Wreck Summary
| Type |
Shipwreck |
| Build |
Wooden Two Masted Schoonar |
| Location |
Port Dover, Long Point
|
| Depth |
118 feet |
| Length |
120 feet |
| Built |
1870-1880 |
| Sank |
? |
| Access |
Boat |
| Experience Level |
Advanced |
| Orientation |
Upright
|
There is such a mystique to diving a new wreck… not only when it is new to you but also when it is new to… the world. There is a genuine sense of discovery that makes the experience something truly special.
That is the case with this site which has been nicknamed the Crystal Wreck (so named because the crew of the boat who found it were drinking Crystal beer at the time it showed up on the depth sounder). Covered with nets like many Lake Erie wrecks this site is exceptionally pristine (at the moment). It is phenomenal to dive a wreck without so much as a fin-kick mark on it.
This wreck has several features which compete to be the most significant, namely the ship’s wheel, partially covered in nets, part of a wheelhouse which is partially covered in nets, and a bowsprit which is… as you may have guessed… partially covered in nets.
The bowsprit is actually my favourite since so few are in this nice of shape. One of the shipwreck historians on board theorized that due to the clean end to the portion of bowsprit that remains this is likely a hinged type that could be folded back allowing the ship to get through some of the smaller locks that were common on the Great Lakes at the time.
Other notable features: the rail running around the perimeter is in good shape aside from a starboard section which has fallen onto the deck, a mug, plate and bowl have been set on a table near the stern, cargo holds you can swim through (nothing to see but silt though), and a stern that is in fantastic shape (covered in nets which I am sure you are shocked to hear.)
Her cargo was tested by putting pushing a long tube into it to come up with a "core" which was extracted on the deck of the dive boat and found to be (foul smelling) grain. The cargo had been theorized as most likely grain or ore on an episode of the TV show "Oceans of Mystery" which did a feature on this wreck while searching for another. They also had footage of the ship’s brass compass which it is rumoured has been hidden for its own protection (how that differs from removing it I do not know). More items are also missing, as the two photos above of what looks like a small table show - taken less than a year apart.
