Diving Winnipesaukee ~ Interesting Sites

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Dive Sites of Lake Winnipesaukee (http://aquaticspecialties.net/divesites.html)

Diamond Island - Site of the Navy's underwater laser testing sight dating back into the 1950s. SCRIPTS conducted testing to study laser transmission through water. The site is on the northwest side of the island. A railcar that ran on a track, like a coal-mining rail, was used to measure how fast the laser beams were traveling through water. The track is in about 25 feet of water with staging in deeper water. There is also a relatively newer boat sunk on the north east side of the island. The wreck is called Empty Pockets and is in very good shape. - Is this the site that was found last year?

Shore and Boat Diving on Winnipesaukee (http://www.dtmag.com/dive-usa/LakeWinnipesaukeeNH.html)

[Grant]

[QUOTE=Rattlesnake Gal]Dive Sites of Lake Winnipesaukee (http://aquaticspecialties.net/divesites.html)

There is also a relatively newer boat sunk on the north east side of the island. The wreck is called Empty Pockets and is in very good shape. - Is this the site that was found last year?


Nope -- while "Empty Pockets" is a relatively new find, it's been known for a few years. I've been on a few dives at the site, and done one there with the guy who originally found the cabin cruiser. Dove it with the forum's Senter Cove Guy last year (after failing to find it on a DWC charter). The transom name plate had been removed. Some say it's an "insurance job." Lies in about 54 feet of water -- not on the northern side, but on the southwest side. A very interesting dive site on that side of the island.

[glennsteely]

I am looking for info on two sites that I have heard about. What is sunk at the Witches? Is there a boat out there? Also is there a train wreck or something that slid off the side of the hill on the weirs side of Meredith bay? Please advise....Thanks.

[Grant]

There was a train derailment many years ago, and the wreck is still there. The forum poster known as Winnipesaukee Divers can give some first-hand information -- something was posted here within the past two years, as I had inquired about the wreck. Seems there's not much left -- lots and lots of rusty metal. I seem to remember that it didn't sound like much of a dive.

Re: The Witches -- No idea. Never dove there, and haven't seen it listed among the popular dive sites on the Lake. That being said, there are plenty of great sites that aren't on those lists -- just depends what you like. Give me some old bottles and some big rocks, and I'm a happy guy. :D

[glennsteely]

.....that was sunk on the witches. I had heard, from divers, that it was one of the Mounts. I have read several books about The Mounts and early boats on the lake and they make no mention of any one sinking on the witches.....anyone know anything about it?

[Grant]

Well, one of the Mounts is still floating (last time I checked Anchor cam), and the other was scuttled and scattered in the Broads. Last September ('03), Tom from DWC and some gents with side-scan sonar found a debris field, and brought up a chunk of what is believed to be the original Mount.

There probably are some wrecks around the witches, but I can't say, as I haven't had the pleasure of diving there, but whatever's there isn't the Mount.

Paging WD...paging WD...any insights?

[glennsteely]

Didnt one of the mounts burn and sink in alton bay?

[Rattlesnake Gal]

On the night of December 22, 1939, a fire broke out in the railroad station at The Weirs. It spread down the ramp to the ship, which was berthed there for the winter. Efforts were made to cut her lose, but she was stuck fast in the mud due to the low lake level. The Mount was completely destroyed as well as the boardwalk and train station. :emb:

[Grant]

Didnt one of the mounts burn and sink in alton bay?

Weirs -- during the winter. They took the remnants out and reportedly blasted them to break them up into smaller pieces, and sunk them. If you'd like to see the chunk that Tom from DWC brought up, it was on the boat dock behind the shop. Nothing recognizable, of course.

[Senter Cove Guy]

Here's the article from the Weirs Times regarding possible remnants of the original Mt. Washington.

[Winnipesaukee Divers]

That old phrase comes to mind; "Been there, done that and have the tee shirt with the stains on it to prove it" come to mind when I read your posts. Actually, dive buddy Cliff (the original owner of the Wolfeboro Dive store) and I found the wreck of the Mt. Washington just west of Eagle Island years ago, it's in 80' of depth, sunk in the mud with just the keel, main beams and old rusted boiler parts are all that's left of it. It's very cold and dark down there and we never wanted to return back there due to the mud (some things are better left for the imagination).

As for the wreck of "Empty Pockets"... Dive Buddy Ray Dezeniso and I originally found it and reported it to the Dive Shop, whose divers found it on the next trip out there. Personally, I could care less who was the first... however; it was a big deal for Ray, since it was his first big find. When we found it, it was fully intact. However, since that time Ray and I have found numerous sites of historical interest on the lake and Empty Pockets isn’t as important as it once was.

You have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone, if you want discover the real treasures of the lake.

Here are a few easy-interesting sites for you to find:
* The mid-channel marker between Sewall point and Hopewell point 30'
* The horse barge off Little Barndoor Is. 65'
* The old log truck off the entrance to Midge cove 63'
* The steamboat off the south side of Sandy Is. 35'
* The Cabin Cruiser in Wolfeboro bay (half way between the outside marker of WCYC mooring field and Persnickety boathouse at Brewster) 40'
* Of course "The one horse open slay" just east of Goodhew's 65'
Happy hunting.


BTW: I can’t believe no one has found the old car off Clark point yet… After all, it is the training site for the advance open water divers, isn’t it? They must be too wrapped up in the training to go exploring.

[tis]

Winni Divers, I always wondered why they always seemed to be diving off Clark Point. Now I know it is a training site. Thank you.

[SunsetPointWentworth]

The old car off Clarks Point... Center Cove Guy, that's not the car that you found, is it? Your old car was Haileys Point, correct?

[Senter Cove Guy]

The old car off Clarks Point... Center Cove Guy, that's not the car that you found, is it? Your old car was Haileys Point, correct?

Correct. The car I found is off Haley's Point. I've never seen an old car off of Clark Point.

[Aqua-andy]

That old phrase comes to mind; "Been there, done that and have the tee shirt with the stains on it to prove it" come to mind when I read your posts. Actually, dive buddy Cliff (the original owner of the Wolfeboro Dive store) and I found the wreck of the Mt. Washington just west of Eagle Island years ago, it's in 80' of depth, sunk in the mud with just the keel, main beams and old rusted boiler parts are all that's left of it. It's very cold and dark down there and we never wanted to return back there due to the mud (some things are better left for the imagination).

As for the wreck of "Empty Pockets"... Dive Buddy Ray Dezeniso and I originally found it and reported it to the Dive Shop, whose divers found it on the next trip out there. Personally, I could care less who was the first... however; it was a big deal for Ray, since it was his first big find. When we found it, it was fully intact. However, since that time Ray and I have found numerous sites of historical interest on the lake and Empty Pockets isn’t as important as it once was.

You have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone, if you want discover the real treasures of the lake.

Here are a few easy-interesting sites for you to find:
* The mid-channel marker between Sewall point and Hopewell point 30'
* The horse barge off Little Barndoor Is. 65'
* The old log truck off the entrance to Midge cove 63'
* The steamboat off the south side of Sandy Is. 35'
* The Cabin Cruiser in Wolfeboro bay (half way between the outside marker of WCYC mooring field and Persnickety boathouse at Brewster) 40'
* Of course "The one horse open slay" just east of Goodhew's 65'
Happy hunting.


BTW: I can’t believe no one has found the old car off Clark point yet… After all, it is the training site for the advance open water divers, isn’t it? They must be too wrapped up in the training to go exploring.

I don't suppose you would divulge some numbers to put us on these wrecks? I wish I had the money to invest in equipment to find this stuff but until then I will have to rely on the good graces of others:(.