• About INA
• Projects
• Our Blogs
• Science
  & Technology
• INA Quarterly
• INA Turkey
• Photos
• Videos
• Publications
• News & Events
• Support INA
• Online Store
• Archaeology
  Resources

Preliminary Report

With collaboration, funding, and resources from Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM) and funding from National Geographic Society and Waitt Foundation, the first phase of this INA project was able to take place for ten days in September of 2009. As the earliest remains of a steamer to be found in Lake Champlain (and possibly the world), Phoenix represents an important archaeological resource to LCMM, who helps manage the underwater cultural resources in Vermont and preserves our knowledge of American maritime history through archaeological documentation in Lake Champlain. For this reason, LCMM has a significant interest in the investigation of Phoenix, and is a dedicated supporter of and contributor to the recording of the steamboat’s hull remains.    

Throughout the diving operation, the team was able to stage its headquarters on Stave Island on Lake Champlain, approximately three miles from the Phoenix buoy. This was made possible through a LCMM benefactor who found great interest in the project. The island was the ideal headquarters, with two large houses on either side of the island for staff members and the two caretakers who were also on the island through the duration of the project. The small harbor also served as a shelter for the research vessel during foul weather days, and proved a useful training area for underwater experimentation of new ideas and equipment. The main house, which is where the entire team stayed throughout the field season, had plenty of additional workspace for spreading out maps, Mylar, computers, clipboards, notes, drawings, and other work material. Power was provided by a generator and through solar panels, and there was no internet capability. Two golf carts were available for transporting gear from the house to the harbor and research vessel, and a weather monitor was available on the island (transmitted via a weather tower built in the early 20th century) for anticipating rough seas. Staging from the island also permitted the team to observe the sea state first hand before preparing for daily dive operations, saving the project valuable time (figure 1). 

Almost all members of the dive team used dry suits due to the depth and water temperature at the site. Though water clarity varied from between ten and twenty-five feet, lights were necessary due to darkness at depth. Nitrox mixture was used to maximize safety and provide more restful dive intervals. For hull recording, the team carried clipboards with Mylar sheets affixed to them, which were changed on a daily basis. Fifty and 100-foot measuring tapes, as well as wooden carpenter’s rules, were used for hull measurements. Both digital video cameras and digital single-lens reflex cameras with underwater housings were used to document the hull and produce a photomosaic of the site. Computer software, including iPhotomeasure and Rhino, was also used to assist with hull documentation and site recording. 

The research vessel for the project was Neptune, a 40-ft workboat captained by Fred Fayette (figure 2). Neptune proved an ideal work platform and could be moored directly over the wreck site, allowing for easy access to work. Gear could be assembled at the bow of the vessel, and divers could enter the water from the bow and be positioned directly in front of the dive buoy. Due to the flat stern and access ladders, divers could return to Neptune from the stern and change tanks at that location. Neptune is a covered vessel, and afforded protection to the team during rough seas and adverse weather. In addition, this versatile boat provided warmth to the team after deep dives, was equipped with a refrigerator and microwave, and has a side-scan sonar and obstacle avoidance sonar for survey operations.

Dive operations and hull recording took place at the Phoenix site between 28 September and 7 October 2009. The crew typically left Stave Island in research vessel Neptune at approximately 8:30 am daily, unless foul weather was predicted or present. Once Neptune was safely moored over the Phoenix buoy, the first dive rotation prepared for diving (figure 3). At all times, a safety diver was suited up with a scuba tank and set of equipment ready for emergency action. 

Depending on the number of divers at the site each day, there were either two or three two-person dive teams that worked on the wreck site. Each dive rotation typically consisted of one dive team. Once this team surfaced and returned to the research vessel and related any noteworthy events or observations, the second dive team prepared to enter the water. Unless foul weather became an issue, there were two dive rotations per day, approximately 20-30 minutes at depth. Dive intervals were between 3 and 4 hours. 

Each diver was given a task and location on the wreck to work before descending to Phoenix. Mesh bags were used to transport clipboards, rules, tags, goniometers, or other objects to the site. A bag of spare equipment was left down on the site in case of malfunction or loss of clipboards, pencils, or tape measures. 

The first part of the project was spent recording the offsets of the extant hull timbers, from the intact keelson to the outer extremities of the surviving frames. This data was obtained in order to create a site plan and get an idea of the vertical and horizontal extent of the hull. First, plastic tags, numbered 1 to 76, were attached to the frames. The low numbers started at the stern timbers, ending in 76 before the bow cant frames. Depth gauges were used to get the heights of the measurements taken at the keelson and the extreme-most portion of each frame for which a measurement was taken. In addition to taking the offsets, the team took measurements of the frame curves. Digital goniometers in underwater housings were used to record the angles of the frames in order to reconstruct the lines of the vessel. Some team members were also recording basic construction features during this portion of the project, such as variations in keelson thickness, plank thicknesses, and bow cant frame features.

The second part of the project was an effort to capture high definition video footage of the wreck site and create a photomosaic of the remains of Phoenix. In addition to the plastic numbered tags, the team cut 6” x 6” pink squares out of colored paper which were subsequently laminated so that they could be taken to the site. These squares were placed approximately every three feet along one side of the wreck. The objective was to have one square visible in each frame of the video footage, to be used as a measurement guide when using the video to aid in creating the site plan and construction drawings. By using the computer software iPhotoMeasure, the dimensions of the 6” x 6” squares could be entered into the software program and a digital measuring tool could be created. This is an experimental method that is meant to be used as a guide and augment the recorded measurements obtained from the divers. After the tags were laid, one diver with the video camera and strobes hovered over the wreck and captured the wreck site in several laps so that the stills from the video footage could be overlapped to create a photomosaic in Adobe Photoshop (in progress). 

During the evenings, the crew transferred their notes from Mylar to notebook paper, and included any sketches or other observations that they noted in the original Mylar sheets. The original sheets were kept for future reference. 

Preliminary Results and Anticipated Project End Dates

As evidenced in the previous archaeological investigation of Phoenix, the extant remains of the steamer are in good condition. The extremities of the frames, however, and in particular those at the stern section, are charred to the point of being extremely brittle. Despite this, much information could be gained from the hull measurements and a preliminary site plan is being created in Rhino modeling software to show the extent of surviving timbers. The existing length from stem to stern is 127 feet, and maximum width of the site is approximately 28 feet. The floors and frames are structurally sound (except for extremities) and in many cases the frames curve upwards at a considerable height off of the lake bed. In addition to the well-preserved frames, the keel, keelson, ceiling planking, outer planking, stringers, stem, sternpost, deadwood, and bow cant frames are available for study. Though some of the basic construction features were recorded throughout the 2009 field season, the structural features of the hull will be the focus of the 2010 field season. 

The creation of the site photomosaic is still in progress, but the imagery has been successful thus far in showing construction features for the purposes of cross-referencing measurements and recorded site features from the underwater work (figure 4). The extent of the usefulness of iPhotoMeasure software for measurement of wreck site features is still undetermined, but was a good exercise on archaeological site recording and much was learned in the few days that were spent on capturing the imagery which can be used to improve methodology in future efforts. 

The 2009 fieldwork was a complete success and has yielded a considerable amount of data on the archaeological site which will sufficiently allow for the drafting of a preliminary site plan, in turn generating a list of needed measurements and structural features for the 2010 field season.