As if there were not enough to keep track of while diving - air, depth, buddies, equipment and environment - nine area divers are taking it to the next level.
Attending this weekend's Avocational Underwater Archaeology and Maritime Historical Research workshop, they immersed themselves in the basics of historical wreck diving. The divers retrained their perception skills and learned the basic tools needed to record, sketch, measure and document underwater objects, usually shipwrecks. Working both in a pool and in West Grand Traverse Bay, they tried out their new skills during dives on Saturday and Sunday.
"I like artifacts and shipwrecks, I like digging stuff up and finding stuff," enthused Carolyn Ebbinghaus of Traverse City, a diver for 23 years.
Already an amateur archeologist, Ebbinghaus spent the past two summers digging up dinosaur bones with a team from the University of North Dakota. She is eager to combine her two passions by mastering underwater archeology and research.
"It's definitely more difficult underwater and your sketches are not as precise," she noted. "We learn that, too, that you can't do an exact measurement because there's currents and sway and other divers you might bump into." After completing a second one-day session later this year or early next year, these divers will have completed Level 1 certification with the Nautical Archeological Society (NAS) based in the United Kingdom. There are three more levels of certification if they choose to pursue it the training further. NAS certification allows divers to work as a volunteer on historical sites.
The Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve organization hosted the workshop, with help from partners including the Civic Center, Northwestern Michigan College, the Les and Ann Biederman Community Foundation and Scuba North. Gail Vander Stoep, an assistant professor at Michigan State University, led the workshop, aided by three other instructors with experience in historical research, diving or NAS certification.
Launching the workshop Friday night, Vander Stoep guided the students in classroom lectures and exercises most of Saturday. The group then dove at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center's pool to put what they had learned into practice. Vander Stoep and her diving assistants set up a faux shipwreck in the deep end and also sprinkled odd objects around for divers to sketch, measure and assess.
She also stressed the basic safety issues found with any dive, historical or recreational: planning, buddies, communication, equipment checks and diving the plan.
"To do work underwater you need to be very organized and you need to have clear, very specific plans," said Vander Stoep, a veteran diver who obtained NAS certification to teach in 2003. "You learn to look at wrecks in an entirely different way." Sunday, the divers gathered at Elmwood Township Park to dive a wreck informally known as "The Elmwood." Although all the local divers had been there many times before, they approached it with a fresh eye and a plan to measure, assess, sketch and monitor the wreckage field.
"We dove first to reconnoiter, assess the situation and then came up to debrief," said Ebbinghaus. "We made a plan and gave assignments: this is what you're going to do, don't vary from the norm. But things happen: we dropped our tape measure in the bow." Rob Houston of Traverse City has been diving for 13 years and signed up for the course planning to one day volunteer at wreck sites and, he hopes, the future local underwater preserve. An avid diver, he takes just about every course he can but this one was near to his heart.
"I've grown particularly interested in shipwreck diving and learning more about our maritime history here," he said.
For more information on the proposed Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve, see their website at www.gtbup.org.