Matt Turchi and Darryl Ertel have been diving the Great Lakes since 1987 and have concentrated their efforts in Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior. Matt is currently on the Board of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and enjoys making drawings/scale models of ships they dive.
Darryl, a resident of Grand Blanc, is full cave certified and instructs open water, mixed gas, as well as closed-circuit rebreather use through IANTD and TDI. Darryl is also an instructor for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.
Matt and Darryl have been published in Sport Diver (August ‘96), Immersed (Fall ‘96) and Ontario’s Archaeological Reports (‘94, ‘95, ‘96).
A COLD DARK HART
The steamer Judge Hart was making its final transit of Lake Superior for the 1942 shipping season when it encountered a severe ice storm. Its collision with a charted shoal did not cause its immediate demise.
Matt Turchi and Darryl Ertel present the final moments of the Hart, with animation as well as startling underwater footage. From the signal charts still hanging in the pilothouse to the ship’s bell, the Judge Hart represents one of Superior’s finest.
