Day 1: Lucerne
(July 29, 2004)
The crew arrived in Washburn on Wednesday evening accompanied by rain and thunderstorms, but by Thursday morning the sun was shining brightly. Departing Washburn Marina aboard the R/V Dawn Treader, the 8-mile run to the Lucerne was quick and scenic, skirting the western bluffs of Chequamegon Bay. Tying to the Lucerne’s mooring buoy, Long Island provided shelter from the southwest winds, with calm conditions on site. The Lucerne sank in 1886 in a violent gale on her last voyage of the season carrying a load of iron ore from Ashland to Cleveland (more Lucerne history)
Reviewing the dive plan.
After a briefing to review dive plans, Keith and Paul were the first to jump into the water, with Tami remaining topside to tend the boat. Conditions on the bottom were less than ideal, with visibility only 5 to 8 feet. Keith and Paul first swam the length of the Lucerne to quickly assess the site, and then began video surveying. Paul piloted an underwater “scooter”, towing Keith behind via a nylon strap. This allowed Keith to tend to operating the video camera while Paul concentrated on navigation. Paul’s job was to navigate straight lines along the length of the Lucerne at a consistent depth while Keith shot video. By scootering straight lines above the wreck adjacent to one another, overlapping “lanes” of video are taken. These lanes are then combined to produce a photo mosaic of the wreck site.
The
Lucerne's Bow
On the second dive a current came in from the northeast, bringing with it further reduced visibility. Despite the unfavorable conditions, the crew completed three dives on the
Lucerne, taking nearly three hours of video. Tonight we will work to put together some of the video lanes for the photo mosaic to see how the poor visibility affected our survey. Tomorrow the crew will head to the Sevona in search of clearer waters.
Reviewing still photos
Stay tuned to learn more about how these photo mosaics are produced.
