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Rachel Carson Scuba Corps

Associations Organisation Scuba Diving (English)

Service:
  • Accommodation for Divers
  • Vacation Holiday Scuba Diving
  • Wreck Diving
Company description Let`s face it -- sometimes you just want to get in the water without spending a lot of time, effort and $$ getting there. The Rachel Carson Scuba Corps, an Illinois not-for-profit organization has the answer: DIVE LAKE MICHIGAN!
Instead of spending our time planning exotic dive vacations, we get involved in ecological and other projects with government agencies and private organizations. So if you live in the Chicago area and want to get involved in projects like the Rachel Carson Scuba Park, harbor cleanups and other projects of environmental or even historical significance, let us know.
The Rachel Carson Scuba Park offers an easy dive for beginners and experienced divers alike. The main attraction of the park is a World War II era TBF Avenger Torpedo Bomber that crashed in the lake during a training mission in 1943. (Photo at left shows the cockpit; see below for engine photo). The pilot, who was attempting to land on either the Wolverine or the Sable, missed the flight deck and belly-flopped into the lake. He was rescued, but his plane sank in 40 feet of water about a mile and half northeast of the 68th Street pumping crib.
The RACHEL CARSON SCUBA PARK is intended as a scuba training faciliuty that is designed to provide ample bottom time for divers the work. Shaped like a hexagon, the crashed torpedo bomber, mentioned above, is at the center of the the six-sided park. The six points located around the bomber will include and archeological test site, a water quality visibility range, a couple of fish habitat test sites and several sunken boats. The current SCUBA PARK mission involves the repositioning of donated concrete pilings. One of the reasons that the torpedo bomber has suffered is because the local dive boats have inadvertently hit it with their anchors. A much better system would be to create an anchoring system visiting dive boats could use without colliding with the sunken artifacts positioned in the park. Several tests have been conducted which involve raising the heavy concrete pilings just a foot above the lake bed by using the surface of the water as the limiting factor involving as determining the extent of the lift. Check out the official SCUBA PARK map and instructions, including its location, in the following graphic as it was submitted to the Depasrtment of Natural Resources.
The latest improvement in the technical capabilty of THE RACHEL CARSON SCUBA CORPS is our brand-new drop camera system. One of the major problems in working in the SCUBA PARK is our inability to see what is in the park. Various technolgies are used to find things. GPS systems and LORAN-C navagating equipment is used to find the park. Then side scanning sonar, when it is available, has been used to show the location of the pilings relative to the position of the torpdo bomber at the center of the park.
The Rachel Carson Scuba Corps takes its name from the Research Vessel Rachel Carson, which was named after Rachel Louise Carson (1907-1964). Rachel Carson was an American marine biologist and highly acclaimed and prolific author on ecological themes. Her most popular book, ``Silent Spring`` (1962), questioned the use of chemical pesticides and awakened the world to the importance of preserving our delicate ecology. Born in Springdale, Penn., she attended the former Pennsylvania College for Women and John Hopkins University and taught zoology at the University of Maryland from 1931-36. She then accepted a position as an aquatic biologist with the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, now the Fish and Wildlife Service, where she worked until 1952. She wrote three books about the sea: ``Under the Sea Wind`` (1941), ``The Sea Around Us`` (1951), which won the 1952 National Book Award for nonfiction, and ``Edge of the Sea.`` All were praised for the beauty of the language and scientific accuracy.
Location description: Unless otherwise posted, all meetings are held at on the third Monday of each month at Connie`s Pizza, 26th & Archer, in Chicago, at 7:30 p.m. Members, prospective members and interested parties are welcome. Ask the host for the Scuba Corps. Please send us an e-mail if you are interested in attending or joining. See you there!
Dive Lake Michigan:
Tropical dive sites may be visually exciting for the vivid colors and wide variety of sea life, but those who are interested in maritime history will find thousands of exciting wrecks right here in the Midwest. And it won`t cost a bundle or a lot of time to get to them. Novice divers especially will appreciate the fact that there is a wreck near Evanston, Illinois, that they can swim to from a beach. The George Morley, a wood-hull freighter that sank in 1892, is a perfect wreck dive for beginners. It`s about 300 yards off shore and about 15 feet down. The ravages and parasitic sea life of the oceans would have left little or nothing of the Morley. The fresh water and lack of parasites in Lake Michigan were key factors in preserving most of the wooden beams and portions of the hull. Every spring, the Rachel Carson Scuba Corps puts an orange buoy on the Morley so divers can find her easily. The Morley is not far from a boat ramp, so we highly recommend dive flags due to the substantial motor boat traffic in this area. Divers should also remember to watch for windsurfers, lasers, hobie cats and other small boats. The operators of these craft usually are not familiar with the meaning of a dive flag.
Ever thought of taking your next dive trip to Wisconsin? There are plenty of wrecks around Milwaukee, Whitefish Bay and other areas. The steamer APPOMATTOX, for example is a prime example of a turn-of-the-century freight vessel. This wood-hulled steamer was built in 1896 at West Bay, Michigan, was 319 feet long, and served her owners uneventfully for only nine years. On November 2, 1906, she was hauling a load of coal when she became stranded on North Point at Atwater Beach (just north of Milwaukee). Heavy smoke blowing out from Milwaukee lowered visibility, and navigation became so difficult that two other ships also became stranded. These two were pulled free the next day, but the Appomattox suffered hull damage and was taking water in her cargo holds. The crew tried lightening the cargo load, but to no avail. She was finally abandoned as a total loss on November 7, and salvors gave up on the 13th. Only 150 yards off shore, the Appomattox is an easy dive. The wreck is about 15 to 20 deep and somewhat scattered. There is one large section more than 300 feet long. The boilers lie to the east of the main wreck.

Website: Preview http://www.serve.com/rcsc/ by Thumbshots.org http://www.serve.com/rcsc/
Not-for-profit organization involved in ecological and other projects with government agencies and private organizations. Information on wrecks to dive in Lake Michigan, zebra mussels, and membership.

Contact information:

Street Address:
2373 S. Archer Ave.
Chicago
Illinois
United States
Spoken language(s): English
Open: from 09-00 till 17-00
Local time:  GMT - 6 Mexico, Monterrey, Guadalajara
Note: No guarantee is made to the accuracy of these details.

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