Skip to main content

 Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society

Dedicated to Preserving our Shipwrecks and Maritime History
"From Prevention to Preservation"



HomeIntro to Shipwreck Diving - GLSPS & BSA Youth Group Continui

Intro to Shipwreck Diving With GLSPS and BSA Youth Group Program 2022



July 30 - 31 2022

Diving From Both The RV Preservation and Shore



This annual program is where the GLSPS also invites youth groups such as the Boy Scouts of America (BSA Venture Crew 820) to experience shipwreck diving.






BSA Youth Group Dive Briefing Before the Dive on the S.P. Ely



Splash Down for the BSA Youth Group Dive Team



One of the Main Attractions for the Youth on the S.P. Ely is the Winch


For more Details about the 2022 Program, please click Here to go to the Events page.

2022 Intro to Shipwreck Diving With BSA and GLSPS Photos

Intro to Shipwreck Diving 2022 Photos

Closing Report:

Coming Soon!











 

Intro to Shipwreck Diving With GLSPS and BSA Youth Group Program 2021



July 31, - August 1, 2021

Shore Dives Only!



This annual program is where the GLSPS also invites youth groups such as the Boy Scouts of America (BSA Venture Crew 820) to experience shipwreck diving.






BSA Youth Group Dive Briefing Before the Dive on the S.P. Ely



Splash Down for the BSA Youth Group Dive Team



One of the Main Attractions for the Youth on the S.P. Ely is the Winch


For more Details about the 2021 Program, please click Here to go to the Events page.



Closing Report:

Like Shore Lunch, Only Deeper: 
By Konnie LeMay from Lake Superior Magazine

A diving crew that helps young people learn underwater skills had a few altered adventures this summer for its Lake Superior dives. "Like typical scouting events, 
BSA Scuba Venture Crew 820 always has a backup plan for our scheduled activities," leader Dean Soderbeck (by the red buoy) wrote recently in summarizing the July 31-Aug. 1 weekend dive. "This came in handy when we discovered that our ride, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society’s research vessel/dive boat, had a broken starboard transmission two weeks before our two-day 2021 Youth Introduction to Shipwreck Diving in Lake Superior. Instead of diving off R/V Preservation , we went with our backup plan – shore dives." Three youth scouts and three adult leaders swam from the shore between Split Rock Lighthouse and Golden Rock to the twisted remains of the 436-foot steel schooner-barge ship, Madeira. "After a 20-minute surface swim out to the shipwreck’s stern buoy, we ATCTW091021Lunchside250.jpgdescended along the buoy line to the ship’s stern then continued down to the pilot house that sits in 80 feet of water. We spent ten minutes at the pilot house depth before returning to the stern and heading back to the beach entry point underwater, safely allow the nitrogen buildup to release in shallower water." The next day, the crew visited the Hesper, a 250-foot, 1890 wooden bulk freight steamer that sank on May 4, 1905, after hitting a reef on the southwest side of Silver Bay Harbor. Among the things they divers noted was the water temps around them, starting at 50 feet. "The water temperature was a balmy 46° at that depth, but warmed slightly as we worked our way from stern to bow and back again," noted Dean. "On our second lap of the ship, I showed my dive computer to one of the scouts – the lake temperature had risen to 66° at midship, over the boiler studs protruding out of the deck timbers. It was usually 40° on this wreck!" They ended the dive after 47 minutes, Dean writes, Oh, and both days, after their "shore dives" they did have shore lunches.


 




Intro to Shipwreck Diving With GLSPS and BSA Youth Group Program 2020


This Program was cancel because of the 2020 Pandemic

Closing Report:

This program didn't take place.  The BSA Activities were canceled and the RV Preservation Research and Work Vessel was not launched.  Mainly because of the Covid-19 Outbreak.





Intro to Shipwreck Diving With GLSPS and BSA Youth Group Program 2019

 


This annual program is where the GLSPS also invites youth groups such as the Boy Scouts of America (BSA Venture Crew 820) to experience shipwreck diving.






BSA Youth Group Dive Briefing Before the Dive on the S.P. Ely



Splash Down for the BSA Youth Group Dive Team



One of the Main Attractions for the Youth on the S.P. Ely is the Winch


For more Details about the 2019 Program, please click here to go to the Events page.


Closing Report:


 

Intro to Shipwreck Diving on the Madeira
Silver Bay, Minnesota
July 26-28, 2019 at Silver Bay & Split Rock State Park  
                                                                                     
                                                               BSA Venture Crew 820 & GLSPS                                                                                                                                                                            

Intro to Shipwreck Diving 2019 With BSA & GLSPS Youth Groups "Photos"


Article in "Lake Superior Magazine"

BSA Venture Crew 820 divers met Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society (GLSPS) members on-board the R/V Preservation on July 27th at the Silver Bay Marina to dive some of Minnesota’s shipwrecks.  Now entering the seventh year of collaboration, the Crew and GLSPS work to provide an amazing opportunity to the scouts, as well as create a legacy for future generations to preserve Lake Superior’s shipwrecks. Diving shipwrecks allows the scouts to touch a ship more than a century old and connect with history. It makes history real.

GLSPS Boat Captain Corey Daniels and Jimmy Christenson, along with a special guest passenger Konnie Le May, the Editor to Superior Magazine, joined the 4 BSA Scuba Venture Crew members aboard the ship. Le May will publish an article on the partnership between BSA Venture Scouts and GLSPS, highlighting GLSPS’s work to find and document lost Great Lakes shipwrecks. Of the 12 divers and non-divers on this trip, 7 are GLSPS members with 4 of them both members of GLSPS and BSA.

The R/V Preservation met up with other Venture Crew divers already moored to the shipwreck the Madeira, a 436-foot steel schooner-barge that sank on 28 November 1905 during a fierce November gale known as the Mataafa Storm. The ship crashed broadside into the solid rock cliffs known as Golden Rock Point. With a surface water temperature of 48 degrees which dropped to 38 degrees at the Madeira’s pilot house 80 feet down, the scouts appreciated R/V Preservation’s configuration that allowed them to conduct multiple dives throughout the day without swimming across the bay to the shipwreck. The chilly water temperatures did not dampen the scouts’ enthusiasm as they explored one side of the shipwreck, from bow to stern, with visibility of over 30 feet. After conducting the appropriate safety stops, the scouts surfaced and returned to the dive boat.                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

After a 90-minute break on R/V Preservation, the northern Minnesota black flies chased the scouts back into the water for their second dive. The divers examined the Madeira’s bow section at a depth of 30 feet then swam around the point to cover the huge section of the shipwreck’s side wreckage that lies in water 30 feet deep. The cold water temperature resulted in a shorter 32 minute dive, but no less enjoyable.

 

                                                                                                   

 

The next day, the group split with seven scouts doing a shore dive off Stony Point near Duluth and the two closed-circuit divers returning to Silver Bay to meet with four GLSPS divers to film the Madeira at night for the 3D model that you see above. At Stony Point, the scouts dove lava flow formations looking for shipwreck parts from a tug that sank near shore 120 years ago. Despite the 39-degree water, the unique bottom contours and texture of the lake fascinated the scouts who spent 30-60 minutes in the calm shallows. They also enjoyed basking on the lava formations on shore after the dive, absorbing the sun’s heat. (Black basalt lava flow that is marked by gouges and ridges left behind by glaciers more than 12,000 years ago).

 

We want to thank GLSPS for hosting the outing for the divers, and for the boat captain (Eagle Scout) Corey Daniels and 1st mate Jimmy Christenson for taking us   out on the R/V Preservation. With the 9 divers, we had   2 Dive-Masters, 2 Instructors,   4 Advance Open Water divers, and 2 Advance Open Water students.

 

 

For more information on other important projects GLSPS works on, go to the Project Schedule or Project Archives.

 
Charter Partner for the BSA Venture Crew 820 is, “Northland Scuba”                                                                                                                                                               www.northlandscuba.com                

                                                                                                                                

To answer any questions on these outings or our upcoming outings with Scuba Venture Crew 820 please call Crew Adviser, Dean Soderbeck.  His info is below

Dean Soderbeck
Project Leader / Adviser
deansoderbeck@yahoo.com  

651-483-8596


S.P. Ely Documentation - Youth Group Intro to
Shipwreck Diving Program 2018


This annual Ely documentation Project is where the GLSPS also invites youth groups such as the Boy Scouts of America (BSA Venture Crew 820) to experience shipwreck diving.






BSA Youth Group Dive Briefing Before the Dive on the S.P. Ely



Splash Down for the BSA Youth Group Dive Team



One of the Main Attractions for the Youth on the S.P. Ely is the Winch


For more Details please go to the Events Calendar and find the above date and click on it to bring you to the Event Page of the Project.



This annual Ely documentation Project is where the GLSPS also invites youth groups such as the Boy Scouts of America (BSA Venture Crew 820) to experience shipwreck diving.

A slight fee up to a maximum of  $25.00 per person ($12.50 per/day) will cover the split expenses for food we provide aboard the RV Preservation. Cost is dependent on number of meals eaten supplied buy GLSPS.

 
We will bring the RV Preservation From Silver Bay to Two Harbors early Saturday morning.  Two GLSPS members/divers to assist with bringing the boat down Saturday and back Sunday afternoon. Up to six divers are welcome to stay and or sleep on the Preservation Friday and Saturday evenings.  As always schedule is dependent on lake conditions to bring the boat down.

We will be meeting divers and support at the Two Harbors boat launch at 10:00 AM Saturday morning.  Load equipment and cruise over to the break wall approximately one mile away in Agate Bay.  The boat will be tied off next to the S.P. Ely shipwreck. 


We will be diving most of the day and break for lunch between 12:00 and 1:00 PM,  returning  to diving when all divers have been feed and all tanks filled or exchanged.

The second dive will commence one hour after we have lunch. The youth group will be able to explore the shipwreck (under the supervision of their own DM's and supervisors.

We will be done diving about 4:00 PM and departing from the break wall about 5:00 PM to transport the youth group back to the Two Harbors boat launch / dock to unload dive and other equipment.

Sunday is scheduled for GLSPS only. Members are welcome to dive Sunday only if they prefer, with only a small charge for food. ($12.50). We will pick you up at the Two Harbors boat launch dock about 9 am.


During the Project, the main GLSPS Members will be documenting the condition of the S.P. Ely and practice their still photo and Video process to help in documenting the shipwreck for deterioration.  


After the photos and videos are edited and reviewed, a GLSPS President appointed stabilization committee will decide on if and when we will be performing any stabilization on the shipwreck.

If you would like to enjoy an easy shipwreck scuba dive and help the GLSPS document the S.P. Ely and help show a youth diver a really cool shipwreck to cultivate a young persons interest and possibly create an interest in preserving maritime history, please register yourself or, contact us to register your youth group of certified divers to join us in a learning experience like no other!!

If you are participating in this project, please print, read, sign and turn the form into the GLSPS Representative aboard the RV Preservation.  Please do this in advance, preferably at home in order for you to properly read through the entirety of the forms, and to help speed up the process.  The boat can't leave the dock until all forms are signed, turned in and reviewed.



Thank you for your interest in joining the GLSPS for another great Project.


Please Note:  The GLSPS has the right to postpone or cancel this project at anytime for any reason.


Hope to see you on the this project or a future project.

Dean Soderbeck
GLSPS Board Of Director 2nd Vice President
Project Leader
deansoderbeck@yahoo.com
651-216-8596
651-483-8596


 
Closing Report

July 21- 22, 2018



 



                                    S.P. Ely Shipwreck Dive Two Harbors, Minnesota                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Saturday August 11, wreck dive Samuel P. Ely aboard GLSPS research vessel in Two Harbors.

S.P. Ely 2018 Documentation - Youth Group Intro Project with GLSPS

On 11 August, eight BSA Venture Crew 820 divers participated in the crew’s sixth dive on the Samuel P. Ely in Two Harbors as part of the Venture Crew’s partnership with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society (GLSPS). The goal of this joint adventure is to set up a legacy for future generations to preserve Lake Superior’s shipwrecks; diving on shipwrecks allows the scouts to touch a shipmore than acentury old and connect with history. It makes history real.      

The GLSPS’s RV Preservation was full with the eight scouts, three GLSPS crew members, and two non-divers with all the equipment and 16 air tanks. Luckily, it was a short trip to the dive site just across the bay. The divers enjoyed multiple dives on the wreck in beautiful weather. The sounds and vibrations in the water from the engines of the large ore ships transiting the bay added to the unique atmosphere.

The iron ore docks had two ships loading this morning, 1004 foot self unloading iron ore ship James R. Barker out of Wilmington Delaware and the Spruceglen from Montreal.

On 19 October 1896, the Samuel P. Ely, a 200-foot long three-masted wood schooner with a 31-foot beam, sank. The wreck is in 30 feet of water with the stern of the ship now covered with boulders and the breakwater wall leading into Agate Bay in Two Harbors, Minnesota.

 

 

A great day of diving with a group of amazing divers. Captain Tim Pranke had us back on the boat ramp by 4:00 PM along with deck hands Jeff LeMoine and Jimmy Christenson.       THANK YOU for having us on board.

Sunday August 12, wreck dive the Madeira – shore dive at Golden Rock Point.

                                                                                                                          

On 12 August, the BSA Venture Scouts headed up to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park to shore dive the Madeira, a 436-foot steel schooner-barge. The Advanced Open Water Scout divers found 43 degree water temperature on the pilot house at 88 feet a bit chilly, but it did not dampen their enthusiasm. The rest of the scouts explored around the bow and the stern in 51 feet of water with water temperatures of 50 degrees.

To answer any questions on these outings or our upcoming outings with the Venture Crew 820  please call Crew Advisor Dean Soderbeck.  Information is below.


Dean Soderbeck
GLSPS Program leader
BSA Advisor
(651)-483-8596.        
deansoderbeck@yahoo.com


 


S.P. Ely 2017 Documentation - Youth Group Intro to Shipwreck Diving Project


This annual Ely documentation Project is where the GLSPS also invites youth groups such as the Boy Scouts of America (BSA Venture Crew 820) to experience shipwreck diving.






BSA Youth Group Dive Briefing Before the Dive on the S.P. Ely



Splash Down for the BSA Youth Group Dive Team



One of the Main Attractions for the Youth on the S.P. Ely is the Winch


For more Details and to Register for the Project, please click on Link Below

S.P. Ely Documentation And Youth Group Intro To Shipwreck Diving - 8/19/2017












S.P. Ely 2017 Documentation - Youth Group Intro to Shipwreck Diving Project
Original Announcement and Description of Project

Please Register for the Project id Interested!

This annual Ely documentation Project is where the GLSPS also invites youth groups such as the Boy Scouts of America (BSA Venture Crew 820) to experience shipwreck diving.

A slight fee up to a maximum of  $25.00 per person will cover the split expenses for food we provide aboard the RV Preservation. Cost is dependent on number of meals eaten supplied buy GLSPS.

 
We will bring the RV Preservation From Silver Bay to Two Harbors early Saturday morning.  Two GLSPS members/divers to assist with bringing the boat down Saturday and back Sunday afternoon. Up to six divers are welcome to stay and or sleep on the Preservation Friday and Saturday evenings.  As always schedule is dependent on lake conditions to bring the boat down.

We will be meeting divers and support at the Two Harbors boat launch at 10:00 AM Saturday morning.  Load equipment and cruise over to the break wall approximately one mile away in Agate Bay.  The boat will be tied off next to the S.P. Ely shipwreck. 


We will be diving most of the day and break for lunch between 12:00 and 1:00 PM,  returning  to diving when all divers have been feed and all tanks filled or exchanged.

The second dive will commence one hour after we have lunch. The youth group will be able to explore the shipwreck (under the supervision of their own DM's and supervisors.

We will be done diving about 4:00 PM and departing from the break wall about 5:00 PM to transport the youth group back to the Two Harbors boat launch / dock to unload dive and other equipment.

Sunday is scheduled for GLSPS only. Members are welcome to dive Sunday only if they prefer, with only a small charge for food. ($12.00). We will pick you up at the Two Harbors boat launch dock about 9 am.


During the Project, the main GLSPS Members will be documenting the condition of the S.P. Ely and practice their still photo and Video process to help in documenting the shipwreck for deterioration. 


After the photos and videos are edited and reviewed, a GLSPS President appointed stabilization committee will decide on if and when we will be performing any stabilization on the shipwreck.

If you would like to enjoy an easy shipwreck scuba dive and help the GLSPS document the S.P. Ely and help show a youth diver a really cool shipwreck to cultivate a young persons interest and possibly create an interest in preserving maritime history, please register yourself or, contact us to register your youth group of certified divers to join us in a learning experience like no other!!

If you are participating in this project, please print, read, sign and turn the form into the GLSPS Representative aboard the RV Preservation.  Please do this in advance, preferably at home in order for you to properly read through the entirety of the forms, and to help speed up the process.  The boat can't leave the dock until all forms are signed, turned in and reviewed.



Thank you for your interest in joining the GLSPS for another great Project.


Please Note:  The GLSPS has the right to postpone or cancel this project at anytime for any reason.


Hope to see you on the this project or a future project.

Dean Soderbeck
GLSPS Board Of Director 2nd Vice President
Project Leader
deansoderbeck@yahoo.com
651-216-8596
651-483-8596


Tim Pranke
RV Preservation Captain
dirttrackin2001@yahoo.com
651-395-9451 




S.P. Ely Documentation & Intro to Shipwreck Diving with BSA Venture Crew 820

August 19, 20, 2017

Closing Report


              S.P. Ely Shipwreck Dive Two Harbors, Minnesota                                                                                                                                 

Saturday August 19, wreck dive Samuel P. Ely - aboard GLSPS research vessel in Two Harbors.

S.P.Ely 2017 Documentation - Youth Group Intro Project

As soon as the RV Preservation pulled up to the boat dock in Two Harbors on 19 August, Captain Tim Pranke urged the BSA Venture Scouts Scuba Crew 820 to hurry in loading their dive equipment. An iron ore ship was about to depart and its large propellers would stir up the ore dust off the bottom of Agate Bay, greatly reducing water clarity near the wreck the crew was about to dive, the S.P. Ely.

The RV Preservation was crowded with 3 Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society (GLSPS) and the 11 Venture Scout divers with all their equipment and 24 air tanks, but it was a short trip to the dive site just across the bay.

                                                                                                

This was the fifth trip the Venture Crew partnered with the GLSPS to dive the Samuel P. Ely in Two Harbors. The goal of this joint adventure is to set up a legacy for future generations to preserve Lake Superior’s shipwrecks; diving on shipwrecks allows the scouts to touch a ship more than a century old and connect with history. It makes history real.    

To see more details about the "BSA Into to Shipwreck Diving", please see "2017 Fall Newsletter"  Here is the link to the Newsletter -  2017 Fall Newsletter


Please Note:  You can only see the Newsletter if you are a Current GLSPS Member!  If you want to view this or any other current newsletters, we invite you to join the GLSPS as a member clicking on the side menu "Join as a Member"




S.P. Ely 2016 Documentation - Youth Group Intro to Shipwreck Diving Project




Original Announcement and Description of Project
This annual Ely documentation Project is where the GLSPS also invites youth groups such as the Boy Scouts of America (BSA Venture Crew 820) to experience shipwreck diving.
A slight fee up to a maximum of  $25.00 per person will cover the split expenses for food we provide aboard the RV Preservation. Cost is dependent on number of meals eaten supplied buy GLSPS. 
We will bring the RV Preservation From Silver Bay to Two Harbors earily Saturday morning, I will need 2 GLSPS members/divers to assist with bringing the boat down Saturday and back Sunday afternoon. Up to 6 divers are welcome to stay/sleep on the Preservation Friday and Saturday evenings.
We will be meeting divers and support at the Two Harbors boat launch at 10:00 AM Saturday morning.  Load equipment and motor over to the break wall approximately 1 mile away in Agate Bay, right next to the S.P. Ely shipwreck. As always schedule is dependent on lake conditions to bring the boat down.
We will be diving most of the day and break for lunch between 12:00 and 1:00 PM,  returning  to diving when all divers have been feed and all tanks filled or exchanged.
The second dive will commence one hour after we have lunch. The youth group will be able to explore the shipwreck (under the supervision of their own DM's and supervisors,.
We will be done diving about 4:00 PM and departing the break wall about 5:00 PM to transport the youth group back to the Two Harbors launch dock to unload dive and other equipment.
Sunday is scheduled for GLSPS only. Members are welcome to dive Sunday only if they prefer, with only a small charge for food. We will pick you up at the Two Harbors boat launch dock about 9 am. Please let Bob Nelson know, bnelson@glsps.org, or call 612-916-8183.
During the Project, the main GLSPS Members will be documenting the condition of the S.P. Ely and practice their still photo and Video process to help in documenting the shipwreck for deterioration.  After the photos and videos are edited and reviewed, a GLSPS President appointed stabilization committee will decide on if and when we will be performing any stabilization on the shipwreck
.
If you would like to enjoy an easy shipwreck scuba dive and help the GLSPS document it and help showing a youth diver a really cool shipwreck to cultivate a young persons interest in preserving maritime history, please register yourself or, contact us to register your youth group of certified divers to join us in a learning experience like no other!!
If you are interested and are registering for the project, please print, read, sign and turn the form into the GLSPS Representative aboard the RV Preservation.  Please do this in advance, preferably at home in order for you to properly read through the entirety of the forms, and to help speed up the process.  The boat can't leave the dock until all forms are signed, turned in and reviewed.
Thank you for your interest in joining the GLSPS for another great Project.
Please Note:  The GLSPS has the right to postpone or cancel this project at anytime for any reason.
Hope to see you on the this project or a future project.
Bob Nelson
GLSPS Board Of Director
GLSPS Treasurer
Project Leader
bobnelson_glsps@msn.com
612-916-8183
S.P. Ely Documentation & Intro to Shipwreck Diving with BSA Venture Crew 820
July 27 -  28, 2016
No Closing Report for this project


S.P. Ely 2015 Documentation - Youth Group Intro to Shipwreck Diving Project




This annual Ely documentation Project is where the GLSPS also invites youth groups such as the Boy Scouts of America (BSA Venture Crew 820) to experience shipwreck diving.
A slight fee up to a maximum of  $25.00 per person will cover the split expenses for food we provide aboard the RV Preservation. Cost is dependent on number of meals eaten supplied buy GLSPS.
 
We will bring the RV Preservation From Silver Bay to Two Harbors earily Saturday morning, I will need 2 GLSPS members/divers to assist with bringing the boat down Saturday and back Sunday afternoon. Up to 6 divers are welcome to stay/sleep on the Preservation Friday and Saturday evenings.
We will be meeting divers and support at the Two Harbors boat launch at 10:00 AM Saturday morning.  Load equipment and motor over to the break wall approximately 1 mile away in Agate Bay, right next to the S.P. Ely shipwreck. As always schedule is dependent on lake conditions to bring the boat down.
We will be diving most of the day and break for lunch between 12:00 and 1:00 PM,  returning  to diving when all divers have been feed and all tanks filled or exchanged.
The second dive will commence one hour after we have lunch. The youth group will be able to explore the shipwreck (under the supervision of their own DM's and supervisors,.
We will be done diving about 4:00 PM and departing the break wall about 5:00 PM to transport the youth group back to the Two Harbors launch dock to unload dive and other equipment.
Sunday is scheduled for GLSPS only. Members are welcome to dive Sunday only if they prefer, with only a small charge for food. We will pick you up at the Two Harbors boat launch dock about 9 am. Please let Bob Nelson know, bnelson@glsps.org, or call 612-916-8183.
.
During the Project, the main GLSPS Members will be documenting the condition of the S.P. Ely and practice their still photo and Video process to help in documenting the shipwreck for deterioration.  After the photos and videos are edited and reviewed, a GLSPS President appointed stabilization committee will decide on if and when we will be performing any stabilization on the shipwreck
.
If you would like to enjoy an easy shipwreck scuba dive and help the GLSPS document it and help showing a youth diver a really cool shipwreck to cultivate a young persons interest in preserving maritime history, please register yourself or, contact us to register your youth group of certified divers to join us in a learning experience like no other!!
If you are interested and are registering for the project, please print, read, sign and turn the form into the GLSPS Representative aboard the RV Preservation.  Please do this in advance, preferably at home in order for you to properly read through the entirety of the forms, and to help speed up the process. 

The boat can't leave the dock until all forms are signed, turned in and reviewed.

Thank you for your interest in joining the GLSPS for another great Project.

Please Note:  The GLSPS has the right to postpone or cancel this project at anytime for any reason.
Hope to see you on the this project or a future project.


Bob Nelson
GLSPS Board Of Director
GLSPS Treasurer
Project Leader
bobnelson_glsps@msn.com
612-916-8183









Scouts explore shipwreck the S.P. Ely off Two Harbors breakwater

Another Successful GLSPS Project with a little help from our friends from the Duluth News Tribune!

By Lisa Kaczke on Aug 16, 2015 at 7:50 a.m.

 

Jeff Lemoine (left) and Bob Nelson, with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society, watch as Martin Mayerchak and Daniel Mayerchak, members of the Boy Scouts Venture Crew 820, leave the back deck of the Preservation to dive to the shipwreck of the Samuel P. Ely in Two Harbors on Saturday morning. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)  Chris Kopp sits on the edge of the boat tethered to Two Harbors’ western breakwater Saturday morning as Bob Nelson does one final check of Kopp’s oxygen tank.

 

“Take a breath. Jump. Acclimate. Relax,” says Nelson, of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society.

Kopp, dressed head to foot in a black dry suit, stands up on a platform hanging off the back of the boat. The 20-year-old steps off the platform, going flippered-feet first into Lake Superior’s Agate Bay.

The water feels good, he reports.

“I was a little warm. It feels really good right now,” Kopp says.

However, extraneous air in his dry suit isn’t letting him go underwater easily. After trying to let the air out and adding weights to the suit to alleviate the buoyancy issue — with the help of his dive partner Ken Lillemo and those still aboard the boat — Kopp and Lillemo disappear beneath Lake Superior’s surface.

They’re part of a group of 10 divers with the Boy Scouts of America Venture Crew 820 from the Twin Cities, visiting Lake Superior shipwrecks this weekend with the help of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society.

Saturday’s shipwreck is the Samuel P. Ely, which sank in Agate Bay nearly 120 years ago; the group planned to head to the Madeira shipwreck near Split Rock Lighthouse today.

Venture Crew 820 is a co-ed program focused on scuba diving for youth up to 20 years old who have completed eighth grade, said the crew’s adviser, Dean Soderbeck. Venture Crew 820 draws from all over Minnesota because it’s a specialized unit of the Boy Scouts, he said.

Venture Crew provides an activity for older teenagers after they’ve become too old for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Lillemo said. It also gives teenagers meaningful interactions with adults who aren’t their parents — something that Lillemo and his wife appreciated when their son was in Boy Scouts.

“A lot of times as a parent, we wear out our welcome,” said Lillemo, Venture Crew Committee chairman and the crew’s dive master.

Heading to the wreck

Kopp’s and Lillemo’s heads pop up above the surface after going underwater, and Lillemo continues to instruct Kopp on getting the air out of his suit.

“OK, I think I have all the air out of my suit now. Take two,” says Kopp, of Inver Grove Heights, Minn.

He puts his mask back on, and the two divers slowly slide beneath the surface. Bubbles on the surface become the only indication of where they are, and then the bubbles stop completely as bright yellow fins disappear into the darkness of Lake Superior.

Twenty-nine feet below, the divers are swimming in 46-degree water to see the Samuel P. Ely up close.

The 200-foot wooden schooner has sat on the bottom of Lake Superior since it sank in a storm on Oct. 30, 1896. The breakwater was constructed over the ship’s stern, but its hull remains intact on the lake’s bottom.

“If you get lost, go to the breakwater and you’ll find the stern,” Nelson had told the divers before they jumped off the boat in pairs Saturday.

The trip was the third year that the Venture Crew has partnered with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society, Lillemo said.

The goal is to set up a legacy so that future generations will be interested in preserving Lake Superior’s shipwrecks after the society’s current membership is gone, Lillemo said. When the teenagers see the shipwrecks, “their eyes are like saucers,” he said.

Return trip

Saturday’s dive at the Ely is the second time at the shipwreck for Daniel Mayerchak, 17, of Otsego, Minn. The Ely was the first shipwreck he visited, he says, and he since has dived on a few other wrecks.

While checking Mayerchak’s equipment, Nelson instructs him to come back to the surface if he has any problems.

“Any issue will be compounded the further you go,” Nelson says.

As Mayerchak steps to the edge of the platform, Nelson notifies Kopp and Lillemo in the water to watch out for Mayerchak jumping in above them.

After coming up from his 20-minute dive, Mayerchak says visiting the ship was “amazing.” Seeing the shipwreck was better the second time because he knew what to expect, he says. Plus, the water was warmer than the last time.  “I thought it’d be colder, but it wasn’t,” he says.

HISTORY

The wreck of the Samuel P. Ely

The 200-foot wooden schooner Samuel P. Ely left Duluth at 11 a.m. on Oct. 29, 1896, towed by the freighter Hesper and headed to Two Harbors to pick up a load of iron ore bound for Buffalo, N.Y.

For nine hours, the Hesper and the Ely battled a raging storm from Duluth to Two Harbors, according to Stephen Daniel’s book, “Shipwrecks Along Lake Superior’s North Shore.” As two ships entered the breakwaters of Two Harbors, the gales were so terrible that the Hesper had to cut the Ely loose. Cutting the towline sent the Ely into the breakwater. Its crew took refuge in the ship’s rigging, but the Hesper was unable to rescue the crew because of the waves.

The Duluth and Iron Range Railroad superintendent heard what happened and telegraphed for help from Duluth. However, the crew bringing a lifeboat from Duluth were blocked by storm debris on the railroad tracks.

Fires were lit on Two Harbors’ shore, and the tugboat Ella G. Stone, pulling a sailboat, headed out to rescue the Ely’s crew. The tugboat let the sailboat drift near the sinking ship, and the crew dropped into the sailboat to be pulled to shore. All of the crew survived.

People can become interested in seeing shipwrecks for various reasons, whether it’s archaeology, history or scuba diving, said Ken Lillemo, Boy Scouts of America Venture Crew 820 Committee chairman.

The wreck of the Ely stemmed from a life-or-death decision — whether the crew of the Hesper should have continued towing the Ely, or cut it free to save itself, Lillemo said, adding: “It’s a tough life with hard decisions.”

Diving on shipwrecks allows people to touch a ship more than a century old and connect with history.

“The story of these boats is the story of Duluth and the story of where they came from,” he said.

Explore related topics:NewsnewsLake SuperiorTwo Harbors

Lisa Kaczke

lkaczke@duluthnews.com

(218) 720-4154

"In cooperation with the Duluth News Tribune.  All rights reserved by and from the Duluth News Tribune"

GLSPS Board of Directors