2018 Dive Season in Review - Segment 7

BTI Dive Team - James C. King Wreck Dive, Niagara II Wreck Dive and Dunk's Point Geological Dive, Tobermory, Ontario, Canada

Tobermory is a small community located at the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula. It is 300 kilometres (190 miles) NorthWest of Toronto.

The community is known as the "fresh water SCUBA diving capital of the world" because of the numerous shipwrecks that lie in the surrounding waters, especially in Fathom Five National Marine Park.

We attended a SCUBA dive charter on the dive boat Joseph Simon organized by SCUBA 2000 for the Canada Day Long-weekend 2018. https://www.scuba2000.com/

On June 30, 2018, the first wreck we dove on was the James C. King. The King was first built as a three-masted barque, later converted to a schooner rig and lastly used as a barge.

It was built in East Saginaw, Michigan in 1867 by Samuel J. Tripp. The ship was 53.4m (175ft) long and now lays between 7 and 30m (25 and 95ft).

The James C. King was wrecked while under tow by the W. L. Wetmore in November 1901.

This is a good dive. The wreck just keeps on going along the bottom. I recommend doing two consecutive dives; as we did, so you can see the whole wreck.

On July 1, 2018, we dove on the Niagara II wreck. The Niagara II lies perfectly upright in approximately 100 ft. of Georgian Bay's crystal clear water, just east of Little Cove.

The top of her wheelhouse is at a depth of 45 ft. and both the bow and stern decks lie in the 65 ft. range.

In my opinion, this is the best training wreck in Tobermory to-date.

Our fourth dive just happened to get re-targeted to a location that I had been investigating for a perspective BTI Dive Team excursion, Dunk's Point.

This day's dive enabled us to observe the geological rock formations near the current location of Dunk's point and a large sea anchor long since abandoned.

However, my interest was in the ancient Dunk's Point Underwater Waterfall that existed here some 7000 to 8000 years ago. Allegedly, it is located between the present Dunk's Point and Flower Pot Island.

From local accounts, it is alleged that the top of the falls is 80 -120 ft below the surface and the bottom is 300 - 500 ft down from the top of the falls. This data has not been confirmed, I suspect it to be erroneous, requiring validation.

Here is a visual representations of what Dunk's Falls may have looked like about 7000 to 8000 years ago.

Here is some imagery of the underwater terrain. That's the plunge pool at the bottom.

I am one Engineer and diver that would be interested in further research and exploration of this interesting geological feature. I will definitely be seeking detailed nautical charts for this area.

Not being one to pass on the opportunity to participate in a night dive on the Niagara II wreck, with some of the day charter divers we organized a Charter with Diver's Den on the SCUBA dive boat W.O. Laura J. https://www.diversden.ca/

Upon a successful exploration of the Niagara II at night. We returned to enjoy the Canada Day 2018 Celebrations In Tobermory, Ontario, Canada from the deck of the SCUBA boat W.O. Laura J.

All in all a good dive weekend. Thanks to Diver's Den and SCUBA 2000 for the professional dive services and great experiences.