Coming up!
The bass are chasing the perch on a shipwreck in Lake Champlain!
Join the Blue World team on a fascinating dive into history!
Welcome to Jonathan Bird’s Blue World!
Lake Champlain, comprising almost 500 square miles, is the 13th largest lake in the United
States.
It’s a boater’s paradise.
But the lake is large enough that storms have sunk hundreds of vessels over the years…
…making it a popular scuba diving destination too.
Lake Champlain spans the border between Vermont and New York state, and stretches up into
Canada.
In colonial times, the lake was used as a “water highway” between the Saint Lawrence
and Hudson valleys.
But because it also provided direct access from British-controlled Canada, it was of
strategic importance to colonial America, both to defend borders and for trade.
As the area became more settled, a certain type of vessel called a Canal Schooner became
the standard for hauling cargo to the area.
Today I’m heading to beautiful Burlington Vermont with Zach-of-all-Trades, Cameraman
Zach, and Annalise, our new assistant diver.
We arrive at Waterfront Diving Center, the local dive experts.
And apparently we’re early.
Eventually owner Jonathan Eddy lets us in, and we meet our divemaster, Shelagh Cooley.
Next, we unpack all our gear.
It’s not a huge boat, so it’s easier to set up our gear at the shop.
The boat is a few hundred meters away, so we load our gear in the shop truck.
Of course there is always some paperwork.
And then it’s time for a dive briefing on today’s adventure.
Right so two dives is the plan.
The O.J Walker and the General Butler.
These are historical sailing canal barge boats….
Then we don our drysuits and walk on down to the boat.
Shelagh brings the gear.
At the waterfront, Captain Larry has brought what looks like a world war two landing craft
right up on the boat ramp.
This comfortable vessel will be our diving platform for the next 3 days.
It’s a bit overcast and windy, but the breakwater protects the marina from the lake waves.
Outside of the breakwater, waves are crashing on the bow and splashing us, so it’s time
to finish suiting up.
Oh yeah, I’m so fashionable!
With the landing craft-style front gate down, it’s an easy giant stride entry.
Or something like that.
Like most lakes, Champlain is not exactly known for crystal clear water, but during
the summer, the surface is quite warm.
It’s over 70 degrees and I’m wondering why I brought a drysuit.
But sixty five feet down at the mooring, it’s quite a bit colder –45 degrees--and I’m
glad for the drysuit.
We follow the guideline from the mooring to the wreck of the O.J. Walker.
The O.J. Walker is a historically significant wreck that is part of the Lake Champlain Underwater
Historic Preserve.
The wreck is covered in Zebra mussels.
These invasive mollusks coat much of the wreck including the bow.
There’s a deadeye on the bow, shimmering in the thermocline.
There is also an anchor on the bow, a bit camouflaged in zebra mussels.
This canal boat sank during a severe storm in the spring of 1895.
So it doesn’t look too bad at all for a 125 year-old wooden vessel.
The holds are filled with a century’s worth of silt.
Swimming down the deck, we reach one of the masts, damaged, but still in place.
There is a sign reminding divers that as part of the Underwater Historic Preserve, divers
are not allowed to penetrate the wreck because it’s so fragile.
I’m swimming along a spectacular piece of American history as I make my way back to
the most famous part of the wreck.
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The ship’s wheel is still upright.
It’s missing a few pieces but still looks like it could steer the boat.
And the wheel was connected to the rudder, which is in good shape, planted into the mud.
The O.J. Walker had a working career of 33 years hauling heavy cargoes.
When she sank, she had a load of bricks and ceramics, which can still be seen on the wreck.
Supplies can be transported by water from New York city all the way to Lake Champlain
via a system of locks that connect Champlain to the Hudson River.
When a river has a large elevation change, the result is either a waterfall or a section
of rapids, neither of which is possible to navigate in a large boat.
To get around that, you can build a system of locks, which basically creates an elevator
for boats.
By controlling the water level in the locks, you can raise boats to sail upstream, or lower
them to sail downstream.
Between the Hudson River and Lake Champlain there are currently 13 different locks, each
with an elevation change of between 4 and 6 meters, allowing boats to make the journey.
Requiring very little power, in the 1800s this was by far the most efficient way to
move large quantities of materials to and from New York.
There is a practical limit on how large a lock can be, and that limit dictates the size
of the boat.
The original lock system was completed in 1823 and enlarged in 1862.
It could accommodate boats about 88 feet long and 14 feet wide, so that was how large the
canal boats were.
At the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, we check out the Lois McClure, a reproduction
of a period Canal Schooner.
Canal schooners were sail-rigged boats that could travel across the lake on wind power,
then lower the sails, pull up the centerboard and go through the locks being towed by horses
from shore.
Over the years, Canal Schooners developed a very specific design for this very specific
task.
And underwater on the wreck, we can see that design clearly.
There are windows in the stern.
This section of the boat was the crew quarters.
Like many canal vessels, it was both a work boat and home.
One of the OJ Walker’s captains lived on board with his family for over nine years.
After a 45 minute dive, it’s time to head back to the surface.
We ascend slowly and do a safety decompression stop, and it feels to good to rise back into
the warmth of the surface waters.
Back at the museum, we meet Chris Sabick, the Director of Archaeology and Research.
Even though the museum is closed during COVID, we get a private tour.
Inside we see an exhibit on the O.J. Walker.
We also see an exhibit on the next wreck we are going to dive, the General Butler.
This exhibit includes a large collection of artifacts from the wreck.
In the winter of 1876, a powerful storm hit the General Butler as the crew was attempting
to get her to the safety of the harbor.
The steering linkage broke and the wind blew the boat right into the breakwater, so close
to the harbor.
The captain and crew managed to jump off the boat on to the breakwater before she sank.
The next day, the weather has turned rainy but the wind is down.
We’re going to get wet anyway, so a little rain won’t hurt us!
We sink down the mooring line to only 40 feet, because the General Butler is so shallow,
right off the breakwater.
The wreck is also part of the Historic Preserve.
Being so shallow, the zebra mussels are even more numerous in the warm water.
But the fish seem to love the warm shallow water too.
There’s a huge school of perch.
Shelagh shows me the giant hole in the hull where the boat hit the breakwater.
As a classic Canal Schooner, the Butler has the same basic stern design as the O.J. Walker.
As Shelagh and
I head back towards the bow, we’re surrounded by fish.
And while it’s not unusual to see large numbers of fish aggregate around wrecks in
the ocean, I can’t remember ever seeing this many fish on a freshwater wreck.
The perch are being chased by bass.
Hey you guys!
This is a historical wreck, you’re not allowed to go in there!
Finally Shelagh leads us back to the morning line to head back to the boat.
Diving the Canal Schooners of Lake Champlain was great fun, and a fascinating look into
American history.
I never expected diving in a lake to offer so much excitement.
There are dozens of wrecks in Lake Champlain, and we filmed several of them!
So stay tuned for more Lake Champlain adventures in the Blue World.
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