Spring is best time to check out shipwrecks in Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan has several submerged shipwrecks that are in ideal waters for divers.
This spring, conditions are close to perfect for studying the lake's maritime past.\
Most Great Lakes shipwrecks have taken place in October and November, as winter winds began to settle in. But springtime offers some of the best water clarity to go underwater to view them.
"You swim back in history and you look at the ship and you imagine people walking on the decks doing their work," said Capt. Jitka Hanakova of Shipwreck Explorers. "This wreck (sank) in 1929. They knew they were in a bad storm. Probably 20-footers, 30-footers."
The 218-foot car ferry Milwaukee sits 120 feet below the surface, four miles from shore.
"Fifty-two people died on this wreck," Hanakova said.
Hanakova said that unlike salt water, Lake Michigan's fresh water is perfect for preserving history. Spring's cool water temperatures help keep visibility high, perfect for diver Rick Richter and his passion for nautical history.
"The car ferries were almost indestructible," he said. "The captain of this one, Capt. Heavyweather McKay, felt that he could go out in anything. They got a little ways away and tried to turn around, then the lake took them."
Another fascinating story is the Appomattox. She sank in 1905 and is still visible just below the waterline just off Atwater Beach near Shorewood.
"There is no place in the world that you can see these ships anymore," Richter said. "It's like swimming through a museum."
There are hundreds of shipwrecks at the bottom of Lake Michigan.