Monday morning, while waiting to interview Dick Burris the stonemason, I chatted with Doug Tilley, manager at the CMU research station over breakfast at the Dalwhinnie Bakery. Dick and I connected later, two interviews in one day! We ended up riding out to the Award winning Transfer Station for yet another interview and then taking a mask and snorkle excursion to the sunken car graveyard in Beaver Bay. “They just dragged them out on the ice and waited for them to fall through”, says Dick.
Dick decided to stay in the Rubber Duck while I dove. At 10-12 feet of depth, there were about 20 ancient-ish autos in various states of decay – even one with wooden spokes on the wheels! I spotted what appeared to be a lead acid battery at 10 feet of depth. I suggested to Dick that it shouldn’t be down there and he said let’s get it. After struggling to secure a rope to it, Dick tied me a decent slip knot and I got it around the bulky zebra muscle encrusted monster, slashing myself in three places. We hauled it up and brought it back – environmental remediation Kelly and Burris style.
I made the mistake of taking my new iPhone down in it’s little waterproof bag, supposedly rated for 10 feet underwater. I shot pictures and movies, but a few tiny drops of water inside the bag afterwards boded poorly – the iPhone died about 20 minutes after returning to the dock. Fortunately I had kept my older model and was able to activate it that evening. Pictures and local blog postings – gone. Reliable GPS – gone.
It’s all good. the next day Dick and I went back out with his underwater ready Sony camera and dove an honest to goodness shipwreck from the 1800s and returned to the car graveyard.
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