Go diving into caves

[eric myers 2]

Way to make the news guys!



KSTP.com - 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS
Go diving into caves 
Updated: 10/08/2005 11:23:13 AM - [ VIDEO ]

The 436-foot ship Madeira was being towed across Lake Superior on November 28, 1905, when the worst storm in history struck. The tug crew cast the hulk adrift and she was thrown on the rocks of the North Shore, and she lies there to this day in about a 100-feet of icy cold water.

This shipwreck has become one of the most popular dive sites in the Great Lakes for experienced divers like Lisa Dau.

"It's so quiet and peaceful and it's so beautiful down there. It's like the whole world just disappears for 20 minutes or 30 minutes," said diver Lisa Dau.

John Kowalczyk from Duluth, Minnesota is a novice at this kind of diving.

"I'd much rather be a Caribbean diver where we have to wear ten pounds of weight and wear a bathing suit," said diver John Kawalczyk.


"That's my style of diving. But I want to do shipwrecks, too. This is the price we pay," Kawalszyk said.

These recreational divers have come to this little cove just north of the famous Split Rock Lighthouse to visit an underwater site that is within easy reach of the shore.

But it's not so simple.

Diving in this lake requires lots of complicated and expensive equipment. You have to be a certified diver and a dry suit, tanks, and safety gear costs at least $3,000.

But for these enthusiasts it's well worth it.

"Doing something different. Seeing things that people don't typically see," said diver Dan Lewandowski.

Most people will never see the wreck with their own eyes this water is cold.

"When we get down there sometimes it's 37, 38 degrees. And that can be pretty intimidating for even advanced divers who haven't been in that cold water before," said instructor Darin Brommer.

"The first time I saw this shipwreck it took my breath away," said underwater photographer Eric Anderson.


Anderson and Richard Dreher are underwater filmmakers who sometimes risk their lives to bring back incredible videotape that we all can share.

"We'll do a close up shot first then. Yeah, we'll have two divers come through with scooter through the hull and then turn around the stern," Anderson said. "The thing that digital video and some of these compact cameras have done for us is to allow us to shoot tougher stuff easier."

Even wondrous pictures of water-filled caves where the openings are so narrow that the divers cannot wear their scuba tanks on their backs.

"The size of the gear let's us get into say like caves like we do down in the south United States or even some right here in the Midwest," Anderson said. "Very, very narrow a bigger camera just wouldn't make it. In fact, even if you had the option for a bigger camera, nicer gear sometimes you have to go with the small stuff. We've got helmet cams because sometimes in caves so tight, you can't hold your arms out much less hold a camera to get a shot."

That kind of diving is for experts only but the Madeira is just below the surface of Lake Superior for anyone who wants to learn how to use scuba gear.

"You have to know what you are doing and what to look for. And make sure that you are not getting in, pardon the pun, over your head," Anderson said.

"When you see those big pieces of steel scattered about the bottom. Big eye beams that are just kind of twisted and you can image the force that's required to do that," Lewandowski said.

"You are basically coming across the wreck and not realizing how close you are to it. Then, all of a sudden, this big piece of metal will just appear into the shadows and the whole thing will come into view for you. It's a pretty amazing feeling," said instructor Brommer.