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 Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society

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

News Stories

2022 - Fun Dives 2 - Closing Report

Published on 8/26/2019
Closing Report:

The "Fun Dives Along the North Shore of Lake Superior" on-board the RV Preservation event is designed to invite our not so active members to participate in experiencing the fun we have diving off the Society's research and work vessel, that all of you the members own.  The members really should take advantage of this resource.  It is comfortable, reliable and safe to dive off the vessel.  We take pride in making sure the vessel is in shipshape to bring out divers to the shipwrecks along the north shore of Lake Superior.  It can accommodate up to six divers comfortably with individual bunks for private sleeping.  We can take more divers (up to eight) during the day if needed.

The weekend started out with a full boat and a few new faces.  We first woke up to a amazing sunny and warm day, which is sometimes rare on Lake Superior.  We performed a boat safety briefing and then departed for our first dive site, the Madeira.  During the trip out we cooked breakfast for all that had joined us.  After arriving at the site of the Madeira we encountered a little rougher seas than we anticipated.  However, the seas were still manageable by tieing off on the Madeira bow buoy/mooring.  We also noticed more divers on shore.  It's good to know that other divers are enjoying the Madeira shipwreck. 

We chose to dive the bow first and mainly because the mooring was more protected from the sea surge.  We then performed a dive briefing and since there was actually a member on-board Wim Wickle that hasn't dived the Madeira but only once, we though we would invite him and his dive buddy to suit up first.  Wim likes to video shoot his entire dive trips with his Go-Pro camera so we were fortunate to have him along on this event.

As the day progressed, and after each dive participant completed their dive they had a story to tell about the dive and the part of the shipwreck they hadn't seen before.  "I see something new every time I dive the shipwreck" says Jack Decker, Program Leader for the Fun Dives on the RV Preservation.  Jack is a seasoned diver that has dived the Madeira shipwreck many times.  "It's my favorite shipwreck" he says.  

Jack said that the group should all get into the water at the same time and he will guide them around the shipwreck to point out items of interest.  So everyone suited up at the same time and then submerged to the shipwreck below using the mooring line.  Jack led the entire group on a guided tour of the Madeira.  Wim Wilcke brought his Go-Pro video camera and shot video of the entire tour.  You can watch his video by clicking on this link.   

Fun Dives On the RV Preservation Research Vessel by Wim Wilcke


After the dive and everyone had removed their gear, an amazing discussion about the Jack's tour of the shipwreck started.  Everyone said they saw things they never seen before.  Even those that have dived it many times before were reporting that they saw more of the shipwreck and were totally amazed as to what is really down there to see that they haven't seen before!  It was so exciting to here from the participants that this was one of the best dives on the Madeira they have ever experienced.

As one can see, just because you can officially say you've dived the Madeira multiple times, you can't say you've seen everything on that shipwreck.  Every time you dive it, you will be guaranteed that you will seen something you haven't seen before.  That is what you get out of the Fun Dives On-Board the RV Preservation with the GLSPS.

We performed three dives on the Madeira and then motored over to the Hesper near the Silver Bay Marina.  We then performed one dive on it.  The group said it was much colder on this dive.  They are correct.  Because they had already performed three dives, they were getting cooled off and secondly, the  Hesper shipwreck is located where it gets more of a northern water flow, it will be much colder than the Madeira which most of it is sheltered by massive cliffs.

Once again Jack Decker suggested everyone get in the water and perform this dive at the same time.  Jack led the group on another guided tour of the Hesper shipwreck.

After the dive, the participants said they saw more on this dive than ever before, just like the guided tour on the Madeira!  A guided tour makes a difference!  The GLSPS is a Shipwreck Information resource that all members can enjoy, including a guided tour of each shipwreck.  We are not a Charter boat but more of an educational boat.  We like all the members that join us to not only have an enjoyable and relaxing dive but also be an educational / learning experience.  

As you have read in the past, the GLSPS is trying very hard to get members and other divers active in the organization.  We have all kinds of activities and various things to do.  We only hope that the members of the GLSPS join us in more of an active status in the future.  Especially during a GLSPS Official Project.  Please check out our annual project and program schedule.  There is most likely one or two events that interest you enough to participate.

Thank you to all the members that have joined us in the past and present.  We hope you will join us on a future program or project in the near future.

Safe Diving,
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