More Pile Driver images

Diver1111 · 09-26-2008, 12:01 AM

Hi All,

I re-scanned the Pile Driver barge off Weirs recently then dove it; Sits 45 feet deep, then bottom slopes down towards Eagle Island; Viz was about 15 feet, 48 degrees. Dry suit took care of that.

I went down to 60 feet or so easterly to look around after landing on the wreck; Wreck about 90 feet long as expected, massive timber design also as expected; Gunwhales were about 7-8 off the mud line with various side-planks (2 x 10s' roughly) missing. Slight current perceived heading south to the channel of course; Didn't expect that because except for river diving (last week in the CT River in VT for ex.) I don't expect currents in fresh water that I can actually see. Subtle, but it was there.

Derrick was toppled over as expected pointing at about 280 magnetic. Large timbers, planks and poles with debris everywhere at this end. Had deck planking before the bow gone sporadically with more gone as you swam back along it. These are the dark images you see. Hold of the wreck pretty much empty except for more pieces of wood of all kinds. Between this end and the derrick mess was a huge upright "H"-shaped wood beam structure-prob. a crane part of some kind that could hold weight and pivot off the bow or handle cables perhaps like a suspension bridge. I just don't know.

2/3 of the way back huge drum-type objects down in the hold sitting perpendicular to length of wreck-winch spools it appeared-prob. 8 feet wide-prob. 6 of them. Behind that on deck a can/drum of some kind (boiler?). About 4 feet in diameter filled with debris, and above deck it showed about 6 feet. This was apparent from earlier scans-makes sense now that I've seen it in person. I was looking for large metal boxes or drums-this is what I saw on side-scan. I knew it was metal but wasn't sure about shape.

Off this end of the wreck on the bottom more debris with what looked like connected decking material to the south facing Weirs Beach.

Didn't see any champagne glasses, bottles, tools or other objects of interest I had read about but I didn't bring a metal detector this time to dig deeper into what might be there.

The long stretched-out barge images attached were shot with side-scan PARALLEL to the length of the vessel-this will give a somewhat distorted but still very useful image-a whole new perspective actually. Scanning this way will produce detail not seen at other angles-note some of the deck ribs-all consistently spaced.

Each scan angle has its advantages-but for the most part scans are at 90 degrees to a vessel length not parallel. When you see the vessel or object extend into the blue area of the image (the water column) , regardless of scan angle it means I was too close OR the image is in fact sticking up into the water column. Could go either way.

The thin white dotted line in some images is the surface float line I marked the site with it descending to the deck of the barge. Before anchoring I flagged it then anchored nearby by dragging backwards until I caught the barge. My buddy anchored the same way. The little dots on the line equally spaced are the stainless steel split rings I have on the line every five feet or so to allow me to adjust how much slack is in the line holding the marker. Frankly I'm amazed they showed up but they did. Go figure.

Lastly, in one of the images attached I was turning my boat and scanning at the same time-and the image of the wreck itself got "bent"-this is typical. It's amazing to see however the can/drum I mentioned earlier that was sitting on the deck now apparently hanging in the water column-it's not of course-but look at the clarity of the drum-mechanics would call it a bushing-obviously circular-wow-odd place for it but there it is...........round-ish.

If I get underwater pictures at some point I will post them. Enjoy.

kjbathe · 09-26-2008, 07:40 AM

Thank you for sharing these images and details with all of us non-divers. This is really cool. I'd love to see the underwater photos, too, when you have a chance to post them.

CHSLTD · 09-26-2008, 09:13 AM

I'm not a diver and I just love these images and descriptions...I feel like I have been to the bottom of the lake! Thanks Again! More!!!More!!!

scubajay1153 · 10-13-2008, 11:38 AM

...located. I have read a few accounts of this wreck but we could not find it on the the few times we went looking for it. Our scanning /bottom finder capabilities on the FD boat don't come close to this imagery so it is possible we went right over it and didn't recognize it for what it was. This is yet another of so many places I can't wait to dive on in the Big Lake!

Diver1111 · 10-13-2008, 08:13 PM

ScubaJay,

Try these coordinates-rough but it should do:
N/43 36.677 and W/71 27.461

Normally I'd lock on to its position by moving the cursor on my screen over the TOI/target of interest and get Lat/Lon that way but I was just roughing it last time and not doing it the way I normally would.

I suggest dropping a flag at these coordinates as a reference point. Then move around it using your 2D fishfinder. Given the flat bottom and the fact this thing has about 7 foot high sides and is 90 feet long even using 2D it should show up. The moment you see serious altitude on your screen immediately drop anchor-it will probably land on the deck.

09-26-2008, 12:01 AM	#1
Diver1111 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Exeter NH Posts: 596 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1,027 Times in 224 Posts	More Pile Driver images Hi All, I re-scanned the Pile Driver barge off Weirs recently then dove it; Sits 45 feet deep, then bottom slopes down towards Eagle Island; Viz was about 15 feet, 48 degrees. Dry suit took care of that. I went down to 60 feet or so easterly to look around after landing on the wreck; Wreck about 90 feet long as expected, massive timber design also as expected; Gunwhales were about 7-8 off the mud line with various side-planks (2 x 10s' roughly) missing. Slight current perceived heading south to the channel of course; Didn't expect that because except for river diving (last week in the CT River in VT for ex.) I don't expect currents in fresh water that I can actually see. Subtle, but it was there. Derrick was toppled over as expected pointing at about 280 magnetic. Large timbers, planks and poles with debris everywhere at this end. Had deck planking before the bow gone sporadically with more gone as you swam back along it. These are the dark images you see. Hold of the wreck pretty much empty except for more pieces of wood of all kinds. Between this end and the derrick mess was a huge upright "H"-shaped wood beam structure-prob. a crane part of some kind that could hold weight and pivot off the bow or handle cables perhaps like a suspension bridge. I just don't know. 2/3 of the way back huge drum-type objects down in the hold sitting perpendicular to length of wreck-winch spools it appeared-prob. 8 feet wide-prob. 6 of them. Behind that on deck a can/drum of some kind (boiler?). About 4 feet in diameter filled with debris, and above deck it showed about 6 feet. This was apparent from earlier scans-makes sense now that I've seen it in person. I was looking for large metal boxes or drums-this is what I saw on side-scan. I knew it was metal but wasn't sure about shape. Off this end of the wreck on the bottom more debris with what looked like connected decking material to the south facing Weirs Beach. Didn't see any champagne glasses, bottles, tools or other objects of interest I had read about but I didn't bring a metal detector this time to dig deeper into what might be there. The long stretched-out barge images attached were shot with side-scan PARALLEL to the length of the vessel-this will give a somewhat distorted but still very useful image-a whole new perspective actually. Scanning this way will produce detail not seen at other angles-note some of the deck ribs-all consistently spaced. Each scan angle has its advantages-but for the most part scans are at 90 degrees to a vessel length not parallel. When you see the vessel or object extend into the blue area of the image (the water column) , regardless of scan angle it means I was too close OR the image is in fact sticking up into the water column. Could go either way. The thin white dotted line in some images is the surface float line I marked the site with it descending to the deck of the barge. Before anchoring I flagged it then anchored nearby by dragging backwards until I caught the barge. My buddy anchored the same way. The little dots on the line equally spaced are the stainless steel split rings I have on the line every five feet or so to allow me to adjust how much slack is in the line holding the marker. Frankly I'm amazed they showed up but they did. Go figure. Lastly, in one of the images attached I was turning my boat and scanning at the same time-and the image of the wreck itself got "bent"-this is typical. It's amazing to see however the can/drum I mentioned earlier that was sitting on the deck now apparently hanging in the water column-it's not of course-but look at the clarity of the drum-mechanics would call it a bushing-obviously circular-wow-odd place for it but there it is...........round-ish. If I get underwater pictures at some point I will post them. Enjoy. Attached Images

09-26-2008, 07:40 AM	#2
kjbathe Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 281 Thanks: 3 Thanked 21 Times in 11 Posts	Very Cool Thank you for sharing these images and details with all of us non-divers. This is really cool. I'd love to see the underwater photos, too, when you have a chance to post them.

09-26-2008, 09:13 AM	#3
CHSLTD Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Gilford Posts: 93 Thanks: 23 Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts	Again...Thanks! I'm not a diver and I just love these images and descriptions...I feel like I have been to the bottom of the lake! Thanks Again! More!!!More!!!

10-13-2008, 11:38 AM	#4
scubajay1153 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Gilford Posts: 93 Thanks: 2 Thanked 8 Times in 7 Posts	Another great dive site.... ...located. I have read a few accounts of this wreck but we could not find it on the the few times we went looking for it. Our scanning /bottom finder capabilities on the FD boat don't come close to this imagery so it is possible we went right over it and didn't recognize it for what it was. This is yet another of so many places I can't wait to dive on in the Big Lake!

10-13-2008, 08:13 PM	#5
Diver1111 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Exeter NH Posts: 596 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1,027 Times in 224 Posts	Lat/Lon of the Pile Driver ScubaJay, Try these coordinates-rough but it should do: N/43 36.677 and W/71 27.461 Normally I'd lock on to its position by moving the cursor on my screen over the TOI/target of interest and get Lat/Lon that way but I was just roughing it last time and not doing it the way I normally would. I suggest dropping a flag at these coordinates as a reference point. Then move around it using your 2D fishfinder. Given the flat bottom and the fact this thing has about 7 foot high sides and is 90 feet long even using 2D it should show up. The moment you see serious altitude on your screen immediately drop anchor-it will probably land on the deck.

The Following 9 Users Say Thank You to Diver1111 For This Useful Post:
BroadHopper (09-28-2008), chipj29 (09-26-2008), ironhorsetim (09-26-2008), islandAl (10-13-2008), Mee-n-Mac (09-26-2008), moose tracks (10-13-2008), Orion (09-30-2008), scubajay1153 (10-13-2008), Sunset Bob (09-30-2008)

The Following User Says Thank You to kjbathe For This Useful Post:
SIKSUKR (09-26-2008)