Posted by Steve Harrington on August 14, 19100 at 23:51:47:
In Reply to: Re: NO Wreck Damage by Glass Bottom Boat posted by Peter Lindquist on August 14, 19100 at 15:26:15:
:
: : 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?
Ted: Just so you know, the alpha flag is not a legal dive flag in Michigan waters. Many are confused on this point. For legal dive flag dimensions and configurations, consult Divers Guide to Michigan, 2nd edition.