2008-08-11 Isle Royale Technical Diving

[Roger Southwick]

John Preston, John Martin, and I returned Monday night from a great 4-day trip aboard the Heyboy with Cap'n Ken Merryman and crewman Bob Nelson.  We missed only one dive due to weather and John P sat one out due to a brief illness, but we did 4 dives on the Kamloops and a 30-minute dive on the Chisholm engine.

Total bottom time was 1:47 on the wrecks, with additional deco time of 5:17.  Water temp at 20' varied from 69F the first day to 43F the next.  VERY cold for 90min!  There were some odd currents the last day, moving in opposite directions, making the mooring line bend into a sharp S.

My camera survived at 240' (rated only to 200') but behaved oddly at 150' on the Chisholm.  Might be time for a new one.  Anyway, here are some photos!


John M hanging out at the marina the night before the trip:




Salmon night at McCargoe Cove:




Second morning at McCargoe Cove -- absolutely beautiful:

[Roger Southwick]

John P and John M emerge from the engine room skylights on the Kamloops at 190':




Jumble of cargo in the hold -- barrels, wheels, tubes of toothpaste:




Barrel resting on the edge of the hold:




Piles of wooden matchsticks:

[Roger Southwick]

Leather boots:




Boxes of LifeSavers candy were scattered everywhere.  They are just empty foil shells now that the candy has dissolved.  One errant fin kick or hand wave and they're gone forever, so be careful if you go!




Debris field off the stern:




John P at the prop:

[Roger Southwick]

Ken watches as John M prepares to descend on the Chisholm engine:




Chisholm prop:




Big wrenches on the hull off to the port side of the Chisholm engine:




More photos in the .

[matt t.]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing. I've only been up there 1X for a recreational trip. I hope to eventually get back to do the Kamloops.

[codecruncher]

Beautiful photos. Really gets me excited as we have a trip going up over labor day starting in 2.5 weeks.

[dwitt2n]

...wow...