Wreck diving in the St. Lawrence River
It was well worth the extra miles and border crossing. His boat, a steel trawler the Seeway-Vision was spotless and Kevin and his mate Vian cater to both recreational and technical divers. Check his web site at; http://www.diveseewayvision.com/asp/default.asp to see an impressive list and description of dive sites, including the Roy A Jodrey a 700' freighter that sunk in 1972. Her Stern lays in 150' and her bow is at 240'.
The water temperature was (for Florida divers) a chilly 73*, everyone else said it was just great. The Zebra Mussels have knocked out a lot of the algae so the visibility was pretty good, out to 50'. Current was a very manageable 1 to 1 knots, nothing compared to a bad day on the Dwayne or Speigel Grove in the Keys.
On this day Kevin took us out to the Keystorm and the American wrecks. The Keystorm was an English built 250' steel coal freighter that hit a shoal and sunk in 1912, she now sits on her side at 117'. For trained wreck penetration divers this wreck can be penetrated both at the stern and shallower bow areas. As a Florida saltwater diver I was amazed to see that wood was still present on a ship that sank 95 years ago. These wrecks are in great condition even covered in places with a mat of mussels. Also this wreck had bathtubs still attached to the floor, I guess showers were to "new fangled" for these old sailors.
The American was a motorized single screw drill barge that was dynamiting a shoal in 1932 when it rolled and sank, landing upside down under the channel area of the Seaway. This is actually considered an overhead environment dive as you have to go down a buoy to a line on the bottom of the Seaway then travel along that line on the bottom of the Channel where Freighters are passing overhead to get to the wreck. The American although upside down is lying on large rocks and can be penetrated from underneath. Again for a wreck that sank 75 years ago she is in amazing shape.
Third dive of the day was a shore dive on the Conestoga a 253' passenger steam freighter that caught fire and sank in 1922. Although this was a shallow dive the Conestoga still had her working rigging, machinery and wood beams sitting inside her hull.
Our Naples dive group is planning a week long trip to the St. Lawrence in August 2008. We plan on staying in Brockville Ontario http://www.brockvilletourism.com/ to dive with Kevin on his Seeway-Vision.
It was well worth the extra miles and border crossing. His boat, a steel trawler the Seeway-Vision was spotless and Kevin and his mate Vian cater to both recreational and technical divers. Check his web site at; http://www.diveseewayvision.com/asp/default.asp to see an impressive list and description of dive sites, including the Roy A Jodrey a 700' freighter that sunk in 1972. Her Stern lays in 150' and her bow is at 240'.
The water temperature was (for Florida divers) a chilly 73*, everyone else said it was just great. The Zebra Mussels have knocked out a lot of the algae so the visibility was pretty good, out to 50'. Current was a very manageable 1 to 1 knots, nothing compared to a bad day on the Dwayne or Speigel Grove in the Keys.
On this day Kevin took us out to the Keystorm and the American wrecks. The Keystorm was an English built 250' steel coal freighter that hit a shoal and sunk in 1912, she now sits on her side at 117'. For trained wreck penetration divers this wreck can be penetrated both at the stern and shallower bow areas. As a Florida saltwater diver I was amazed to see that wood was still present on a ship that sank 95 years ago. These wrecks are in great condition even covered in places with a mat of mussels. Also this wreck had bathtubs still attached to the floor, I guess showers were to "new fangled" for these old sailors.
The American was a motorized single screw drill barge that was dynamiting a shoal in 1932 when it rolled and sank, landing upside down under the channel area of the Seaway. This is actually considered an overhead environment dive as you have to go down a buoy to a line on the bottom of the Seaway then travel along that line on the bottom of the Channel where Freighters are passing overhead to get to the wreck. The American although upside down is lying on large rocks and can be penetrated from underneath. Again for a wreck that sank 75 years ago she is in amazing shape.
Third dive of the day was a shore dive on the Conestoga a 253' passenger steam freighter that caught fire and sank in 1922. Although this was a shallow dive the Conestoga still had her working rigging, machinery and wood beams sitting inside her hull.
Our Naples dive group is planning a week long trip to the St. Lawrence in August 2008. We plan on staying in Brockville Ontario http://www.brockvilletourism.com/ to dive with Kevin on his Seeway-Vision.
