deep... She sits in about 190'. On a good day, the visibility on these wrecks can exceed 100', but it can still be quite dark. later in the summer, algae blooms can reduce vis until you get down below the thermocline which would typically be 60' - 70'.

When I started diving in 1974, 20' was considered good vis. The combination of drastically reduced industrial run-off, zebra mussels and dry weather have made the diving in the Great Lakes better than ever.

Here is a link to a site of a photgrapher friend (who I borrowed that image from...) that has some great shots of our old boats...

http://www.wrecksandreefs.com/newpage1.htm

[prairie tuber]

Fantastic pictures, Stoo! The zebra mussels have not yet taken hold in the Manitoba waters, but water clarity seems to be the one upside of them.

[Stoo]

Originally Posted by prairie tuber

Fantastic pictures, Stoo! The zebra mussels have not yet taken hold in the Manitoba waters, but water clarity seems to be the one upside of them.

We're actually pretty fortunate up in Tobermory. The little buggers don't like the cold it seems, so the infestation is pretty mild. In Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, they're thick. In the St Lawrence, the wrecks are covered in some areas several inches.

We do get Guava mussels, also an unwelcome visitor. They don't mind the cold, but don't seem to spread so easily.

If all you Manitobans remember to wash your bottoms regularly, hopefully you'll be spared!