NORTH SHORE TRIPS
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Come on up and enjoy our two day live aboard dive trips on the RLT Diver III at Silver Bay Minnesota on the North shore. You will have a great time diving on 4 different wrecks around the area, the Ely, the Hesper, the Madeira, and the Just for fun.
The Just for fun is setting in just 30 foot of water at Beaver Bay not far from Silver Bay. Just for fun was an abandoned hull given to the GLSPS for the purpose of sinking it for an easy dive site for the beginner or the advanced diver alike.
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The Ely is a 200-ft Schooner; its full name is the Samuel P. Ely. In 1896 of October a storm blew the Ely barge from the Hesper and smashed it into the breakwater of Two Harbors. It broke up and sank next to the breakwater where it remains today.The Samuel P. Ely was a single-decked, three-masted schooner built at the J.P. Clark Shipyards near Detroit, Mich. It was placed in the iron-ore trade as soon as it was fitted for sea. The Ely is historically significantfor its associations with Two Harbors and Minnesota's iron-ore trade. The Ely is also significant because of its exceptional structural integrity. The remains of the Ely were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
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The Hesper is just north of the breakwater at Silver Bay marina, and is accessible from shore. One interesting point to the wreck is the huge rudder setting just north of the mooring line. The Hesper was a wooden-hulled, single propeller, triple-masted, freight-carrying steamship which towed schooner-barges. It was launched at the Ship Owners Dry Dock Company at the Radcliffe Yard in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 28, 1890. The Hesper is historically significant for its association with the Great Lakes iron-ore industry, as well as Minnesota's grain trade. The well preserved remains of the Hesper embody the bulk freight steamer and are representative of the naval type, a hybrid which is unique to the Great Lakes. Although somewhat disarticulated, the remains can yield specific data relative to construction methods and materials for this important Great Lakes vessel type. The remains of the Hesper were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
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The wreck of the Madeira is the most popular dive site on the north shore; it sets just across from the Split Rock Lighthouse. There is a debris field in the shadows above the stern with the wheelhouse setting in 80 ft of water in the other direction. There are also plenty of opportunities to maybe even find one of them famous Lake Superior agates on one of your dives. The Madeira was built and launched at the Chicago Yard of the Chicago Shipbuilding Company in 1900. It had a plate keel and was shaped very flat and full to maximize cargo capacity with minimum draft. The vessel was built to carry bulk cargoes of grain, lumber or iron ore economically about the Great Lakes and on the coasts, under tow of a steam powered freighter. The shipwreck Madeira is historically significant as the best and one of the few known surviving examples of a schooner-barge. Though the Madeira was lost in a violent storm and is broken into numerous pieces scattered about the lake bottom, the major diagnostic elements of the hull are relatively intact. The Madeira's value is enhanced by its relationship to Split Rock Lighthouse, which was built partially because of the Madeira's loss. The remains of the Madeira were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.