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Technical Dive - Weekend - Alpena
Dates: June 11-13
Just outside the boundaries of Thunderbay National Underwater Preserve, sits the wrecks of the Pewabic, Viator, and Monrovia. They are the primary focus for our technical weekend, but the Isaac Scott, New Orleans and Hanna are also worth exploring. All sit between 136ft and 180ft deep. Like all wreck dives, if you know the ship's history, you can fully appreciate the experience. Here's just one of the stories...
Pewabic: The steamer, Pewabic, is one of the unsolved mysteries of the Great Lakes. In 1865, she collided with her sister boat, the Meteor, taking approximately 100 lives with her.
The mystery is why she sank at all. Survivors stated that the night was clear and that the lights from the Meteor could be seen from miles away. Historians theorize the ships collided when attempting to exchange newspapers for sailors hungry for news from home. Nobody can prove this theory, but what is know is that the Pewabic was carrying 175 passengers and crew plus a heavy load of copper ingots.
The Meteor drove its bow into the port side of the Pewabic where many passengers were socializing for the evening. Some were crushed on impact while others drowned when failing to evacuate in time from the quickly sinking ship.
Survivor James M. Buchan watched the collision then ran to his cabin to don a lifejacket. The Pewabic sank so fast that he found himslef pulled underwater by the suction from the ship. "When I began to ascend, I felt pieces of timber above me and touching me all around. I began to fear that I could come under a piece of the deck and find it difficult to come to the surface. But owing to my having a life preserver in my hand, I came up more rapidly than the wreck and found myself on top of the water with a large piece of the hurricane deck under me," Buchan said.
The Pewabic now sits in 180 feet of water off Alpena.
COST:
TBD
Package Includes:
Full day boat runs Saturday and Sunday
Hotel accommodations on Friday and Saturday
SASS guide and t-shirt
TBD
Package Includes:
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