Ontario’s (not so) Hidden Gem- the “Tiller Wreck”.

June 15, 2014

Tiller wreck, Port Dalhousie, Ontario
The “Tiller wreck”. Note the broken bow sprit- a testament to the storm that brought this ship down.

It must have just missed the cut in Cris Kohl’s book, “The 100 BEST Great Lakes Shipwrecks”.  It has all the elements that make a great shipwreck: it’s largely intact, significant, beautiful, and reaches back to a very different time period (nearly 200 yrs).

The “Tiller Wreck” is a 94′ two-masted schooner that lies in 116′ of water about 4 km off Port Dalhousie, in Lake Ontario. It gets its name from the tiller which steers it, as opposed to a wheel, which was introduced around 1850.

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Kingston, Lake Ontario- Diving the Cornwall and Marsh shipwrecks (June 7, 2014).

Kingston is considered by many to be in the top three scuba diving destinations in Ontario.  Owing to its location where Lake Ontario empties into the St. Lawrence River, the area has enjoyed a rich maritime history since the 18th century.  Consequently, the area has a high concentration of shipwrecks that are accessible to sport divers.

Diving in the Great Lakes is best in May and June when the weather (wind) is more predictable, and the visibility is at its highest (if you can stand the cold, that is).  We had another sunny day, with calm winds, but frigid water temperatures of 41-43 deg F.  The visibility was in the 30-40′ range.

diving Cornwall wreck, Kingston
Starboard side paddlewheel.

The group decided to dive the Cornwall, a 177′ iron-hulled side-wheeler that was launched in 1855.  It had a very checkered past (eg. deaths, fires, etc.), as it had sailed under three different previous names.  It was later scuttled in 1928 by dynamiting after outliving its usefulness.

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Sanilac Shores Underwater Preserve, Michigan (May 24-25, 2014).

Port Sanilac Lighthouse
Port Sanilac Lighthouse. Its now privately owned, but the Coast Guard is still repsonsible for the light.

Sanilac Shores Underwater Preserve stretches along the shoreline of Southwestern Lake Huron, Michigan. It has some of the most interesting wrecks that I have ever dove in the Great Lakes. It is popular with divers because of the quality and concentration of wrecks, mostly within sport diving range.  It also contains two easily dived wrecks from the Great Storm of 1913, the Price and Regina (see below). Visibility was a welcoming 50 ft but the temperatures were an icy 39-41 deg. F.  Here are four of the wrecks that we dove over a bright and calm weekend.

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