Strong Winds Uncover a Shipwreck on Lake Erie

Powerful winds that triggered an Environment Canada warning this week stripped away sections of the Lake Erie shoreline that are normally concealed.

In doing so, they also — if only for a short time — revealed a shipwreck that is seldom visible.

Matt Vermette, owner of The Dive Shop in Kingsville, Ont., went out for a walk Wednesday evening — despite his wife thinking he was crazy for braving the strong winds and high waves — when something unusual caught his eye in the distance. It was a shipwreck.

He later estimated the wreck to be about 150 metres offshore and roughly 51 metres long, and said it appeared to be a schooner, recognizable by the prominent “skeleton” of its remains.

Which vessel the wreck belongs to remains uncertain. Historians Vermette consulted believe it may be one of two ships — the Demming or the Overton — both recorded in local newspapers of the era and dating back to before 1900.

One of the area’s shipwreck historians believes the wreck is that of the Demming.