Location:	Just off Nut Island	Official Name:	City of Sheboygan
GPS:	-	Material:	Wood and steel
Access:	Boat	Propulsion:	Wind
Level:	Intermediate	Type:	Three masted schooner
Depth:	95'	Built:	Michigan in 1871
Bottom:	-	Sunked:	September 25th, 1915
Current:	Low	Cargo:	Feldspar
Hazards:	Depth	Dimensions:	135x30(28?)'x10
Traffic:		Position:	Upright

City of Sheboygan
... article writen by Stephen Weir - many thanks.

Nick Drakich, owner of Kingston Dive Centre, figures that the City of Sheboygan became a "hot" spot for visiting divers just about the same time that the visibility in Lake Ontario dramatically improved. Strictly an adventure for experienced divers, the remains of the three masted schooner is considered one of the premier fresh water dives in the world.

"The sport of wreck diving was truly found in Kingston when the City of Sheboygan was discovered back in the early sixties," explained 48 year old Nick Drakich. "To be exact the shipwreck was located in July 1963 by Barbara Carson, Lloyd Shales and John Birtwhistle. Barbara Carson is still actively diving and 37 years later is still finding shipwrecks."

Back when she was found, local waters were very dark and murky. At a depth 95 feet, very little light reached the upright shipwreck and visiting divers had to content themselves by "seeing" the wreck one foot at a time.

"It was a very dangerous dive. The wreck wasn't marked, the visibility was almost zero and the water was cold," continued Drakich. "But, about five years ago that changed. The zebra mussel (an invading species that filters massive amounts of water) has cleaned the water right up. Not only is the visibility 40 to 50 feet, but also sunlight from the surface penetrates right down to her deck."

"There are a lot of reasons why this is now such a great dive. The vessel is deep enough that it hasn't been damaged too much by boat traffic and very few zebra mussels have attached themselves to her. The ship's depth is one of the main reasons she wasn't stripped after she was located," said Drakich. "She isn't so deep though, that you can't dive on her with sport diving equipment."

The vessel is, for the most part, intact. The hull, save for the transom, is still holding together. The foremast is broken above the deck level and lies over bulwarks on her port side.

Swimming across her deck is like getting an instant lesson in 19th century marine architecture. Remains of the capstan, catheads and pinrail are still showing on the forecastle deck, which on the City of Sheboygan, is forward of the anchor windlass. The steam winch is in place near the forward hatch and broken spars, blocks and rigging litter the midships. Deadeyes and chainplates, favourite subject matter for underwater photographers, are present on the ship.

According to Drakich, a must see on the shipwreck is a glass plate laid on the deck. The 3x10 inch plate is actually a prism and madly refracts the beam of a diver's light.

The Kingston Dive Centre is a full service dive shop located within walking distance of Lake Ontario in the city's west end. Open year round, the PADI facility has rental gear, training courses and pumps both compressed air and Nitrox. The shop supplies mixed gases to a growing clientele of tech divers who like to visit the City of Sheboygan and other deep water wrecks. (It is expected that the 200 feet deep wreck of the Coburg will be opened to tech divers in 2000.)

"We don't have our own boat, we prefer to work with the local captains booking and referring divers to the boat that best suits their needs. That is what the Kingston Dive Centre is all about," explained Drakich.

Twenty years ago, when the visibility was still limited, two dive charter boats operated out of Kingston. Now, there are twenty dive charter boats running in the area based in communities from Point Traverse to Kingston. The boats themselves range in size from speedy six passenger cruisers to broad deck 16 passenger dive boats.

Spencer Shoniker's 40 foot dive boat is called the Brooke-Lauren. The boat, named after the captain's daughters, can carry up to 16 divers and is popular with visiting clubs.

"I have been diving the City of Sheboygan for the past 23 years and I have been taking divers to Kingston's wrecks for the past 10 years," said Spencer Shoniker. "I can remember when the visibility on her and any of the other wrecks was five feet. We only saw a dozen or so divers. Now, we have several thousand divers come to Kingston and the City of Sheboygan is the request I get the most often."

"The wreck is out in the open part of the lake and requires good weather for suitable diving," he continued. "The Brooke-Lauren has an enclosed cabin, a head and an air supply system. We have a barbecue on board so when we do go out to the City of Sheboygan we make a day of it!"

"The wreck is what people want, but lately," said Nick Drakich, "people have been coming back to the shop after a day of wreck diving and raving about the fish. It is amazing the schools of fish you are likely to see on the City of Sheboygan, it looks like the Caribbean. They school around the wrecks in the thousands and people are seeing rare fish including fresh water Burbot."

Fish or wreck dives or both. Kingston is the renaissance city for diving in Ontario. Topside, the small city is steeped in history. One of Canada's first capitols, Kingston has preserved many of its 19th century mansions, forts, churches, universities and government buildings.

Built around a natural harbour, the city boasts an Olympic marina used extensively in the 1967 Olympics. There are dive shops, an active Preserve Our Wrecks Association (who maintain buoys on the wrecks of Kingston including the City of Sheboygan) and a must-see for divers, the Great Lakes Museum.

Hotels, motels, guest houses and campgrounds abound. Small intimate restaurants crowd the waterfront.

Back when the City of Sheboygan was discovered, Zal Yanovsky was a guitarist with the Loving Spoonful. After performing at Woodstock, he left the band and eventually opened up one the dive community's favoured bistros, Chez Piggy.

Sightseeing. Good Food. Affordable room rates. World class diving. But, there is a cloud around this silver lining. Both Drakich and Shoniker admit that the very popularity of wrecks like the City of Sheboygan means that on many weekends in the summer all of the boats in the area are filled to capacity.

"People have to phone aheadlike yesterday," said Shoniker. '"The dive boats all get along and Nick tries to place everybody. But, even our midweek charters are filling up!"