Niagara group takes deep dive into history at shipwreck show
Underwater worlds were explored when Niagara Divers’ Association held its 30th annual Shipwrecks show Saturday.
Hosted by the all-volunteer organization, the event featured multimedia presentations showing and discussing the wrecks of Oliver Mowat, Minnedosa, Atlantic and saltcarrying freighters, plus hard hat divers, and new technological advances including the use of remote-operated vehicles and video.
“The presentations always give out the history of the wreck and the history of perhaps who found it, who dove it, unfortunately, if there were fatalities on it, both when it sank and, in some cases, when divers were diving it later,” said event chair David Mekker.
“The second part of it is for the divers to know different wrecks and if they haven’t dove it, they can get exposure to it and maybe make a trip.”
The event also showcased diving and shipwreck groups and enthusiasts, while books, videos and merchandise were available for sale.
Mike Babiski displayed many pieces of vintage diving equipment he owns, including helmets dating back to the 1800s.
“I was a commercial diver and I collect old, vintage diving equipment — diving helmets, as well as vintage scuba,” he said.
“I kind of specialize in a Canadian company called John Date. They were a plumbing company from Montreal in the 1800s and they started to repair and then make diving apparatus.”
Babiski said he bought the remnants from the company and now owns a plethora of diving apparatus.
“I was always interested in antiques and then when I started working at the St. Lawrence Seaway as a commercial diver, they had some of this kind of stuff — not the helmets — but some little bits and pieces,” he said.
“When I bought the remnants from the company, I now have the artifacts going back to the 1800s.”
Helen Cooper is vice-president of the Thousand Islands chapter of Save Ontario Shipwrecks, along with the president of the new Picton chapter.
“I recently put a boat in Picton, in Lake Ontario, so that was why we started the new chapter there. There hasn’t been a dive boat there for 15 years, and so a lot of the moorings were old, a lot of them were tied to the wrecks, which is no longer kosher. We’re here selling shirts and promoting our new mooring program to get the proper moorings and blocks on them to protect the wrecks.”
Cooper said members consider it an “underwater museum.”
“It’s our maritime heritage, maritime history, and so by taking the divers down there, they learn the history of the shipwreck, how it sank, whether there was any loss of life, what happened to cause the sinking,” she said.
“We always talk about where the ship was built, the life that it had. We’ve got some pretty interesting wrecks.”
Cooper said it’s important to bring the diving community together, which the annual Shipwrecks show does.
“Hopefully, it’s bringing in some new people that are interested in learning more about the shipwrecks. The presenters are usually talking about all the different shipwrecks and the history of them, and also the work involved in researching and finding them and discovering them, which is always cool when you discover something new.”
Mekker said the show started in a St. Catharines library 30 years, but quickly outgrew the space. It has been held at Welland Centennial Secondary School for the past 27 years.