by Jared » May 11, 2025, 9:59 pm
Yes, the pilothouse is easily accessible. There's not much in there. The radar platform, steering station, and gyro compass I assume are the only things that are still bolted to the floor. There's some debris that's on the roof of the interior pilothouse as the Texas above but it's unremarkable debris. Things like the log books and chart table were recovered in the 60s and the wheel and bits during the 70s when there were no protections (though the wreck is still owned).
I don't know how the bow of the wreck came to rest nearly upside-down while the stern landed squarely on her side. The impact from the Topdalsfjord significantly altered the strength of the hull so it's possible that the Cedarville was about to turtle when her bow struck the bottom first and stopped the roll. But in doing so, the collision site allowed the stern to partially break away while the bow almost landed upside-down.
The stern's deepest point is about 115' at the mud. You don't need to add helium at this point unless you as a diver know that you are very suseptible to nitrogen narcosis. In fact, most divers would prefer a simple blended nitrox to stave off decompression as most of the wreck can be visited at 70-80'.
As for my favorite wreck. Probably the Hydrus followed by the Jane Miller in Georgian Bay. The Hydrus is a prime example of a 400' turret designed wreck and it's pristine condition offered up the last hours of her sinking despite the loss of the entire crew. The Jane Miller is a very rare example of early pioneers on the Canadian side of the lake, and the abundance of cargo and it's different type of it tell a very unique tragedy about the early 1880s in the region.
There's another wreck we identified last year after 30 years from it's initial discovery called the C.R. Truax. It was just a small scow schooner built in the late 1870s. She sank with 2 people people aboard in the 1890s and they were never found. She was carry apples and farm goods on Halloween which is a very dangerous time of year for such a small ship. Despite not being historically significant, there's a depth of local tragedy that has been lost over the past century. Two people trying to make ends meet took a very big chance and paid for it.
Yes, the pilothouse is easily accessible. There's not much in there. The radar platform, steering station, and gyro compass I assume are the only things that are still bolted to the floor. There's some debris that's on the roof of the interior pilothouse as the Texas above but it's unremarkable debris. Things like the log books and chart table were recovered in the 60s and the wheel and bits during the 70s when there were no protections (though the wreck is still owned).
I don't know how the bow of the wreck came to rest nearly upside-down while the stern landed squarely on her side. The impact from the Topdalsfjord significantly altered the strength of the hull so it's possible that the Cedarville was about to turtle when her bow struck the bottom first and stopped the roll. But in doing so, the collision site allowed the stern to partially break away while the bow almost landed upside-down.
The stern's deepest point is about 115' at the mud. You don't need to add helium at this point unless you as a diver know that you are very suseptible to nitrogen narcosis. In fact, most divers would prefer a simple blended nitrox to stave off decompression as most of the wreck can be visited at 70-80'.
As for my favorite wreck. Probably the Hydrus followed by the Jane Miller in Georgian Bay. The Hydrus is a prime example of a 400' turret designed wreck and it's pristine condition offered up the last hours of her sinking despite the loss of the entire crew. The Jane Miller is a very rare example of early pioneers on the Canadian side of the lake, and the abundance of cargo and it's different type of it tell a very unique tragedy about the early 1880s in the region.
There's another wreck we identified last year after 30 years from it's initial discovery called the C.R. Truax. It was just a small scow schooner built in the late 1870s. She sank with 2 people people aboard in the 1890s and they were never found. She was carry apples and farm goods on Halloween which is a very dangerous time of year for such a small ship. Despite not being historically significant, there's a depth of local tragedy that has been lost over the past century. Two people trying to make ends meet took a very big chance and paid for it.