2018 Dive Season in Review - Segment 9

BTI Dive Team - Labour Day Weekend - Tobermory, Ontario, Canada

The BTI Dive Team traveled to Tobermory, Ontario for The Labour Day Long Weekend.

Our mission this weekend, to explorer Tobermory's shipwrecks, complete the Deep Diver Certification Dives and initiate preliminary dive planning for the up coming year(s).

Our first operation is to setup base-camp in the Cyprus Lake Campground, a 15 km drive from town of Tobermory, Ontario, Canada.

On September 1, 2018, our first two (2) shore dives were on the the Tugs. The Tugs is a shallow diving site that actually contains four small wrecks. Most of them caught fire in the harbor and sunk very close to shore and shallow.

The names are known as Alice G, Robert K, Bob Foote and John and Alex. Alice G is the most intact one and is located to the right of the entrance.

The other three are to the left of the entrance and the first one starts in less then 10 ft of water.

After a surface interval break, we attended a SCUBA dive charter on the Diver's Den dive boat the Lark. https://www.diversden.ca/

This trip was organized by SCUBA 2000 for the Labour Day Long-weekend 2018. https://www.scuba2000.com/

A view of the Islands from the deck of the Lark.

Our third dive of the day was 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.

Our fourth dive of the day was on the Carolina Rose. The Caroline Rose is one of the schooners pictured on the back of the old Canadian $100 bill.

The Caroline Rose was sunk as a dive site in Driftwood Cove. That area experiences severe storm surge so she has been broken up somewhat. However, there are large sections of the ship and many artifacts remaining.

On September 2, 2018, our first wreck was on 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.

Our second and final dive of the day was on the W. L. Wetmore Wreck.

The W. L. Wetmore is a wrecked wooden steamer that sank here during a storm in November 1901. At the time she was pulling two barges, the James C King which still lies nearby, and the Burnette which was salvaged.

The port and starboard sides have collapsed and now lie along side the bottom of the hull. At the north end of the wreck, there is a huge oak rudder with a 15' blade, and a sheared off propeller with a 25' long drive shaft. Moving forward to the bow area you can find a large length of anchor chain, hawse pipes, and an impressive anchor.

The most notable feature is the ships boiler which rises 15' off the lake bottom. Take some time to examine the construction of ships of this time. You can see excellent examples of scarph joints and hanging knees.

With our mission completed, we headed back to base-camp for the dive debriefing around the campfire.

A great dive weekend! Thanks to Diver's Den and SCUBA 2000 for their professional dive services and great experiences.

Special mention to BTI Team member Matthew who has both completed his Deep Diver Certification Dives and his Degree in Mechanical Systems Engineering this month. Well done Matthew!

Further, best wishes on your upcoming road trip across Western Canada.

“Life isn’t about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself.” ~ George Bernard Shaw