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2015 Nautical Archaeology Field School Project

The Northport Wreck

The Northport Wreck is located just off the public beach, south of the Northport marina. The wreck is located on a sandy lakebed, in 8 feet of water, is in a sheltered diving/snorkeling  location. It is possible to wade most of the distance to the wreck from shore.

 
The wreck may be easily accessed from the Northport public park which has a public beach, pier, bathrooms, fresh water and ample parking.

Many of the features of this boat are still intact including the boiler, ash pan, hull and rudder. The location of the wreck is normally identified by a mooring buoy, attached to the boiler.

You can watch a video of the Northport Wreck here.

The 2015 recording survey will be conducted as a training and reconnaissance exercise to document the nature, extent, condition and history of the site.

 
The research objectives of the work on the Northport Wreck in 2015 will be:

 
1.    To determine the extent of structural remains still present. The objective of this work will be to illustrate the extent of the wrecks remaining structure, to determine the actual length and width of the structure, and establish the extent of the scatter field surrounding the site;

 
2.     To establish a base-line survey in order to monitor the condition of the structure so that future surveys can determine whether or not deterioration is ongoing. This work should also identify if any new areas of material are becoming exposed as a result of changes in environmental conditions on the site;

 
3.    Students will develop their own, targeted, research objectives during their field school training.

 
This project is appropriate for both novice divers and snorkelers.

The Village of Northport has several shops and restaurants.

TEST VIDEO

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2016 Northwestern Michigan Archaeology Field School Project

Remote Sensing Survey - Cathead Bay and Northport Harbor

Cathead Bay

Participants in the 2016 Northwestern Michigan Archaeology Field School will begin a remote sensing survey in the summer of 2016, to locate 7, historic shipwrecks in Cathead Bay. Located off the northern side of the Leelanau Peninsula in Lower Michigan, Cathead Bay is relatively shallow and exposed to wind and waves of Lake Michigan from the north and northwest. In the event of rough weather, Northport Harbor will be surveyed instead, where there are suspected to be the remains of 6 Shipwrecks. See link to GIS map of the area.   

 Northport Harbor

The suspected Shipwrecks of Cathead Bay consists of 7 turn-of-the-century, schooners identified as:

Flying Venus
Fanny Hazelton
Trillium
Maid of the West
B. R. Loomis
Sardinia
Tribune

The suspected Shipwrecks of Northport Harbor consists of 6 turn-of-the-century, watercraft identified as:

Fanny Hazelton
Badger State
Flora
Rumrunner
Leander Choate
Gloria

 
The 2016 remote sensing survey will be conducted as a training and reconnaissance exercise to locate, position fix and photograph as many of the wrecks as possible. The shallow water areas of each bay will be explored using a Lowerance, HDS-12, Side-Scan Sonar. This equipment has been made available through a generous donation by the Northwestern Michigan College Barbecue Board.

The research objectives of the remote sensing survey will be developed by the field school participants.

This project is appropriate for both divers and non-divers and will be a boat based exercise.