Precision Diving» Trip Reports

Chicago Scuba Diving: Straits of Mackinac

Duane Johnson — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:38:18 +0000

This past June, I taught an Advanced Wreck diver course. One of the shipwrecks that we used for the course was the Straits of Mackinac (AKA The Mack). The Mack is arguable the best shipwreck out of downtown Chicago. Located about 8 miles offshore of Evanston, IL (very close suburb of Chicago), the Mack offers divers of all levels enjoyable dives.

The Mack is a 200 foot long car ferry and is Chicago’s first substantial shipwreck since 1929. The Mack was sunk on April 10, 2003 for the purpose of attracting scuba divers from all over the country to scuba dive out of Chicago. It has become a habitat for perch, bass and other native marine species in Lake Michigan.

The History

“The Straits of Mackinac”, joined the fleet in 1928 and provided service across the Straits until the opening of the Mackinac Bridge on November 1, 1957. This boat was built for the Highway Department to carry approximately 35 vehicles. Within two years, the ferry was modified with an upper level loading area which increased the capacity to 90 cars and up to 400 passengers. For many years, “The Straits of Mackinac” was considered the flagship of the Michigan State Ferry fleet.

When the Mackinac Bridge opened to traffic on November 1, 1957, car ferry service between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace ended. In 34 years of service, the ferries operated by the Department of State Highways carried approximately 12 million vehicles and more than 30 million passengers across the Straits of Mackinac.

The Shipwreck

Sitting in 75 feet of water, the Mack is arguable one of the best shipwrecks out of the Chicago area. The boiler room is probably the most noteworthy attraction of this shipwreck. While accessible to recreational divers, the engine room does not offer any direct access to the surface and should be dove by experienced shipwreck divers. Seeing the monstrous coal-fired boilers is a nice sight as the boilers extend upwards almost four stories.

Most of the charters out of Chicago will run two tank/dive charters. You will most likely not even come close to seeing all of this shipwreck on two dives. That’s the best thing about this wreck. Because of it’s size, it takes multiple trips to view all of it. There are rooms of all sizes, two huge coal bunkers, a massive engine room, huge boiler room, passages, kitchen, two dining areas and more.

When the sinking of the Mack was in the planning stage, it was planned with safety in mind. All of the doors on the inside have been removed. There are cut outs in the ceilings of almost all of the rooms to allow divers access to open water. The chain locker and rooms around/below the chain locker do not have access holes cut in them.

The main deck structure offers access to the engine room as well as storage areas and bathroom facilities. Many of the toilets are still in the bathrooms. There is a ramp going up the main deck structure. The structure is made of wood and steel and has mostly survived the sinking.

There is so much more to see that what I can write about. The engine room alone is a huge structure and has a ton of stuff to see. So if you’re ever in the Chicago area, look up one of the scuba diving charters, like Windy City Diving, to see if they are heading to the Mack. You won’t be disappointed.

Thanks to the Great Lakes Center for Marine History based in Lansing Michigan for much of the historical information.

My Top Five Favorite Reef Diving Sites

Duane Johnson — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:00:12 +0000

Shipwrecks have always called to me. They are like a trip down memory lane. I truly enjoy diving them. Just because 99% of my dives are in the cold water of the Great Lakes, doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t jump at the chance to go dive some warm water reef. While I’m still broke, I can’t really afford to travel much. Here is a list of some of the best reefs that I have dove.

Molokini Crater, Maui Hawaii – One of the best drift dives I did was on the back wall of Molokini Crater in Maui, Hawaii. We started at one end, 90 minutes later we reached the other end. I don’t think I even had to kick on that dive. Our average depth was around 50 feet. The backwall of Molokini drops down to thousands of feet, so your buoyancy must be controlled. Otherwise, it’s a long way down. Hawaii holds a special place in my heart. That is where my wife and I got married and the diving was phenomenal. Molokini Crater has a great balance of marine life and coral growth. We saw sharks, barracudas and plenty of angel fish.
The Tiki, Moorea, Tahiti – The Tiki dive site is a great site for reef sharks. We saw black tip, white tip and lemon sharks all on one dive. The fish life was amazing. There are many reports of people seeing dolphins and even whales at the Tiki site. The maximum depth is around 80 feet. Our average depth stayed around 50 feet. Diving in the crystal clear, 80F water was incredibly relaxing.
Tarpon Alley, Grand Cayman – Many will argue that Tarpon Alley isn’t the best dive site on Grand Cayman. Certainly Stingray City and others are very nice, but I loved Tarpon Alley the most. There are around 100 tarpon fish that live in this site. Divers can get relatively close to the fish and is perfect for underwater photographers. I did about 15 dives on this site with my good friend Kevin. The depths for this site are between 60 and 100 feet. We hung out around 60 feet the most and had some nice long dives. Perhaps that is why I like it so much. I was able to dive it a lot with a great friend.
Kantil Reef, Aurba – This site has a fascinating drop-off with giant boulders of brain and star coral. There was also a lot of massive formations of leaf and sheet corals. We had a nice current on this site and made for a nice relaxing drift dive. This was my first time deploying a SMB for the boat to follow us.
Stairway, Turks and Caicos – The Stairway dive site was amazing. The site is made up of plate coral that looks like a series of stairs going down to about 100 feet. The “top” of the stairs were covered in soft coral. On our dive at this site, a turtle decided to hang out with us bubble blowers. For almost the entire dive, this lone turtle swam within 20 feet next to us. This dive site offers a lot of small little hiding places for small critters to hang out in. When looking a the site from a distance, it does look like a stairway.

While I’m not much of a world traveler, I still enjoy diving coral reefs and seeing the beautiful marine life that lives on them. Shipwrecks consume my thoughts 99% of the time, but I have very fond memories of these reef diving sites. My only regret about diving these sites is that I’m not a good photographer and didn’t take any pictures. As long as I don’t completely loose my mind, I’ll keep the vivid pictures in my head.

Got any favorite reefs you have dove? I’d love to hear about them.

The Best Scuba Diving Spots For Seeing Turtles

Michael Browne — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:16:15 +0000

Diving with Turtles

This a guest post from Simply Scuba, a UK based stockist of scuba and diving equipment who ship worldwide.

There are numerous diving locations worldwide that offer unique opportunities to see turtles in their natural habitats. Maui in Hawaii offers some of the best diving spots in the world and offers plenty of opportunities to see turtles. Napili Bay and Canoe beach in West Maui are abundant with green sea turtles and Olowalu is ideal for diving beginners although caution should be taken with sharks. The underwater Jodo Temple is easily accessible by boat from Lahaina and again, an abundance of turtles can be found here. The cost of getting to Hawaii can be less than many other diving destinations, with flights from around £600 and there are a variety of accommodation options around Maui to suit all budgets.

Reef diving offers the chance to see a wide variety of wildlife and flora. The Great Barrier Reef is a breeding ground for six species of turtle and it offers not only amazing dives, but also the opportunity to watch sea turtles lay their eggs. A trip will start from around £1500 per person, excluding diving costs. The warm waters are ideal for all year diving, although the weather is usually at its best between August and January. The next largest barrier reef in the world, Belize, also brings divers in close proximity to a variety of turtles.

Pulau Sipidan, on the north coast of Borneo has limited access for diving, but the area is ideal for seeing turtles and has been voted “The Top Dive Destination in the World”. It’s possible for twenty or more different turtles to be seen on a dive. There are specific dive areas, such as Turtle Patch which allows you to get really close to the giant turtles that rest and feed in the area and Turtle Cavern, which offers opportunities to see hawksbill and green turtles. Any visit to this cavern must be with a local dive master. The diving season in this area is all year round, with the best conditions being between April and December. Accommodation and diving packages start from around £600 (excluding air fares to local airports).

The Galapagos Islands, which have been termed “one of the seven underwater wonders of the world” are for mid to experienced divers only as a result of the strong currents in the area. The Islands offer opportunities to see green turtles. The Galapagos Green Turtle nests on the Islands, but the opportunity to see these underwater is fairly limited as they spend their time in other waters. There are also plenty of opportunities for night diving. Turtles can be observed all year round, with February to April being the warmest months. There are lots of tailored packages available for the area, but it can be relatively expensive, with air fares being around £1000 per person and there are fees to pay to enter the National Park and Marine Reserve.

There are plenty of other diving spots that are ideal for watching turtles. These include the Similan Islands in Thailand or Komodo in Indonesia and in various locations throughout Europe, depending upon the season.

Photo Credit: Jurvetson on Flickr

Review: 2010 Our World Underwater Dive Show

Duane Johnson — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:20:16 +0000

My Admiring Fans

This past weekend was the 2010 Our World Underwater scuba diving show in the Chicago area. This show and expo is the biggest in the mid-west. Normally I do not go to the show as it has become more of a social event rather than a trade show. But Ben McGeever of Dive Xtras was bringing the X-Scooter to the show, so I asked if he needed any help staffing the booth. So I volunteered a day to help him out.

Ben McGeever of Dive Xtras

Duane Johnson and X-Scooter Great Ben McGeever

I had never met Ben before this weekend’s show, so I didn’t know what to expect from a guy I was going to spend the day with. Ben is a heck of a nice guy. In between handing out free DVDs, Ben and I spent the day talking about scooters and diving. Ben is a highly trained and accomplished diver, so to say we hit it off would be accurate. He isn’t as rough around the edges as I am, but close.

There was quite a bit of traffic to the booth. Certainly everyone thought the X-Scooter was cool, but when the topic of price came out, the look on people’s faces was enough to know that they weren’t too serious about purchasing a X-Scooter. There were a few serious inquiries about the scooters and I passed them onto Ben.

X-Scooter Cuda

The booth artwork was very nicely done. Not only did Ben bring an X-Scooter Cuda, but he brought some other products that Dive Xtras sells. I’ve been looking for an E/O connector to power electric undergarments. Dive Xtras sells one that connects up to a dry suit inflator mechanism. It uses the same hole as the inflator valve. The connector body has a hole in it where the dry suit inflator screws into it. So the inflation mechanism sits higher on the suit, but it eliminates the need to punch another hole in the suit to power electric undergarments. Now I know what I’m saving my pennies for. Ben also brought some other products for the X-Scooter, such as universal and deluxe video camera mountings.

The Show Itself

The very first time I went to the show, it was huge. Vendor exhibits covered almost the entire floor space of the convention center. Over the years, it has gotten smaller and smaller. This year, it seemed more crowded, but that was mostly due to the smaller space the show took up. Overall, I think it was a good turnout. Manufacturers on hand were Aqualung, DUI, Scubapro, White’s Dry Suit, and a few others. Many travel destinations were on had as well. This year it didn’t seem like many from Mexico were there.

I did get to eat lunch with Richie Kohler. The first time I met him was a few years ago during the height of Deep Sea Detectives. At that time, he and John Chatterton had an entourage with them all the time. This year it was just Richie and he was mostly by himself. When we had lunch, it was just he and I. I was able to chat with him about diving in the Dominican Republic and bend his ear about shipwreck diving.

I was also very impressed by the artwork that the students of the STARS program did with Rogest. The students took a day and a half and created some very good painted mosaics of underwater scenes. Rogest donated his time to help the kids create their paintings and even helped the kids auction off their paintings to help raise money for the program. I was going to bid on a very nice painting of a clownfish for my kids, but the bidding was already up over the $40 I had in my pocket. Wish I could have gotten it, my kids would have loved it.

The Real Treat

Two of the Greatest Scuba Instructors in the World

The biggest treat for me came as a complete surprise. While I was walking around the show, I saw a gentleman who looked very familiar. After seeing him a few times it hit me, it was Jarrod Jablonski of GUE and Halcyon. He was there just walking around the show, not promoting anything. I was able to chat with him for a few minutes. He mentioned that he was a fan of mine. We talked about the cold weather up here, what’s going on with the WKPP and where he and his fiancee Renee did their fun diving (when he isn’t working so much). Jarrod was very personable and seemed to enjoy talking about diving with me. His fiancee Renee was also very nice and talked about some of the diving she likes to do as well. I decided to not monopolize all of Jarrod’s time, I invited him to come up and dive the Great Lakes sometime and wished him a good flight back home.

OWU Summary

This year’s show was about what I expected. Still much of the same social and travel topics. There was nothing new in regard to products. I was able to see many of my friends that I hadn’t talked to in a while. I was also to meet some new people and prospective students. Overall I had a good time and I’d like to thank Ben for allowing me to help him out and for the lunch he bought me.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving

Diving the EMBA

Duane Johnson — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:41:40 +0000

As October approached, I knew that our days to get on Lake Michigan were numbered. Rob and Dave called me up and said they wanted to get one more big dive on Lake Michigan before the weather completely shuts us down for the year. I haven’t had a chance to dive with Rob and Dave much this year. All of us have had the usual stuff creep up in our lives and our schedules would never line up. We looked at a couple charters still going out this time of the year and saw that Shipwreck Explorers operated by Captain Jitka had an opening for a two tech dive day. We booked it.

The Dive Day Begins

Our departing port was out of Milwaukee, WI. Coming from the Chicago (and suburbs) area, it is a drive, even very early in the morning. I got there 10 minutes late, but as usual, Dave had a hard time getting out of bed and Rob had to stop for his Super-Sized Grande Mocha Frap, Espresso, Latte. So they were 15 minutes behind me. Fortunately, we had the entire boat to ourselves, but it put Jitka on a tight schedule as she had another charter later that day. The plan was to do one dive on the EMBA and another on the St. Albans. It had been a couple years since I was last on the EMBA and dove the St. Albans with Rob last year.

Early in the week, Rob and Dave got me their tanks so I could fill them with trimix and deco gasses. Once I got to the parking lot, I quickly unloaded all of Rob and Dave’s tanks and started analyzing and setting up my gear (normally, I have mine already setup, but had too many tanks in my car to do it). After we got our stuff analyzed, put together, and loaded on the boat, we were only 30 minutes behind schedule. Sorry Jitka.

Once underway, the conditions on the lake weren’t as bad as the forecast. We had 2-3 foot rollers instead of the normal chop. Jitka had put a lot of modifications on her boat, the Molly V, since last year. Noticeably, was the increase in speed. It didn’t take us long to get to the EMBA, but it was still a little bumpy and I got a free spinal adjustment out of it.

Into the Darkness

As usual, I’m the first one to get dressed and geared up. Rob and Dave gear up at the same pace as mating turtles. So I waited until they started getting into their rigs before I got into mine. I get into my rig and to no one’s surprise, I’m the first one to get into the water. After attaching my bottom stage and deco bottles, I had the normal Rob and Dave surface wait until they could get their p-valve hoses untangled from one another. After sitting on the surface, and taking 2-3 footers to the face for 15 minutes, Rob and Dave finally splash in. We pull our way to the mooring line and start our descent into the darkness.

Diving the E.M.B.A Formerly the A.C. Tuxbury

The EMBA is formerly known as the A.C. Tuxbury and sits in 170 feet of water about 7 miles off shore from Milwaukee, WI. The EMBA is an wooden schooner barge. It sank in December 1932 when it was scuttled. One of the cool features of the EMBA is it’s tower. It’s tower was used to hoist cargo onto the ship.

Thanks to a mostly cloudy day, it started getting dark at around 60 feet. The water temperature was an unseasonably warm, 52F from top to bottom.The mooring is tied into the wreck a the top of the tower, which is at 140 feet and we barely saw it before crashing into it. We left the line and sank to the floor to view the rudder.

EMBA Tower - Courtesy of Bob Epsom

After looking at the rudder for a couple of minutes, we swam up and along the ship towards the bow. From there we looked around on the deck. At 15 minutes into the dive, Rob and I switched off the bottom stages to back gas for the remaining 5 minutes of the dive. We swam back towards the mid-ship and looked around the base of the tower. There are winches that still exist on the wreck’s deck which are pretty cool to look at.

Winch on the EMBA - Courtesy of Bob Epsom

At 20 minutes we thumb the dive and look forward to the 30 minutes of deco to get us to the surface. Below is our dive profile.

Dive Profile of the EMBA Dive

After the Dive

Our deco was uneventful. The wave action on the surface didn’t feel like much, but underwater it sure moved us around a bit. At 20 feet, you could still feel the surge of ups and downs. So I chose to do my last stop around 22 feet where it was more comfortable. After clearing deco, we slowly made our way to the surface at the back of the boat where Jitka was waiting to take our bottles. Due to the cloudy day, visibility wasn’t very good at depth and I wasn’t able to get any good video. There’s always next time.

All of us had a little bit of water in our suits. For Rob and Dave, it was enough to scrap the next dive. Me being the hardcore Great Lakes diver that I am, was willing to do the second dive. But not having anyone to dive with, I reluctantly agreed to scrap the second dive. Instead we hit the Brat Stop on the way home for lunch, where I was able to pick up some Spotted Cow beer, and Jitka was able to get back on schedule for her day. All of us had a great time diving the EMBA to close out the 2009 Lake Michigan diving season. Thanks to Jitka for running a great boat. I’m looking forward to next year.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving