Not as much as I'd like. Too many other things on my plate this year.
The latest is that our son Matt has joined me in the business. I think
I told you about him, the golf pro/bass player. He decided to put the
fun back into golf and get a day job that makes money instead.

I'm not sure if I told you about his band before. Last time you were
here you mentioned some music connections of your own so look up
Frontier Index. They have a site on Myspace with some mp3's you can
listen to. Matt's the only one with long hair in the pics. I'm working
on him to get that cut.    8)

JF

Well, they never found the body, so *technically*, he's still logging
bottom time... <evil-grin>

Start here.
http://home.xnet.com/~acpinc/wrecks.html

THe "Herner" is a relatively easy shore dive (but sometimes a fairly
long swim in the waves) this is in Michigan City, Indiana, about an hour
and 15 minutes from Chicago. The only bitch is the long walk from the
road to the beach. Sometimes the current is fairly strong here parallel
to the shoreline. Bring a compass. 20 ft or so depending on the lake level.

THe "Wheeler is not too much fun, most artifacts are buried. Sometimes
the entire wreck is buried. It's mostly just timbers on the bottom.
Last time I dove it was about 25 ft to the bottom. Also in MC

The "Muskegon" can be dove from shore, but the walk to shore is a really
really long one. You climb UP then down to get to the sore (the walk
back is harder). Sometimes this wreck is buried in sand, sometimes it is
completely exposed. Viz is generally good. Sometimes there are artifacts
to be picked up, sometimes not. Sometimes you can't fins the wreck at
all dues to sand covering it. On a good day the boilers can be entered.
Easily found about 275 yards offshore (and slightly east of)  "Mt.
Baldy" national lakeshore park due west of Michigan City on US 12.
(note: DON"T run down the hill on the return trip).

THe "Dows" is  supposed to be a neat dive, but I have never seen much of
it, as each time I try to dive it, viz is less than 5 feet. 40 foot or
so depth.

The "MSB" is a shallow interesting wreck in about 20-30 ft of water.
Nice dive, but you can get yourself in trouble if you aren't experienced
at penetration. There are however, neat places that a novice can
penetrate safely, but there are places where you can hang your gear up
unless you are careful even in the holds. Be careful. Vis is usually
about 15 ft, sometimes less. Be careful surfacing, as the local
fisherman may or may not see your dive flag on their way past. THis is
near Calumet harbor, about 45 minutes from Chicago.

If you want a fun dive, go out of Portage IN marina and turn east for
about 1 mile (or less) and dive for anchors on the breakwater. 20-40
feet depth. Usually a slight current. Bring a lift bag and you can (on a
good day) retrieve in excess of a hundred pounds of anchors. Let the
folks at the marina know you are going out on an "anchor dive" when you
leave and you can usually sell enough of them to pay for your dive day
when you get back. Be wary of the  ore freighters coming in an out of
the steel mills, (stay on the bottom until they pass!).

Again, wear gloves. Durable ones.