Munising

[Dewit2it]

Just got back from Munising today.  Only had myself and my father along, so could only snorkel.   Hit the dock pilings and ran short on film by the railroad wheels.  I was also getting "spooked" by reflections in my mask.  Every so often I would see a piling coming up toward me in my periferal vision, caused by reflections from the side windows.  Viz was around 30' and temps were comfortable in a 5mm wetsuit and no hood or gloves.  Some of the goodies seem to be making their way to shore.  A chunk of the old tug is sitting near the shore and what looks like a wood gear hub is also near shore.  I haven't dove this site in 13 years, but I do remember these chunks much further out.  I used to remember seeing a lot of old battery parts on the bottom that I didn't see today.  It also seemed like there was more sand in the area than I remembered.  I'll get some pics up when the film is done.

On the GB boat tour, I talked with the captain about what I saw at the pilings, and she told me that they have had some seche tides with some of the storms this year.  The tides can drop the level of Munising Bay a couple of feet.  She also told me that almost nobody is doing shore dives anymore.  My guess is that the dive sites aren't being talked about, and all anyone knows about are the wrecks. 

The pilings are a cool night dive with a bunch of buddy teams in the water.  Keep your flag line short to cut down on hangups. (~20-25')  Also, make sure your flag is the proper size for Michigan. (16"x14" w 3 1/2" wide stripe, minimum size)  And don't try to use your compass, you WILL get lost.  I think there may be a iron deposit just under the bottom.  The compass will work on the surface, but can be 180 off on the bottom.  Depth won't go below 20' unless you go really far out.  At night the perch come into the pilings.