Side Scan Sonar images

[Diver1111]

Hi all,
I recently installed Side Scan Sonar in my boat to help with me with both ocean and freshwater diving in general, plus some search work. I am trying to get to understand and use its huge array of features so I went out yesterday and today on Winni to scan targets I have dived before and know up close and personal what they look like underwater. It was interesting to see how they appeared in different scales, colors, frequencies and resolutions on the screen. I have attached screen shots of the Lady of the Lake and the horseboat off Bear. Sorry if its not snapshot clear but I'm getting there. The Lat/Long numbers are accurate.

Note that in both photos you will see shadows-electronic ones. This has to do with the angle of attack of the sonar wave. Shadows can in fact help determine height, among other things. I'm looking for a plane off Cape Cod and some other interesting things in the Conn. River-this is just the tool. Should be very interesting. Hope you like the images!

[Airwaves]

Those are amazing! I'm afraid to ask what it set you back or where you got it!

[Orion]

Excellent! I'm jealous as all heck!

Would like to see images of underwater sound lab near Diamond.

[Senter Cove Guy]

DIVER1111

Here's an archive link to Bob's original post.
http://www.winnipesaukee.com/oldforu...mes;read=59146

At one time he posted info that the "find" was in around 88 feet and I think he said it was on the NE side of Diamond.

What are the chances of you doing a scan for this "thing"?

[Mee-n-Mac]

One day whilst nursing a brew or 5, I thought about making a simple side scan sonar for cheap $$. There are even websites and forums that detail how to do it ... and people have done it. But looking at their images vs even the cheap 2K$ versions left me thinking it was more fun that I can afford. Good to see somebody with enough need for a cool device. There's probably some good wreck sites that would make interesting targets for you. I semi-recall an old thread about somebody using a SSS to image the old Mt Washington ?

[Grant]

I'm assuming the top image if of the Lady. Are we looking down and at an angle, and seeing the sonar "shadow"? It looks so tiny from this view, as if it was 100s of feet below the surface, instead of 30' to the sand. Very cool. Love to see some other images. Haven't seen the Lady in 2-3 years now...should probably dive it this summer, as it's slowly deteriorating.

[Diver1111]

Airwaves: Humminbird 987SI-About $2,000, then installation of about $500 to do it right; Humminbirds' web site lists dealers;

Orion: I will scan the Diamond Island site-it does have some interesting stuff down there-among other things a huge circular section of concrete pipe you could drive a car through; I will post them soon;

Senter Cove Guy: I started to read your link the other night-let me get through all of it and I will indeed scan that thing and post as well-very interesting!

Mee-N-Mac: I heard too that someone was looking for parts of the Mount-if anyone has a general idea where this may lie I will take a run at it; If anyone has something they want me to scan let me know;

Grant: One of the things I am working on is how to get the image/target to be more representative of the depth-you are right about the Lady-it looks very deep but of course thats not the case; The manual is 65 pages long-couple that with its GPS and Chartplotter functions and I have my hands full;

I want to sharpen the images among other things I need to learn.

[Diver1111]

I just read the link that Senter Cove Guy pointed out to Bob Herpen's posting-thanks! I'm game to scan this thing (the SSS automatically records Lat/Lon when I take a screen shot) then dive it. I can scan large areas without much trouble but narrowing it down a bit would be helpful. Does anyone know how to contact Bob Herpen? I can't find an address for him on the Forum.

[Senter Cove Guy]

I too, looked for a way to contact him. I finally tried posting a message on the Forum specifically to him but he never replied. Maybe the navy has him in protective custody so that further information about the "thing" doesn't leak out.

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by Diver1111

Mee-N-Mac: I heard too that someone was looking for parts of the Mount-if anyone has a general idea where this may lie I will take a run at it; If anyone has something they want me to scan let me know.

I had to go back to the olde forum but I found this post by Grant. The link to the Citizen given therein no longer works but this one does. An excerpt from that Sept 2003 story ....

"Underwater explorers discovered what appears to be a chunk of the boat on Tuesday in a debris field off Eagle Island on Lake Winnipesaukee.
A crew of four divers from Dive Winnipesaukee of Wolfeboro used sonar to locate what ended up being a 6-foot-long section of pipe attached to a 4-foot-long hunk of lumber.
The artifact was located in approximately 88 feet of water in an area where wreckage of the burned ship was believed to have been dumped in 1940."

and

"Garrett, who vacations in Wolfeboro, said many divers have attempted to find the ship’s final resting ground for years but have failed.
He and John Perry Fish, an oceanographer, discovered the debris field approximately seven years ago using a side-scan sonar system."

http://archive.citizen.com/2003/sept...F09.05.03e.asp

The article states that the old Mount was stripped after the fire and then blown apart, with the remaining pieces dumped in the lake. Perhaps not such a good target after all. Anybody know if they ever went back and found the rudder and/or paddlewheel parts ?

[Grant]

The chunk of the "old Mount" that was located using side-scan a few years ago is still sitting on the gas dock behind Dive Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro. Tom Wachsmuth was on that dive. It's a cool old relic, but he just doesn't know what to do with it. I suggested he send it to the Libby Museum. I have the newspaper article with photos, and will scan and post.

Thanks for the new scans. Very cool. Be sure to post any new ones you make! And, yes, the Diamond Island site is littered with debris -- tubes, cables, rails, the big concrete tube mentioned above (very shallow), some concrete pillars and, a little to the northwest, a nice big cabin cruiser (with a fork still in a saucepan in the galley).

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Bob Herpen seems to be among the missing - be careful! Do you really want the Navy to make you disappear too?

I wonder if something at the Diamond Island site is responsible for the lake not freezing over this past winter?

[Diver1111]

Hi All,
I think I have a scan of the cruiser off Diamond. Depth of the wreck, I am told, is 55 feet-the scan was at 58 feet so I believe I have it but I'm not sure. Scan was taken running pretty much south to north, facing Welch Island, with Diamond hard on my right. So this thing-whatever it is-appears to be at a right angle with the bow pointed at Diamond Island. I am still working on getting clearer images, and I think I know as of today how to tune them up in the future. It was choppy yesterday due to traffic and being up close to the island, making a smooth scan a challenge.

If anyone who has dived this cruiser can tell me how its oriented on the bottom I'd like to know. I'm also interested in diving it if anyone's game.
Thanks.

[Grant]

Yes -- the cruiser "Empty Pockets" is situated upright, with the bow...er...let me think...pointing roughly south (maybe even toward Diamond...can't recall) in about 55-58 feet. It's off the northwest end of the island. Maybe 50 yards out. There was a chlorox bottle tethered to it, about 4-6 feet below the surface, but the last time Senter Cove Guy and I dove the site, we simply couldn't find it. I've dropped down on it and have found it swimming out from Diamond. I love diving anywhere around Diamond, and would be glad to dive the area with you. PM me if you're interested, and I'll let you know when I'm up there (a lot in August).

Thanks for the scans! These things are awesome.

[Major problem]

Originally Posted by Grant

...There was a chlorox bottle tethered to it, about 4-6 feet below the surface, ....

So divers are suspending chlorox bottles under the surface to snag trolling lures? I and a few buddies have lost more than a few dollars worth of fishing tackle to immovable objects while trolling 10-20 feet down in 50-60 feet of water. I'll bet it's a lucrative hobby!

[Grant]

Very rarely are such markers used on dive sites. Very helpful when you can find them. There is a series of such markers -- deep -- leading to a wreck around Ship Island...but I don't think any of those are shallower than 50 feet, and are suspended just a few feet above the bottom -- more like cairns on mountains or blazes on trails...leading you to the wreck.

I know of only two or three such markers on dive sites in Winnipesaukee.

People also use this method to mark moorings. And I've never seen an tackle caught on the lines. If I had, it would've found its way into my tackle box.

However, diving around Ship & Moose Islands, I've found more than one complete set of downrigger balls -- with a lot of associated hardware -- which were obviously ripped free after being dragged through the rocks. There used to be a Chlorox bottle marker about 6-8 feet deep marking one of the Ship Island wrecks. It, too, can be hard to find. Often easier to just find the wreck. Not sure if it's even there any longer.

[Major problem]

A few years back during the Winni Derby I and some friends lost some tackle to an unknown anchored obstacle about 200 yds SE of the SE navigation bouy off Welchs Is. At first hookup it had some give like a large fish but then gave no more and took our lines. This hasn't been an obstacle since. We thought it may have been a sunken tree limb or the like. Are there any significant dive sites in that area?

ps: as a former certified diver I'm happy to see that the activity is activly persued and supported on Winni

[gtxrider]

Originally Posted by Major problem

So divers are suspending chlorox bottles under the surface to snag trolling lures? I and a few buddies have lost more than a few dollars worth of fishing tackle to immovable objects while trolling 10-20 feet down in 50-60 feet of water. I'll bet it's a lucrative hobby!

There is a marker under the surface just north of Sandy Point not far off the RT. 11 shore (Mt. Major Highway). I think is was used for the Alton Bay H2O Ski Club jump. I have never seen anyone snag it when fishing but than that it not a heavy trolling area.

Lots of stuff has collected on the bottom over the years.

[Grant]

I love diving around Welch Island. Not a heck of a lot to see, but if you're into artifacts, there's all sorts of junk out there. Around any of the islands with the big old homes, there's junk to be had because "back in the day," the residents would burn their refuse, then toss what remained in the lake. The glass and metal and ceramic stuff...

It baffles the mind...the stuff on the bottom...machinery, cars, bottles, cans, bottles, cans, rocks, bottles, rocks, cans, the occasional bone, cans, boats, abondoned Navy junk...

Can't wait to get back in next week.

[Diver1111]

Hi All,
I dove the cruiser off Diamond yesterday with Senter Cove Guy-then Ship Island-found both wrecks. Now I know, having seen the orientation that the 3rd SSS image I posted is in fact the cruiser on the NW side of Diamond. Big sucker too, heavy wood construction. I hav tried several times to get a better scan of it, but the chop off Diamond was really tough-has been every time I go there. Great dive though-beautiful water at 55 feet.

[Grant]

Glad you got to the Diamond site.

I'd be interesting to see any other scans you get around Diamond. There's junk all over the place.

[Senter Cove Guy]

DIVER1111 and I dove one of his "targets of interest" in Weirs Bay last Sunday. Depth was about 70 feet. The target was a combination of fractured cement, metal flooring (steel perhaps), pipes and a large, curved, wooden side support beam. It sure could be wreckage of the original Mount Washington. Even though Sunday was a very sunny day, it was dark enough at 70 feet to require a good light to see the wreckage. This was definitely one of the more exciting dives of the year for me.

[SunsetPointWentworth]

Diver1111. Do you have a side scan image of the old sunken log truck? I've heard the truck mentioned, but have never seen sonar images or underwater pictures of it.

[Diver1111]

I have been looking for it for a few years now-scan for it when I'm down that way; Senter Cove Guy has a better handle on where it might be and he has come with me in the past to scan; There is allegedly a 2nd one down in the Alton Bay area too.

I will keep searching. When I do I will post results.

[Grant]

Someone said it's a 6x with a log trailer. I believe it was Thorp. Seems there's lots of elusive stuff in the neck of the Lake.