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David Dows
 IL
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Max Depth: 41-50ft/12-15m
Average Viz: 21-25ft/6-8m
Entry Type: Boat
Aquatic Life: Might See Something
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Rating: 3.67 by 3 divers
Summer: 56-60°F/13-16°C
Winter: Under 50°F/10°C
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David Dows is a boat accessible fresh water dive site, located in IL. This dive site has an average rating of 3.67 out of 5 from 3 scuba divers. The maximum depth is 41-50ft/12-15m. The average visibility is 21-25ft/6-8m.
Built 1881 sunk 1889 largest and only 5 masted schooner on Lake Michigan. Not much left. GPS N41 45.95’ W087 23.58 Dove it in 2008
"She is depicted on NOAA chart 14927 (follow a line from Jackson Park
Harbor East, and Buffington Harbor North - the lines intersect just
above the Dows), and is easily spotted with a depth sounder. If you
have a Loran, it’s even simpler. The Dows is located at 33383.5 X
50201.5 (your readings may differ slightly)."
Whether the wreck lies in Illinois or Indiana is determined by where you
place the northern boundary of Indiana. Various maps show the line as
far north as a mile or so north of Jackson Harbor, others show the line
as far south as a couple of miles south of Jackson Harbor.
A number of ARI staff
members are certified underwater divers and have participated in underwater
archaeology projects. Most notable of these is mapping the debris
field for the wreck of the David Dows, the largest five-masted
barkentine schooner on the Great Lakes in the 1880s. The Dows
sunk in a gale on November 29, 1889, in sixty feet of water near the south
shore of Lake Michigan.
ARI worked with the Chicago Maritime Society in mapping
and tagging the debris field for the Wells Burt, another Great
Lakes Schooner sunk in a storm in May of 1883.