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Benzie County diver discovers shipwreck graveyard in Lake Michigan

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SKILLAGALEE — On the northern end of Lake Michigan, lies a remote little island barely remembered by history.

Its name is Skillagalee, and it’s surrounded by undiscovered shipwrecks. Shipwreck hunter Ross Richardson was hoping to find one of these shipwrecks this summer. Instead, he possibly found five shipwrecks.

Skillagallee Island sits between Cross Village and Beaver Island. It’s an extremely remote location where recreational boating is almost non-existent. The island was originally named “Ile Aux Galets” by French explorers, which means “Island of pebbles”.

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Over the years, locals found the French name hard to pronounce and it evolved into “Skillagalee”. The tiny island is less than a quarter mile long and about as wide as a football field’s length. What makes it significant isn't what’s above the water, but rather, what’s below; a shallow gravel reef.

The Skillagalee reef rests just a few feet below Lake Michigan’s surface and has been the end to many a ship. In 1850, a lighthouse was built upon the rocky island to warn passing ships of the dangerous gravel shoal which extends almost two miles to the east and half a mile to the northwest.

Ross Richardson, a Lake Ann resident and Benzie County dive team coordinator, has spent years researching the lonely island’s history. Spending most of last winter on his couch recovering from knee surgery gave him the opportunity to plan something unusual. He planned to do a sonar survey of Skillagalee reef, discover shipwrecks there, dive them and film them, completely by himself. He nicknamed his project: “SOLO”.

“I spent many hours planning the logistics of this expedition,” says Richardson. “I needed to be totally self-reliant, especially during the diving operations.”

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The primary shipwreck that caught the Richardson’s eye was the A.D. Patchin, an enormous steam powered sidewheel passenger ship which grounded on the Skillagalee reef in 1850.

“They called her a ‘palatial steamer’ back in the day because of her elegant accouterments. She was over 220 feet in length,” said Richardson. “They tried to salvage her when she wrecked, but the autumn gales laid waste to the elegant vessel and she disappeared beneath the waves and remained hidden for the next 160 years.”

Richardson spent hour after hour, in August, using side scan sonar to meticulously scan the reef surrounding the island. He estimates he scanned nearly three square miles of lake bottom using a technique he calls “mowing the lawn”. When he was finished, he had seven major targets which he describes as “man-made”.

With limited time, Richardson selected five of the largest targets to dive and film.

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“The first wreck I found is the first wreck I dove,” said Richardson. “It also happens to be the largest wreck. I call it ‘Wreck Site A’ and I believe it’s the remains of the A.D. Patchin.”

“Wreck site A” consists of the bow section of a large ship, built from massive white oak timbers, lying on its port side. It is 110 feet long and 23 feet from the keel to the top of the stem post. The wreck is in 35 feet of water and appears to be the the bow of sidewheel steamer A.D. Patchin. The wreckage appears to be even longer, but much of it is buried in sand and gravel. No artifacts are present at the site, confirming the Patchin was heavily salvaged soon after she wrecked.

“Wreck site B” was the next target Richardson dove and covers the largest area of all the wreck sites and has the most artifacts present.

The site consists of three major pieces of hull wreckage and the area is strewn with artifacts such as mast hoops, chain and shackles. The largest section is the keel of the ship which includes the bow area. This section measures 78 feet long and is 20 feet wide. A 57 foot section of the side of the ship lies at a 90 degree angle to the keel wreckage, with hanging knees present. It measures 9 feet high, but is lying flat. A third section of wreckage lies about 100 feet away and appears to be the stern section of this sailing vessel, measuring 46 feet in length and 12 feet wide. The wreckage is consistent with the brig Julia Dean.

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The Julia Dean was a 150 foot brig which stranded at Skillagalee on Oct. 6, 1855. The captain of the Julia Dean claimed that he was lured onto the reef with a false light by Mormon pirates from Beaver Island. This claim was vigorously denied by the Mormons.

“Wreck site C” was an interesting site consisting of the keel of sailing vessel, measuring 63 feet in length with a beam of 22 feet. A couple artifacts were present at this site, which is in 30 feet of water.

“Wreck site D” is a 95 foot long, 12 foot high side of a ship’s hull. There’s possibly an internal hogging brace present, which indicates the vessel was well over 100 feet in length. Hanging knees adorn the wreck and is a dead giveaway for those with an experienced eye that this is a hull side. This wreck site is in 35 feet of water.

“Wreck site E” appears to be the side of a very old sailing vessel. At a depth of 20 feet, it’s the shallowest of the wreck sites and hanging knees are presents. The nails and spikes used in building this wreck all appear to be hand forged.

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“One of the big problems with identifying shallow water wrecks is the waves and ice wreak havoc on the wreck sites, especially sites that are over 100 years old," according to Richardson. "We’re talking about ships that have been on the bottom of Lake Michigan before the Civil War even started. The wrecks basically get flattened out over time. The elevated sections of a wreck, such as hull sides, are torn off and sometimes carried away by the ice. So are the artifacts. The wrecks were initially salvaged when they wrecked and when they disappeared beneath the water’s surface, they were forgotten about. Over the years, ice and currents and waves beat the wreck sites down and remove any remaining artifacts. That makes identifying shallow water wreck sites extremely difficult.”

Richardson is best known for discovering the location of the wreck of the treasure ship Westmoreland in 2010. The Westmoreland was a 200’ passenger ship which foundered during a December gale in 1854. Legend has it the Westmoreland was carrying $10,000 in gold coins in her safe and 180 barrels of whisky in her hold when she disappeared. Richardson found her in deep water near Sleeping Bear Point in Northern Lake Michigan.

“I’ve done quite a bit of research, and I’m fairly comfortable that Skillagalee Reef hasn't been surveyed by shipwreck hunters, because of its remote location and the proper equipment to scan that type of underwater topography has only been around a few years," he said. "I don’t think there’s another place in the Great Lakes quite like it.”

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