Lake Ontario Shipwreck - Unidentified Schooner

Diving The Wreck

After a long decent the ROV landed on the bottom and slowly approached the wreck site.  The first part of the wreck to come into view was the ship's bow sprit projecting into the darkness with broken cables hanging from it.  As the ROV moved around the bow sprit it quickly became evident that the ROVs tether was tangled in the masts, limiting the ROVs movements on the bottom.  Dan drove the ROV up to the top of the masts while Chris pulled in the slack until the ROV was free to move about the wreck again.  The 2 standing masts are in very good condition.  Lots of pulley blocks still hang in place from the masts making for some great pictures. 

Flying aft the schooner's cabin came into view.  The cabin is still standing but a bit worse for ware.  The forward and aft walls of the cabin have fallen over with time or were blown out by the air pressure as the ship slipped beneath the waves.  Behind the cabin on the aft deck are the ship's wheel and steering gear still standing in place.  Another interesting sight is the ships yawl which is resting on the bottom just behind the ship.  No doubt it fell from the davits when the ropes used to secure it rotted away.

On the midship deck the two cargo holds lie open with cables and debris scattered all around.  A layer of mud lies on top of the any cargo obscuring the view from the ROVs cameras.