Lake Ontario - E Zee CRUZ'N Houseboat Wreck

A Small Target

In the summer of 2012 Dan Scoville and Chris Koberstein were searching the bottom of Lake Ontario off Oswego, NY with a side scan sonar when a small but hard target rolled down the sonar screen.  This was not the 1st small target the pair had found on the trip.  In fact, it was one of a number of small targets that had broken the monotony of the long search.  The small target was added to the list and the primary search continued.  

 

A few days later Dan and Chris decided to go back and take closer look at the target.  Out of all the small targets on the list this was one of the best in terms of definition.  It was obviously a boat of some sort and looked to be mostly intact.  Dan readied the ROV while Chris anchored the boat in deep water.   They would soon find out just what was on the bottom of Lake Ontario in this remote location.  

 

Once on the bottom the ROV made a short transit from its landing place to the wreck site where a large intact house boat slowly came into view.  This houseboat was in very good condition and was not covered with Zebra Mussels.  This told Dan and Chris that the boat must have gone down relatively recently.  The boats name, E Zee CRUZ'N, was plainly visible on the stern of the wreck.  The windows were all intact and a few of them were open.  A BBQ was mounted on the stern rail and one of the covers on the aft deck was open giving a view of a storage compartment and the boat's single engine.  Along the starboard side of the wreck the pilot’s door was open.  Inside the pilot house debris lies about the deck.  Some of this debris probably broke loose as the boat sank to the bottom of Lake Ontario.   

 

Piloting the ROV to the front of the wreck a number of registration stickers were found stuck to the front window.  The latest date on the registration stickers was 2003 giving Dan a starting place to search for the houseboats history.