NSF Speakers

Bob Foster, Slav Mlch, Dave Faye, Paul Blanchette and Don Morse - The SS Portland

The Steamship Portland, lost with all hands in a devastating storm at the turn of the last century, was thought to be beyond the reach of scuba divers. In August of 2008, a group of Massachusetts divers pushed the boundaries of technical diving and visited this untouched wreck.

Bob Foster showed video at the meetine on March 19 and took us along on the first dives to the Portland, lost for almost 100 years after sailing into the “Perfect Storm” of November 26th, 1898. This elegant paddle-wheeler carried over 190 passengers and crew as it left India Wharf in Boston bound for Portland Maine, and was last seen as night fell off the coast of Cape Ann. The wreck was discovered in 1989 and positively identified in 2002, lying over 450 feet deep in what is now the Stellwagen Bank Underwater National Marine Sanctuary.

Bob and fellow divers Slav Mlch, Dave Faye, Paul Blanchette and Don Morse were the first to visit the Portland in 110 years.