"She Died a Hard Death” -- The Sinking of the Hennepin, Valerie van Heest www.valerievanheest.com
On the surface, MSRA directors Jack and Valerie VanHeest could not wait until the divers' required decompression time had elapsed to hear the news. Looking around the boat and lacking a slate or message board, they wrote: Chicora  Hennepin  Other ...on a Styrofoam cup, attached a weight, and slid it down the descent line to the divers. When they retrieved it, the divers had placed a √ next to the Hennepin. At last, after nearly ten years of searching MSRA members had located the final resting place of the Hennepin!

Underwater Images International Photo and Video Contest Winners, Roger Roth www.uwimages.org
Be the first to see the winners of the 12th annual Underwater Images Photo/Video competition. All proceeds from this competition go to marine conservation, educational, and scholarship purposes.

HMS Ontario, Jim Kennard www.shipwreckworld.com
In the early evening hours of October 31, 1780, the British sloop of war HMS Ontario sank with over 120 men, women, children and prisoners on board during a sudden and violent gale. HMS Ontario is considered to be one of the few "Holy Grail" shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. For years many divers and shipwreck hunters have searched the lake for the Ontario without success. The most historic shipwreck yet to be discovered lay lost for 128 years before being located by Jim Kenard and Dan Scoville in 2008.

Morning In-depth Workshop: 8:30am until 12:00am

Shooting to Win - An Underwater Photo and Video Contest Primer
David Haas & Roger Roth www.haasimages.com www.uwimages.org
Shooting to Win will help you take and process photos and videos that will put you in the running to enter under water image contests and have a chance to win great prizes. No matter what type of system you have, this seminar will help you THINK before pulling the trigger. Plus tips on where the contests are, reading into the rules to be sure you're not disqualified, etc.

The Schooner Riverside, Kevin Magee www.greatlakeswrecks.info
The Riverside was a 137’ long x 25.8’ wide x 10.8’ deep three masted schooner that was caught in the terrible storm of 1893 while carrying a load of stone. It foundered with all seven crew lost. After resting for almost a hundred years on the bottom, the Riverside was found in the 1980’s by Leroy Meermans and Jerry Metzler, divers and searchers out of the Cleveland, OH, area. They kept its location secret. On October 6, 2007, Cleveland Underwater Explorers again located this intact wreck.

The Steamer Sun, Georgann and Mike Wachter www.eriewrecks.com
A great example of one of the oldest propeller driven steamers in the Great Lakes, the steamer Sun was built for freight service between Buffalo and Chicago. The Sun had been cut down to a Lumber Hooker by the time of her loss in a storm on Sunday, July 12, 1874. The crew set her consorts loose as the ship foundered 10 miles off Rondeau Bay in Ontario. All of the crew was picked up by a passing schooner. The Sun lay undisturbed for 134 years before being discovered by Mike and Georgann on August 10, 2008.

Newly Discover Deep Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario, Jim Kennard www.shipwreckworld.com
This presentation features a rare dagger board schooner discovered in over 500 feet of water off the southern shore of Lake Ontario using deep towed side scan sonar equipment. Sailing vessels of this type were in use on the lakes for only a short period of time beginning in the very early 1800’s. This ship is the only dagger board schooner known to have been found in the Great Lakes. Jim will also present two other new very deep shipwreck finds. Depths of these shipwrecks are from over 360 to almost 700 feet

The Schooner Hamilton, Valerie van Heest www.valerievanheest.com
The schooner Hamilton left Muskegon Wednesday morning at half past eight o’clock with a cargo of 117,000 feet of lumber bound for Chicago. After three or four hours sailing she was struck by heavy seas and sprung a leak, the men working the pumps until about three o’clock in the afternoon when they were obliged to take to the yawl, laying under the lee of the wreck until midnight, when the schooner rolled over and the seas drove the yawl from its position.

Vendor and Manufacturer Displays:
Our favorite vendors, manufacturers and dive shops will have their wares on display for everyone to peruse.  If you are interested in a table in the display room please contact Dean Ziegler.