Lake Erie Moorings Up

[Ian]

Yesterday was a good day. After being blown off our last couple of attempts, we finally got out and placed moorings on six of Lake Erie’s Eastern Basin shipwrecks. We had installed everything new from the block up last year, so all we had to do yesterday was locate the wrecks, find and untangle the sunken lines, raise them and install the buoys. Lake Erie froze over completely last winter and all our winter markers (5’ x 3” foam filed PVC pipe) were destroyed and sunk.

Spencer Shoniker once again donated his boat and he took Jack Wenger, my wife Barb and me out. We left Port Colborne at 10:00 AM and headed out 20 miles to the Niagara. Jack took about 12 minutes to untangle the mess and bring up the line. Block is about 8’ off the starboard rail just aft of amidships.

5 miles further, Barb took about six minutes to find and float the line on the George Finnie. She had to do a short second dive to install a new 5 gal jug to the bottom chain to keep it up off the wreck. The Finnie’s line is attached directly to the windlass as a freighter snagged the mooring system a couple of years ago and ripped the rebar right out of the concrete block. We hope to have the line moved back to the block within a couple of weeks. It’s going to take a bit of work, as we’ll have to dig under the block to get chain wrapped around it.

6.7 miles to the Carlingford and it was Spence’s turn to dive. When we installed the new line last fall, we couldn’t get the old chain and line off as the block is almost upside down and we couldn’t get any leverage with the tools we had. With two lines tangled, it took Spencer about 16 minutes to sort out and float the mess. We hope to get the old line off and a new bottom tag line installed this weekend. With six wrecks to moor, we didn’t want to take the time this trip. The block is 28’ off the starboard rail just forward of amidships.

Starting our trip back, it was only 4.2 miles to the Stonewreck. It was my turn to dive but as I suited up, I had a wrist seal rip from end to end. Jack quickly suited up for his second dive and managed to get everything sorted out and up in short order. Once again, the block is off the starboard side about 30’. There is a tag line suspended by a small jug running to the wreck
10.5 miles almost in a direct line to the Raleigh, we stopped off at the C.B. Benson. It was Barb’s turn but as Spencer had never dove the wreck, he joined her and did a quick tour. The block is directly off the bow about 25’ and connected to the wreck with a suspended tag line.

Finally, after another 8 miles we hit the Raleigh. Jack made his third dive and chained the buoy directly into a massive beam about 50’ aft of the boiler. We have never put a block on the Raleigh as it is so broken up, there is nothing to hurt and there is lots of solid stuff to tie into.

After 8 hours on the water, 60.5 miles travelled and $167.00 of fuel burned, we got back to Port Colborne just after 6:00 PM. We even managed to hit the NDA monthly meeting in time for the refreshment and movies.

I’d like to thank Spencer for his boat, the NDA Mooring Project http://www.vaxxine.com/nda/mooring/mooring.htm for the fuel and everyone else for their help.

NOTSHIP C-1066-09 Lake_Erie - East end - Chart 2126 - 2009/06/05 Orange and white mooring buoy marked private placed in position 42 46.262N 079 14.609W marking the shipwreck "CB Benson". Buoy is equipped with Flashing amber light FL4s and 8” Radar reflector.

NOTSHIP C-1065-09 [/font][Lake_Erie - East end - Chart 2126 - 2009/06/05Orange and white mooring buoy marked private placed in position 42 39.288N 079 28.597W marking the shipwreck "Carlingford" . Buoy is equipped with Flashing amber light FL4s and 8” Radar reflector.

NOTSHIP C-1067-09 Lake_Erie - East end - Chart 2126 - 2009/06/05Orange and white mooring buoy marked private placed in position 42 51.926N 079 09.254W marking the shipwreck "Raleigh" . Buoy is equipped with Flashing amber light FL4s and 8” Radar reflector.

NOTSHIP C-1068-09 Lake_Erie - East end - Chart 2126 - 2009/06/05Orange and white mooring buoy marked private placed in position 42 40.076N 079 23.780W marking an unidentified shipwreck commonly known as the "Stonewreck" (formally thought to be the "JD McGrath"). Buoy is equipped with Flashing amber light FL4s and 8” Radar reflector.

NOTSHIP C-1069-09 Lake_Erie - Eastern Basin - Chart 2120 -2009/06/05Orange and white mooring mooring buoy marked "PRIV" permanently established in position 42 40.087N / 079 36.250W marking the shipwreck "George Finnie". Buoy is equipped with Flashing amber light FL4s and 8” Radar reflector.

NOTSHIP C-1070-09 Lake_Erie - Eastern Basin - Chart 2120 -2009/06/05Orange and white mooring mooring buoy marked "PRIV" permanently established in position 42 44.310N / 079 36.258W marking the shipwreck "Niagara". Buoy is equipped with Flashing amber light FL4s and 8” Radar reflector.

[Ian]

Jack Wenger and I tagged along with Osprey Dive Charters afternoon trip aboard the Southwind to the Carlingford today. We went in last, just as the first divers started to ascend so that we wouldn't destroy the visibility for the paying customers. While Jack attached a new tag line with center float from the line to the wreck, I started to dig down the side of the block to get at the shackle for the old mooring chain. After removing the shackle, the fun started, as there was 20’ of ½” chain , about 20’ of old 3/8” tag line and a good 30’ of old ¾” old mooring line (the rest went off to be tangled in the wreck) all tangled in a zebra encrusted bundle about five feet up the new mooring line.

When I installed the new chain and line last year I couldn’t get the old one off, so I deflated the jug and secured everything old to the bottom so it wouldn’t entangle. I guess someone thought they were helping and decided to re-inflate the jug. The result was that it took us almost 30 minutes and a lot of cutting (an olfa razor blade knife is the diver’s best tool) to clear and bag everything to the surface.

The plan was for Jack to clear the far end of the line from the wreck and bag it while I was to attach a bag to the chain after I undid it. The tangled mess at the line was unexpected. After me digging and knocking the vis down to zilch, Jack found a loose end and started to coil it up. It wasn’t until we hit the surface that we realized what he had was a section that I had cut off and not the far end of the line. That means there is a short section still on the wreck.

As this was a two dive charter we didn’t have time to go back down as everyone was ready to move on to the Stonewreck. If anyone happens to make it out to the Carlingford, I would appreciate it if they could take the time to remove the remaining section. It should only be about 30’ long and shouldn’t take long to clear.

An interesting point on the Stonewreck for anyone going out. It appears the winter currents moving around the wreck have cleared a section about 25’ off the bow. There is a hole about 3’ deep (down to the solid bottom) and about 15’ in diameter. It’s filled with artifacts such as dead eyes, a small anchor with the stock of a larger anchor partially exposed. This is a naturally occurring hole which will probably fill back in at some point so you may want to check it out before it does.

I’d like to thank Jim Herbert of Osprey Dive Charters for taking us out. He has helped the project a lot over the years and without people like him and Spencer Shoniker, a lot of Lake Erie mooring stuff wouldn’t get done.