We made some calls early in the morning and found a man who could take us out to the wreck. In speaking to him over the phone at the hotel, Dianne found out that he was a diver and had logged many hours on the wreck! We met Eduard at the Rimouski Marina and spent a lot of time talking about the wreck and his experience diving on the ship. We had to wait for the tide to come in so he could get his zodiac into the water (A zodiac is a small boat, usually with a fiberglass bottom and inflatable sides)

Eduard told us about his very first dive on Empress of Ireland. Now, the St. Lawrence River is notorious for low visibility underwater, and the wreck of Empress of Ireland sits in a spot near the mouth of the river where the current deposits literally tons and tons of sediment all over the place. Despite all this, Eduard told us of the crystalline conditions he had on his first descent to the wreck. Diving down, he said he could see more than 75% of the wreck at once. This enormous dark hull stretched off into the darkness in either direction. He said at that moment he fell in love with this ship.

While Eduard and Dianne began to exchange diving stories, Chris and I wandered around the marina with Marc. Marc and I videotaped everything. We came to find that we would not all be able to journey out to the wreck due to limited space in the zodiac. Dianne, Chris and I were determined to go, Edith decided not to go (she was VERY pregnant at the time) and Marc wasn't fully recovered from the night before (he and I had drank quite a bit) so he handed Chris his video camera and instructed him on its use.

Eduard holds the distinction of having more dives on Empress of Ireland than anyone save for Phillipe Beaudry, a diver from Montreal. Eduard recovered more than 900 feet of teak decking from Empress of Ireland and used it most fittingly. He finished his yacht, Argo-5 with the teak. While we waited for the tide to come in, he took us down to his boat to show us around.

The sleek black hull of Argo-5 is accented with gold lettering on the bow. The Empress teak is used lightly on the outside; hatch covers, runner trim and the like. But inside, the entire interior is finished in Empress teak! It was beautiful. Chris and I were in awe. Eduard had done all the work himself and it was truly a privilege to see the inside of this boat! The craftsmanship was amazing. Eduard even presented Dianne with a piece of teak that he had not used. We took pictures and video, and were informed that the zodiac was in the water and we could prepare to head out to the wreck!

The first thing we had to do was bundle up. Dianne got a survival suit, which Eduard informed us would only give her a few minutes in the cold water! not much comfort to Chris and I; we didn't get survival suits. We simply put on extra coats and life preservers. After some coaxing, Dianne managed to squeeze into one of the survival suits and we were headed out to the wreck. The air was cold but surprisingly not too bad.

When we cleared the marina, we picked up speed and the faster we went, the choppier the water seemed to get. As we skimmed across the waves, we were launched at times almost 10 feet into the air. At first it was fun, but once or twice we landed very hard and Chris and I decided to focus on holding on VERY tight. Eduard was using a GPS system and just off Pointe au Pere were made a turn and headed for the buoys that marked the resting place of Empress of Ireland.

As we approached the wreck site, we noticed two zodiacs already there. Divers were climbing into both boats and as we drew closer, they hastily departed. Chris and I surmised the same thing; they had removed items from the wreck despite the recent protection act. As we slowed over the wreck, Eduard called out the reading from the echo sounder; "150 feet...145 feet...150 feet...115 feet!" He pointed to the screen "115 feet! We are directly over the wreck!" Chris and I stared at the water in vain, knowing we would not see the ship, but wishing nonetheless. Eduard took us from one buoy to the other, running stem to stern over Empress of Ireland. It was a surreal moment for Chris and I; being this close to the ship we had only read about until now! Dianne also had a reason for being here. She took out the canister containing her late husband's ashes. She said simply "To my best friend and diving buddy!" and spread the ashes over the wreck her husband had dove on so many years ago. We lingered for a few minutes over the wreck, collecting our thoughts and remembering the tragedy that took place on this unlikely spot. It was hard to imagine such a drama unfolding this close to shore. In reality we were several miles out but it looked close enough to swim. Try as I might, can never know the true horror of that night

Tribute to Ron Strong

We only spent a few minutes over the wreck. As we headed back to the marina, neither Chris nor I really said too much. Dianne, on the other hand, well I don't think she ever stopped talking. (just kidding Dianne!)

We came into the marina at full speed, arcing wide around the breakwater and zipping in and out of the yachts assembled for what we guessed was a race. We slowed only as we approached the pier and after Chris, Dianne and I had disembarked, we saw the harbor master over by the zodiac yelling at Eduard. Eduard muttered something back to him and the harbor master stomped back up to his office. They had been speaking French; I asked Chris for a translation and he said that the harbor master had been mad about the speed at which we entered the marina. Eduard's response is unprintable here. 8-)

From the marina, we decided to head out to the memorial that Canadian Pacific had erected after the disaster.