Posted by Peter Lindquist on August 14, 19100 at 15:26:15:
In Reply to: Munising Wreck Damage by Glass Bottom Boat posted by Ted Bruesch on August 13, 19100 at 16:12:38:
: Worse than the damage to the wrecks is the
: potential for damage to divers! While diving the
: Herman Hettler 10 days ago, with both alph and
: red dive flags on my boat, I heard an engine and
: looked up. The glass bottom boat was nearly
: overhead!
: I have also noticed, all the tour boat activity
: seems to generate a significant amount of wave
: action in the bay, when the open water is calm.
: Munising has some really wonderful people living
: in one of the nicest spots in the country. Most
: residents really care about their environment and
: their tourist guests. I hope a few don't spoil
: the good thing they've got going.
: I'm interested in hearing other's thoughts,
: whether they are in agreement or not.
: Ted Bruesch
Ted: Do you think you are the only one who wants to see the wreck?
One of our prime concerns on the wreck of the Burmuda is prop wash. We always make
sure that we do not wash the wreck. During our drifts our props are off the wreck totally.
our boat the Miss Munising is 55 feet long and where our viewing wells are located you
could not see the wreck through the wells if our props were over the wreck. We have
also installed bow thrusters on the Miss Munising to give us more control over the wreck.
All of our captains are divers and dive the wrecks that we show on the boat. We also
have been operating a dive charter service here in Munising for over 20 years.
Railing..... The port rail has been down for at least 20 years, long before I started the
glass bottom boat tour. Check the drawing in the submerged cultural resources study ,
Pictured Rocks national lakeshore, C. Patrick Labadie, author. Written in 1989.
One of our other concerns is user conflicts.
......... We have designed our schedule so that there are 3 hr windows between trips for
divers to enjoy the wreck. We do not tell divers they have to be off the wreck, we ask
them to allow us on the wreck for 10 min. every 3 hrs. 99 % of the time we get complete
cooperation. We even comp air if we disturb someone's dive./
Being divers and licensed captains we have approached dive boats ,with a proper lookout
and at bare steerage speed to see what the status is in their dive. We do this with Polaroid
glasses on and know where you are under water.
visibility.. Vis is no different today than it was before the glass bottom boat tour. Think
about it , how could we run our tour if we couldn't see. During my dive charters I take
out 18 divers at a time and if you are on the wreck the vis goes real fast. 1/2 hour later
the glass bottom boat comes over and the vis is back to normal. We have dove the wreck
directly after the boat goes over and there is no change, no prop wash and no reduced vis.
Munising is still the best place for beginning wreck diving. Ask your self this. Who
makes there living on Munising Shipwrecks? Who is more concerned about preserving
the wrecks. Who buoys the wrecks. I take aprox 400 divers a year to the Burmuda and I
also take about 15,000 people out on the glass bottom boat. Do you think I would let
anyone harm the wreck of the Bermuda?