Skip to main content

 Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society

Dedicated to Preserving our Shipwrecks and Maritime History
"From Prevention to Preservation"



HomeS.P. Ely Documentation & Youth Group Intro Project 2017



S.P. Ely 2017 Documentation - Youth Group Intro to Shipwreck Diving Project


This annual Ely documentation Project is where the GLSPS also invites youth groups such as the Boy Scouts of America (BSA Venture Crew 820) to experience shipwreck diving.






BSA Youth Group Dive Briefing Before the Dive on the S.P. Ely



Splash Down for the BSA Youth Group Dive Team



One of the Main Attractions for the Youth on the S.P. Ely is the Winch


For more Details and to Register for the Project, please click on Link Below

S.P. Ely Documentation And Youth Group Intro To Shipwreck Diving - 8/19/2017











S.P. Ely 2017 Documentation - Youth Group Intro to Shipwreck Diving Project
Original Announcement and Description of Project

Please Register for the Project id Interested!

This annual Ely documentation Project is where the GLSPS also invites youth groups such as the Boy Scouts of America (BSA Venture Crew 820) to experience shipwreck diving.

A slight fee up to a maximum of  $25.00 per person will cover the split expenses for food we provide aboard the RV Preservation. Cost is dependent on number of meals eaten supplied buy GLSPS.

 
We will bring the RV Preservation From Silver Bay to Two Harbors early Saturday morning.  Two GLSPS members/divers to assist with bringing the boat down Saturday and back Sunday afternoon. Up to six divers are welcome to stay and or sleep on the Preservation Friday and Saturday evenings.  As always schedule is dependent on lake conditions to bring the boat down.

We will be meeting divers and support at the Two Harbors boat launch at 10:00 AM Saturday morning.  Load equipment and cruise over to the break wall approximately one mile away in Agate Bay.  The boat will be tied off next to the S.P. Ely shipwreck. 


We will be diving most of the day and break for lunch between 12:00 and 1:00 PM,  returning  to diving when all divers have been feed and all tanks filled or exchanged.

The second dive will commence one hour after we have lunch. The youth group will be able to explore the shipwreck (under the supervision of their own DM's and supervisors.

We will be done diving about 4:00 PM and departing from the break wall about 5:00 PM to transport the youth group back to the Two Harbors boat launch / dock to unload dive and other equipment.

Sunday is scheduled for GLSPS only. Members are welcome to dive Sunday only if they prefer, with only a small charge for food. ($12.00). We will pick you up at the Two Harbors boat launch dock about 9 am.


During the Project, the main GLSPS Members will be documenting the condition of the S.P. Ely and practice their still photo and Video process to help in documenting the shipwreck for deterioration. 


After the photos and videos are edited and reviewed, a GLSPS President appointed stabilization committee will decide on if and when we will be performing any stabilization on the shipwreck.

If you would like to enjoy an easy shipwreck scuba dive and help the GLSPS document the S.P. Ely and help show a youth diver a really cool shipwreck to cultivate a young persons interest and possibly create an interest in preserving maritime history, please register yourself or, contact us to register your youth group of certified divers to join us in a learning experience like no other!!

If you are participating in this project, please print, read, sign and turn the form into the GLSPS Representative aboard the RV Preservation.  Please do this in advance, preferably at home in order for you to properly read through the entirety of the forms, and to help speed up the process.  The boat can't leave the dock until all forms are signed, turned in and reviewed.



Thank you for your interest in joining the GLSPS for another great Project.


Please Note:  The GLSPS has the right to postpone or cancel this project at anytime for any reason.


Hope to see you on the this project or a future project.

Dean Soderbeck
GLSPS Board Of Director 2nd Vice President
Project Leader
deansoderbeck@yahoo.com
651-216-8596
651-483-8596


Tim Pranke
RV Preservation Captain
dirttrackin2001@yahoo.com
651-395-9451 




S.P. Ely Documentation & Intro to Shipwreck Diving with BSA Venture Crew 820

August 19, 20, 2017

Closing Report


              S.P. Ely Shipwreck Dive Two Harbors, Minnesota                                                                                                                                 

Saturday August 19, wreck dive Samuel P. Ely - aboard GLSPS research vessel in Two Harbors.

S.P.Ely 2017 Documentation - Youth Group Intro Project

 

As soon as the RV Preservation pulled up to the boat dock in Two Harbors on 19 August, Captain Tim Pranke urged the BSA Venture Scouts Scuba Crew 820 to hurry in loading their dive equipment. An iron ore ship was about to depart and its large propellers would stir up the ore dust off the bottom of Agate Bay, greatly reducing water clarity near the wreck the crew was about to dive, the S.P. Ely.

The RV Preservation was crowded with 3 Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society (GLSPS) and the 11 Venture Scout divers with all their equipment and 24 air tanks, but it was a short trip to the dive site just across the bay.

 

                                                                                                

 

 

This was the fifth trip the Venture Crew partnered with the GLSPS to dive the Samuel P. Ely in Two Harbors. The goal of this joint adventure is to set up a legacy for future generations to preserve Lake Superior’s shipwrecks; diving on shipwrecks allows the scouts to touch a ship more than a century old and connect with history. It makes history real.    

To see more details about the "BSA Into to Shipwreck Diving", please see "2017 Fall Newsletter"  Here is the link to the Newsletter -  2017 Fall Newsletter


Please Note:  You can only see the Newsletter if you are a Current GLSPS Member!  If you want to view this or any other current newsletters, we invite you to join the GLSPS as a member clicking on the side menu "Join as a Member"