Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2006/07/23/news/doc44c2deff4f686020059818.txt
By KONRAD MARSHALL, [email protected]
Sunday, July 23, 2006
COURTESY PHOTOS The Bateaux Below is a group that finds, identifies and tries to protect and publicize the artifacts at the bottom of Lake George. The group recently created a DVD documentary about one of its finds, 'The Lost Radeau: North America's Oldest Intact Warship.' A diver looks at the bow of a sunken ship. LAKE GEORGE -- Joe Zarzynski is an underwater archaeologist -- a combination of Jacques Cousteau and Indiana Jones.
The executive director of the Bateaux Below -- a group dedicated to identifying, protecting and publicizing the hidden historic wonders at the bottom of Lake George -- Zarzynski, a 6-foot-5 athletic scholar with the smile of an excited child, has both Cousteau's passion for conservation and education, and Jones's hunger for discovery and adventure.
"The end result of all archaeology should be to get the information out to the public and to researchers and academics," Zarzynski said. "We have a motto: a story is not a story until a story is told."
And the story of Lake George, as Zarzynski tells it -- with the help of actual local shipwrecks and sunken vessels -- is a good one.
People don't know it, he said, but there are almost 200 shipwrecks in the glacial-formed lake, and they're waiting to be rediscovered by those interested and intrepid enough to dive in.
To illustrate the point, Zarzynski recounts the story of how he and a team of volunteer divers, amateur historians and wannabee archaeologists used their knowledge of history and some modest technology to track down a wreck that had been hidden for more than two centuries.
But first, a history lesson.
In the mid 1700s, Britain and France were battling for control of a North American empire in a conflict that would come to be known as the French and Indian War. Soldiers used the waterways of New York to travel through the region -- at the time an untamed wilderness with no roads.
In 1757, as the British planned to mount a serious offensive using the waters of Lake George, the French attacked Fort William Henry, burning the entire British flotilla -- more than 300 bateaux (a French word for "boats"). A year later, the British knew better than to leave their boats out during the winter months.
Their solution was to deliberately sink 260 boats in shallow water just north of where Million Dollar Beach now sits, on the eastern side of the lake.
They filled them with rocks, watched them sink to the bottom, and then tried to raise them the following year. The majority were raised, but many were not.
"They actually thought it was going to be easier than it was," Zarzynski said.
Zarzynski said there's a historical account of the British raising a sloop, in which free divers would swim to the bottom, remove a few rocks, then swim back up. They would tie a rope to the craft, then use oxen, hundreds of soldiers and pulley systems, to drag the boat to shore.
Unfortunately, they couldn't get all of them. Those that were left behind remain at the bottom of the lake to this day.
Zarzynski said some researchers speculate that the British accidentally sank certain boats in water too deep, or, as some were sinking, they hit a steep lake shore slope and slid farther into the lake than intended.
One of those that went missing, said Zarzynski, the most impressive was the "Land Tortoise" -- a floating gun battery with an unusual seven-sided design, recently designated by the Smithsonian Institute as "the oldest intact war vessel in North America."
Lost for more than two centuries, the shipwreck lay hidden and undisturbed in the dark depths of Lake George until 232 years later, when Zarzynski and a few other curious explorers found it.
"It was intact, and lying in 107 feet of water," said Zarzynski, "a one-of-a-kind British and provincial warship and well-preserved icon of the French and Indian War."
Zarzynski and a team of researchers -- including fellow Bateaux Below members Bob Benway and Dave VanAken -- were scanning the lake bed with sonar on June 26, 1990, when they came across an unusual shape, and dove to investigate further.
Lake George water is usually clear, a trait Zarzynski believes will eventually help make it a premier inland diving destination. But at 107 feet down, the water was dark and murky.
As they came upon the shipwreck, Zarzynski wasn't sure what they'd found. He'd seen barges before, and all sorts of craft, but never anything with the strange angular shape before.
"It was dark. I was like, 'This is one strange-looking type of ship,'" he said, before realizing what lay before him. "The water was already cold, but it was a shivering moment. I had goosebumps."
Zarzynski knew it was the lost flagship of the sunken fleet of 1758.
"It looked colossal," he said. "I held the measuring tape at zero, and watched them swim away. The ship is 52 feet long."
The group came up, overjoyed, and then they began the long and arduous task that must be fulfilled with all archaeological discoveries -- that of heritage certification and classification, and the endless monotony of discussions about what to do with the find.
The Cousteau in Zarzynski would speak of education and preservation, and the Jones in him would plead that any antiquity "belongs in a museum!"
In the end, it was decided to do both -- to use the sunken fleet of 1758, the Land Tortoise, and a turn of the century steamship, as historical underwater classrooms.
The Bateaux Below floated buoys above each of the three watery museums, and erected underwater signs detailing the history of the sites, the geology and marine life surrounding them, some diving tips, and an explanation of the archaeology used to track them down.
But the group's work is not done. There are other sites on the lake worth visiting. For each, they must apply through the state for historical markers, and for permission to create underwater museums.
There is a 1995 find, a homemade research submarine, which was stolen and sunk in 1960. There are wooden row boats from the 1920s. There is a French and Indian War dock. And there is even a set of railway tracks, which was originally used to launch boats at Million Dollar Beach off boxcars.
Most of the finds in Lake George were made with the help of studious historic research. Zarzynski, a history major, seems to revel in collecting old accounts of long-forgotten times, and looking into the lore behind his loot.
His start in archaeological diving began one day in the early 1970s, going through the library, when he came across a book on Loch Ness, and the monster fabled to inhabit that dark lake. Most people would let their interest in the mystery pass, but Zarzynski was enthralled, and between the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s, he made nine pilgrimages to the blackened, peat-stained lake.
During that time, he heard about Lake Champlain, and its own supposed monster, "Champ." He learned to dive, and didn't find Champ, but instead found a great many shipwrecks, and, in turn, a passion for underwater archaeology.
"I love mysteries, and I love the water," Zarzynski said.
But when he began to snoop around the known shipwrecks in Lake George, it bothered him that they weren't as pristine as in other places, especially considering the history of the area.
In the 1960s, said Zarzynski, Lake George was one of the most popular places to dive in the northeast.
"After the invention of SCUBA in World War II, one can almost develop a case that American underwater archaeology began in Lake George."
Zarzynski wanted to see a preservation ethic become stronger among divers, and sees it as the group's responsibility to disseminate information on the fragility and importance of these sites. The public domain is all-important.
A friend and co-member of his group, Russell Bellico, has written three books on wrecks in the lake, and the group put together an award-winning documentary, "The Lost Radeau," about the Land Tortoise. But they want to do more.
Zarzynski is also working to see an underwater "blueway trail" established in New York, linking six of the major waterways in the state, in the hope that it would serve three functions: recreational tourism for divers; creation of historic markers leading to heritage tourism; and ongoing preservation of important sites.
"I think that diving is just beginning to become a little more interesting in Lake George," Zarzynski said. "But we're hoping to put more down there. We want divers to become stewards of the lake."
DIVE IN
For more information on diving at the various historical sites in Lake George, there is only one local dive shop. Contact Rich Morin's Professional Scuba Centers, at 761-0533, or visit www.morinsdivecenters.com, to select the right training course or supervised dive from an array of programs.
LEARN MORE
To get a better grasp of some of the historical wonders in Lake George, check out the 2005 documentary "The Lost Radeau," made by Pepe Productions and the Bateaux Below, by visiting www.thelostradeau.com.
By KONRAD MARSHALL, [email protected]
Sunday, July 23, 2006
COURTESY PHOTOS The Bateaux Below is a group that finds, identifies and tries to protect and publicize the artifacts at the bottom of Lake George. The group recently created a DVD documentary about one of its finds, 'The Lost Radeau: North America's Oldest Intact Warship.' A diver looks at the bow of a sunken ship. LAKE GEORGE -- Joe Zarzynski is an underwater archaeologist -- a combination of Jacques Cousteau and Indiana Jones.
The executive director of the Bateaux Below -- a group dedicated to identifying, protecting and publicizing the hidden historic wonders at the bottom of Lake George -- Zarzynski, a 6-foot-5 athletic scholar with the smile of an excited child, has both Cousteau's passion for conservation and education, and Jones's hunger for discovery and adventure.
"The end result of all archaeology should be to get the information out to the public and to researchers and academics," Zarzynski said. "We have a motto: a story is not a story until a story is told."
And the story of Lake George, as Zarzynski tells it -- with the help of actual local shipwrecks and sunken vessels -- is a good one.
People don't know it, he said, but there are almost 200 shipwrecks in the glacial-formed lake, and they're waiting to be rediscovered by those interested and intrepid enough to dive in.
To illustrate the point, Zarzynski recounts the story of how he and a team of volunteer divers, amateur historians and wannabee archaeologists used their knowledge of history and some modest technology to track down a wreck that had been hidden for more than two centuries.
But first, a history lesson.
In the mid 1700s, Britain and France were battling for control of a North American empire in a conflict that would come to be known as the French and Indian War. Soldiers used the waterways of New York to travel through the region -- at the time an untamed wilderness with no roads.
In 1757, as the British planned to mount a serious offensive using the waters of Lake George, the French attacked Fort William Henry, burning the entire British flotilla -- more than 300 bateaux (a French word for "boats"). A year later, the British knew better than to leave their boats out during the winter months.
Their solution was to deliberately sink 260 boats in shallow water just north of where Million Dollar Beach now sits, on the eastern side of the lake.
They filled them with rocks, watched them sink to the bottom, and then tried to raise them the following year. The majority were raised, but many were not.
"They actually thought it was going to be easier than it was," Zarzynski said.
Zarzynski said there's a historical account of the British raising a sloop, in which free divers would swim to the bottom, remove a few rocks, then swim back up. They would tie a rope to the craft, then use oxen, hundreds of soldiers and pulley systems, to drag the boat to shore.
Unfortunately, they couldn't get all of them. Those that were left behind remain at the bottom of the lake to this day.
Zarzynski said some researchers speculate that the British accidentally sank certain boats in water too deep, or, as some were sinking, they hit a steep lake shore slope and slid farther into the lake than intended.
One of those that went missing, said Zarzynski, the most impressive was the "Land Tortoise" -- a floating gun battery with an unusual seven-sided design, recently designated by the Smithsonian Institute as "the oldest intact war vessel in North America."
Lost for more than two centuries, the shipwreck lay hidden and undisturbed in the dark depths of Lake George until 232 years later, when Zarzynski and a few other curious explorers found it.
"It was intact, and lying in 107 feet of water," said Zarzynski, "a one-of-a-kind British and provincial warship and well-preserved icon of the French and Indian War."
Zarzynski and a team of researchers -- including fellow Bateaux Below members Bob Benway and Dave VanAken -- were scanning the lake bed with sonar on June 26, 1990, when they came across an unusual shape, and dove to investigate further.
Lake George water is usually clear, a trait Zarzynski believes will eventually help make it a premier inland diving destination. But at 107 feet down, the water was dark and murky.
As they came upon the shipwreck, Zarzynski wasn't sure what they'd found. He'd seen barges before, and all sorts of craft, but never anything with the strange angular shape before.
"It was dark. I was like, 'This is one strange-looking type of ship,'" he said, before realizing what lay before him. "The water was already cold, but it was a shivering moment. I had goosebumps."
Zarzynski knew it was the lost flagship of the sunken fleet of 1758.
"It looked colossal," he said. "I held the measuring tape at zero, and watched them swim away. The ship is 52 feet long."
The group came up, overjoyed, and then they began the long and arduous task that must be fulfilled with all archaeological discoveries -- that of heritage certification and classification, and the endless monotony of discussions about what to do with the find.
The Cousteau in Zarzynski would speak of education and preservation, and the Jones in him would plead that any antiquity "belongs in a museum!"
In the end, it was decided to do both -- to use the sunken fleet of 1758, the Land Tortoise, and a turn of the century steamship, as historical underwater classrooms.
The Bateaux Below floated buoys above each of the three watery museums, and erected underwater signs detailing the history of the sites, the geology and marine life surrounding them, some diving tips, and an explanation of the archaeology used to track them down.
But the group's work is not done. There are other sites on the lake worth visiting. For each, they must apply through the state for historical markers, and for permission to create underwater museums.
There is a 1995 find, a homemade research submarine, which was stolen and sunk in 1960. There are wooden row boats from the 1920s. There is a French and Indian War dock. And there is even a set of railway tracks, which was originally used to launch boats at Million Dollar Beach off boxcars.
Most of the finds in Lake George were made with the help of studious historic research. Zarzynski, a history major, seems to revel in collecting old accounts of long-forgotten times, and looking into the lore behind his loot.
His start in archaeological diving began one day in the early 1970s, going through the library, when he came across a book on Loch Ness, and the monster fabled to inhabit that dark lake. Most people would let their interest in the mystery pass, but Zarzynski was enthralled, and between the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s, he made nine pilgrimages to the blackened, peat-stained lake.
During that time, he heard about Lake Champlain, and its own supposed monster, "Champ." He learned to dive, and didn't find Champ, but instead found a great many shipwrecks, and, in turn, a passion for underwater archaeology.
"I love mysteries, and I love the water," Zarzynski said.
But when he began to snoop around the known shipwrecks in Lake George, it bothered him that they weren't as pristine as in other places, especially considering the history of the area.
In the 1960s, said Zarzynski, Lake George was one of the most popular places to dive in the northeast.
"After the invention of SCUBA in World War II, one can almost develop a case that American underwater archaeology began in Lake George."
Zarzynski wanted to see a preservation ethic become stronger among divers, and sees it as the group's responsibility to disseminate information on the fragility and importance of these sites. The public domain is all-important.
A friend and co-member of his group, Russell Bellico, has written three books on wrecks in the lake, and the group put together an award-winning documentary, "The Lost Radeau," about the Land Tortoise. But they want to do more.
Zarzynski is also working to see an underwater "blueway trail" established in New York, linking six of the major waterways in the state, in the hope that it would serve three functions: recreational tourism for divers; creation of historic markers leading to heritage tourism; and ongoing preservation of important sites.
"I think that diving is just beginning to become a little more interesting in Lake George," Zarzynski said. "But we're hoping to put more down there. We want divers to become stewards of the lake."
DIVE IN
For more information on diving at the various historical sites in Lake George, there is only one local dive shop. Contact Rich Morin's Professional Scuba Centers, at 761-0533, or visit www.morinsdivecenters.com, to select the right training course or supervised dive from an array of programs.
LEARN MORE
To get a better grasp of some of the historical wonders in Lake George, check out the 2005 documentary "The Lost Radeau," made by Pepe Productions and the Bateaux Below, by visiting www.thelostradeau.com.
