John Martin

Isle Royale Technical Dive Trip

story by John Martin, photos by Roger Southwick

11-14 August 2006

The preparations for the trip started a couple of weeks ahead of time: gas choice, mixing, who is bringing what, etc.

the mixing shed

For gas we decided to take the standard gas 15/55 but add extra Helium so we could top it off with air on the boat and still have a respectable amount of Helium to keep the END (equivalent narcotic depth) down. We agreed on 15/70. We also decided to sneak a couple of 80s with 18/45 onto the boat for stages since there were only three of us on this trip instead of the usual four. For deco gas we knew Ken would have surface-supplied 100% O2 so we did not need to worry about that. Ken's boat the Heyboy is also equipped with a continuous blending Nitrox system for up to 40% O2 so we decided we would deco on 36% starting at 100’ instead of the usual 50% at 70’.

Mix, mix, mix, O2, Helium, air, Argon, boost, boost, boost, analyze, analyze, analyze.... Ahh! The gas was ready. Life is good.

Thursday arrived and it was time to make the trip to Grand Portage. John picked me up at about 1:00pm and we loaded tanks, bins, and gear into the back of his truck and headed to his place to wait for Roger. Once Roger arrived, we got the six sets of doubles, nine 80s, Argon bottles, analyzers, fill whips, gas bagger, 18 regulators, backplates, reels, spools, DPlan, dry suits, cameras.... The truck was full. Did we forget anything?

At last we are on the road to Grand Portage. I am thinking by this time tomorrow we will be diving the Kamloops! Are we there yet?

entering the engine room of the Kamloops at 190'

We arrived at the marina about 11:00pm so instead of unloading in the dark we grabbed our clothes (yes, we did remember clothes -- a few anyway), selected bunks, and hit the sack. My first year I had the driver's bench, second year the dining table, and this year I got the couch. The couch was pretty good.

Ken and the First Mate, Bob Nelson, arrived sometime during the night and at about 7:30am we were awakened by the traditional morning wake-up music CD put together by Ken’s daughter. I swear one of the songs is the Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black performed by Johnny Lang.

We had breakfast, loaded the boat with gear and food, and started motoring out into Lake Superior for the 6 hour trip to the 'Loops. The lake was calm, 3 footers max, and we busied ourselves setting up our rigs, planning the dives, and catching up on news from Ken.

As we approached Kamloops Point we saw that Ron Benson’s boat Deep Thought was tied up at the stern. We radioed and learned that they were just finishing a dive and would be leaving shortly so we waited a bit and then tied the Heyboy to the stern mooring. We were here and it was time to dive the primo Isle Royale wreck!

Cap'n Ken and his rebreather

Roger, John, and I would dive as a three-man team. We planned 220’ for 20. This was Roger’s first time on the wreck so he was not going to bring the camera. We geared up quickly and hit the water. The wreck is lying on her starboard side and the mooring line is attached to the port side railing. We dropped down the line to 20’ for a quick bubble check and to attach the O2 hoses to the line, and then followed the line to the railing and then over the side, which is the deck. We swam (where’s that scooter when you need it?) along the deck until we saw the skylights on the engine room slightly above us. It had been two years since I had been on the wreck and I thought we had gone into the lower set of windows, but they were only open a crack. Not to be deterred, I started to open the window and poke my head through the crack. Fortunately, I soon saw a light signal and looked up to see John and Roger pointing to the wide-open set of skylights above me. So much for memory.

John Preston at the Congdon winch

We poked around in the engine room for a few minutes, mainly looking at the huge cylinders and valves of the triple expansion steam engine. We swam out of the engine room and back around the stern looking at the wheel, some of the cargo in the debris field, and the prop and rudder. Our 20 minutes were over in a flash. Then it was back to the line, up to the first stop at 160’, and ascending to our first gas switch at 100’. Between VR3s, tables, first dive of the trip, and a three-man team, our 57 minute deco took 70 minutes. We clearly had something to work on for the next dive but it was still a great dive!

It was Ken and Bob’s turn now so we got out of our gear and dry suits and helped them get into the water. Ken was diving his Inspiration CCR (closed-circuit rebreather) and Bob was going open-circuit. When they returned, we helped them out of the water and since it was late in the day we started motoring for Belle Isle to see if a dock was open. Whenever we were motoring, we'd fire up the compressor and top off tanks with nitrox or air, so it seemed we were always busy with something. The dock at Belle Isle was full so we went off to a sheltered cove to drop anchor, eat dinner, and hit the sack.

38F surface temp!

Next day was nice and calm and we were off to the stern of the Congdon. We planned 200’ for 20 minutes and we'd breathe a stage with 18/45 to save backgas for the next dive. Roger brought the camera on this one so you get to see the photos. We went down the line and followed the port side to the stern. There was a debate about the presence of oars lying on the bottom off the stern so we had to check that out. [There's at least one large oar.] Then back up the starboard side to the line. Roger was having such a good time taking photos he ended up about two breaths away from an empty stage. The tricky part on this dive is to remember that the first stop at 130' is on the wreck, not on the line. We remembered. The surface water temp was 38F so deco was chilly but another great dive.

Apparently we were hoovering the O2, so Ken and Bob decided not to dive so they could save the O2 for the paying customers. The Deep Thought was still on the Emperor so we had lunch and pumped gas while we waited, then headed to the stern of the Emperor.

roof of the Emperor

Plan was 150’ for 25 on "mystery mix" (~19/25); to conserve O2 we would deco on 36% alone. Down the line, wander around a bit to figure out where we are, check out the lettering on the stern roof, then down the port side, around the stern, and back up the starboard. More great photos, another chilly deco, another great dive that was too short.

Sunday we headed back to the Kamloops. The Deep Thought was doing one dive on the bow of the Kamloops and then heading back, so we waited for them to finish and then tied up at our bow. The weather had shifted and the waves and surface current were building. The good news was that the shift in wind had piled up warm water on this side of the island. Plan was 240’ for 15. With the strong current, we decided to hook a line from the mooring line to the stern of our boat so that we could pull ourselves to mooring line at 20’ instead of kicking against the current on the surface with a hypoxic mix. John P volunteered to attach the line, so he was towed to the bow and hooked up the line. Roger and I followed once the line was attached. Bubble check and descent.

Deep Thought and Heyboy docked at McCargoe Cove

(See Roger’s account of the wayward inflator on the Blackdive Forums.) While Roger was reattaching his inflator, I managed to lose my SPG and spent the time searching for it. It was pretty dark on the bottom so we stayed close to the wreck and headed aft toward the cargo holds. The main goal was to check out the cases of LifeSavers. Once again my memory proved faulty. Our plan was 240’ but we spent the first half of the dive at 250’. Time to average. We turned and spent the last part of the dive at 230’. The 15 minutes was over in the blink of an eye and we started our ascent. When we got to 30’ we knew we were in for a wild ride for the rest of the deco. John P developed a new technique to handle the bouncing line. The best news was that the water temp was now 60 degrees. It felt like bath water! Before we left the 20’ stop, John P decided to unhook the O2 from the mooring line in case the 2nd team decided not to dive. Turned out to be a good call because Ken was not comfortable leaving the boat with the deteriorating weather.

auxiliary helm of the Kamloops

We had lunch and decided we could still do a dive on the stern, so we filled tanks and planned 200’ for 20. We would basically repeat the first stern dive and Roger would get pictures. The current was still strong. I remember hanging on the mooring line at 20’ watching Roger working hard to swim the camera to the line. With one hand on the line, I reached out and grabbed one side of the camera with my other hand.

John P loves them brownies!

Roger was holding the other side of the camera and we were blowin’ in the wind while we waited for John to join us. The dive was very relaxing and Roger got some great pictures. Time to say goodbye to the Kamloops and head for the surface.

Once we got aboard, Captain Ken said the weather forecast called for winds of 30 to 40 knots for Monday so we decided to cross to Canada that night and then travel down to Grand Portage in the morning. Waves were building and the going was slow. We finally got tied up in the shelter of Cloud Bay about 11:00pm. We had a light dinner of salad with a mint brownie chaser and hit the sack.

We survived the storm that blew through during the night and started motoring toward Grand Portage in the morning. While we rode the 6’ to 8’ waves we listened to Ken tell stories of a trip with 15’ waves (see Roger’s video). I remember thinking I’m sure glad we have Ken at the helm! We arrived safe and sound, unloaded the boat, loaded the truck, showered, and headed for home, having gotten our Isle Royale fix for another year....

our group on the Heyboy, L-R: crewman Bob Nelson, Cap'n Ken Merryman, John Martin, Roger Southwick, John Preston

For more photos from the trip, check out the gallery and come to the club meeting on Tuesday October 17^th.