Dive Sites
St. Peter
Depth: 110 ft | 3 Masted Schooner - 1873 | Sank in 1898 | Difficulty - Advanced
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Three masted schooner 136 ft long carried coal with a crew of 7 people. Only Captain Griffin was saved after clinging to the mast. Beam: 26 ft, Length: 135 ft, Deck @ 102 ft and Bottom @ 118 ft
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The Dive:
The Saint Peter is an advanced boat dive. She lies on a fairly flat bottom about 115 feet below chart datum (chart datum is 242.8 feet above sea level), the deck is at about 100 feet below chart datum. The actual depths, in summer, are about 2 1/2 feet deeper because the lake runs about 2 1/2 feet above chart datum in summer. The water temperature can be as high as 70 degrees Fahrenheit but it is usually 37 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The ship lies on a heading about 195 degrees magnetic.
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The Ship:
The Saint Peter was built in 1873. Her beam is 26 feet and she is 135 feet long. Her last voyage started October 26, 1898, she left Oswego with a full load of coal and 2 1/2 feet of freeboard headed for the entrance to the Welland Canal. Her captain, captain Griffin, headed out on the lake having just missed a report of bad weather by an hour. An early winter storm was sweeping through the upper Great Lakes and headed East. The ship sailed West about 140 miles to about 4 miles past the Niagara River. At this point she could no longer make way because of increasing winds so the captain turned and ran with the storm. As he passed the port of Rochester he put out a torch requesting a tug to pull him into port but the tug was unable to find the Saint Peter in the night. She continued East past Rochester and the captain put out a distress signal at Bear Creek. The tug Proctor, having resumed its search at daybreak, found the Saint Peter at 10:30am. The waves had built to 20 feet and the gale was blowing at 70 miles per hour. The tug was within two or three miles of the ship when the ship listed to port twice and went to the bottom. It appears the Saint Peter turned sideways in the rough water and a wave came over the starboard rail and smashed the main cabin filling the ship with water. The tug was able to locate the wreck because the standing rigging was about 8 feet above the surface. Captain Griffin was found in the rigging nearly drown and was revived. By captain Griffin's account the crew was on deck when the ship went down. The captain's wife Josephine, first mate John McCrate, and three Swedish immigrants working for passage were lost. The standing rigging was declared a hazard to navigation a few years after the ship went down and the masts were pulled down. The foremast is missing but the main and what appears to be the mizzenmast lie perpendicular to the wreck on a bearing of 90 degrees magnetic.
Reference - "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night." - The Rochester Museum and Science Center, Rochester NY: 1975
Landing Craft / Coast Guard Boat
Depth: 55-85 ft | Sank in 1977 | Difficulty - Beginner to Intermediate
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The Landing Craft sank in a storm in 1977. She landed stern first and has remained that way. The wreck never fully came to rest on the bottom of the lake. She had more weight concentrated in the rear causing it to remain upright on its stern. This wreck sits nearly upright in between 55 feet to 85 feet of water.
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The Ship:
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While on route from Oswego to Niagara, the 56-foot Coast Guard cable boat experienced 6-foot waves and winds of 50 mph as it approached Nine Mile Point on Lake Ontario. The boat, a converted landing craft (LCM) with an open deck, was taking water over the gunwale faster than the 3-man crew could pump it out. The Charlotte Coast Guard Station dispatched its motor lifeboat to the scene where it found the 50-ton cable boat listing to its port side.
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They removed the crew and took the boat in tow, but a wave parted the line and the cable boat sank several miles east of Nine Mile Point and offshore from the community of Ontario-on-the-Lake. It was reported that the US Coast Guard intended to salvage the sunken vessel the following week. The US Coast Guard website relating the historic details of their Charlotte Station also mentions that the boat was salvaged and returned to service.
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​The Coast Guard cable boat landed stern first and has remained that way, never coming fully to rest on the bottom. Being a converted landing craft, it had more weight concentrated in the rear causing it to remain upright on its stern. Over the years, 12 feet of the cable boat have sunk into the bottom. The lake currents have created an 8-foot crater completely surrounding the vessel, and it is now leaning over at an angle of 45 degrees. The cable boat is completely covered with zebra mussels, two inches thick in some places. A large quantity of Lake Bass was seen congregating around the shipwreck.
Lake Ontario Pipeline
Depth: 20 - 25 ft | Good Visibility Most Days and Light to Medium Current | Difficulty - Beginner
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Lake Ontario borders Canada and is the 13th largest lake in the world. The water is fairly cold, especially in the winter so you’ll want a thick wetsuit or drysuit for diving here. Wildlife encounters here include cold freshwater fish species like salmon and walleye. You’ll also see many different trout species.
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Depth: 10 - 25 ft | Great for Newly Certified Divers | Difficulty - Beginner
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Go where all divers want to go as a whole. Just having fun underwater checking out different areas. Seeing rock formations on just seeing what's under the water in a certain area could be fun. Brushing up on your skills, or learning new skills, that is what this dive is all about. Wildlife encounters include, freshwater fish or other wildlife that is in the area.
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