Day 15: The end is near
(September 12, 2004)
Russ finishes his section
A dense fog settled over Door County overnight, covering the peninsula throughout the day. Although conditions topside were rather dreary, conditions on site were excellent. Calm seas, warm water, and good visibility allowed the crew to make two long dives today, each dive team member spending nearly four hours underwater. All sections of the wrecksite are now measured and sketched, with only a few small areas left to document.
The baseline and frames
The wrecksite is divided into 20-foot sections by a baseline. The baseline is a 1/8 inch steel cable that runs over the site approximately 2-3 feet off the bottom. Marked in 10-foot increments, the baseline is drawn as tight as possible to prevent any movement. When measuring and sketching wrecksite components all measurements are referenced to the baseline, which allows us to easily combine sections drawn by different divers into one complete map.
The site plan grows
Once again, we spent the evening transferring our data to paper, and the overall site plan is taking shape. Several large sections of the site have been drawn on the map, and the data is looking good. Tonight we hope to get the entire wrecksite drawn to the map, allowing us to double check any possible errors on tomorrow’s dives.
