Thunder Bay · United States · Wreck · Freshwater
Lucinda Van Valkenburg
An 1862 schooner in 18 m on a mooring buoy
Area photo: NOAA's National Ocean Service · CC BY 2.0
A two-masted schooner of 1862 lying in 18 m about two miles northeast of Thunder Bay Island, marked by one of the sanctuary's seasonal mooring buoys. She was run down by the iron propeller steamer Lehigh in 1887 and her masts stood out of the water afterwards, a hazard to shipping. One of the few wrecks here a recreational diver can actually work.
Where it is and how deep
45.0563° N, 83.1697° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
You come down the mooring line into 18 m of cold fresh water and the schooner lays out beneath you — 39 metres (128 feet) of hull with an 8 m beam (26 ft). That depth gives a working dive rather than a rushed one, so there is time to swim the full length of the ship and come back along the other side. The centreboard trunk stands intact amidships and the bow is exposed, which together give the wreck an obvious spine to follow.
At 18 m (60 ft) this is one of the sanctuary's recreational-depth wrecks: a buoy to descend and ascend on, and enough bottom time to look properly rather than tick off a feature and turn. The cold is the limiting factor rather than the depth — a drysuit changes the dive completely — and, as everywhere inside the sanctuary, artefacts stay where they lie. Removing or damaging anything on a sanctuary shipwreck is illegal, and NOAA runs a reporting line for looting.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Lucinda Van Valkenburg
- Type
- Two-masted schooner
- Length
- 39 m (128 ft)
- Built
- 1862
- Sunk
- 1887
- Cause
- Struck by the iron propeller steamer Lehigh; the crew were rescued and landed at Port Huron
- Lies
- In 18 m (60 ft) of water about two miles northeast of Thunder Bay Island
The Lucinda Van Valkenburg was launched in 1862 by Albert Little at Tonawanda, New York — a 39 m two-masted schooner (128 ft) with an 8 m beam (26 ft). On 31 May 1887, bound for Chicago with a load of coal, she was struck by the iron propeller steamer Lehigh about two miles northeast of Thunder Bay Island; the Lehigh picked up her crew and landed them at Port Huron, Michigan. She sank in shallow enough water that her masts remained standing high out of the water afterwards, a dangerous obstruction to other ships. She now lies inside Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Off-season | Off-season |
Season follows Thunder Bay: The season runs late May to early October, with July and August warmest; the lake is unworkably cold and rough otherwise.
Know before you go
- Cold rather than depth is what shortens this dive: a wetsuit costs you the second half of it, and a drysuit with the training to match is the sensible default.
Questions divers ask
Is the Lucinda Van Valkenburg a beginner dive?+
The wreck sits in 18 m — 60 feet — with a seasonal mooring buoy, so the depth itself is recreational. Cold is the real constraint on this part of Lake Huron, and a drysuit is standard.
Where is the Lucinda Van Valkenburg wreck?+
About two miles northeast of Thunder Bay Island in Lake Huron, inside Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, on one of the sanctuary's seasonal mooring buoys.
Sources
- Lucinda Van Valkenburg — NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary
- Mooring Buoys — NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary
More dive sites in Thunder Bay
Wreck
Ghost schooner upright at 56 m, masts still standing
Wreck
Steering wheel and chained windlass on a broken schooner
Wreck
The sanctuary's largest wreck, 162 m and inverted
Wreck
An intact 1848 schooner on an even keel at 56 m
Wreck
Three masts still on deck at 63 m
Upright steel freighter with engine and boilers still in place
Wreck
A Great Lakes freighter lying inverted at 53 m
A burned steamer in 5.5 m, readable from the surface
Similar dives elsewhere
A 1940 Lunenburg schooner scuttled for divers at 17 m
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Blown apart by lightning in 1930, at 24 m off Cockburn Island
An upturned schooner on the bank, then a drift along the island wall
An 1889 salvage barge with her lifting pulleys still aboard