Local Divers Featured on Weather Channel

The Weather Channel's television series "Weather Ventures" featured three local divers, the Straits area, and the Mackinac Bridge Thursday, October 25. Pictured are (from left) Dirk Heckman of Hessel, Paul Tamlyn of Portland, Oregon, Mark Kistner of Metamora, and Paul Holle of Owosso. All but Mr. Kistner are former St. Ignace residents. (Photographs courtesy of Dirk Heckman)

Three recreational scuba divers from St. Ignace were featured in The Weather Channel's television program "Weather Ventures," which aired Thursday evening, October 25.

Dirk Heckman of Hessel, engineer manager for Chippewa County, Paul Holle of Owosso, and Paul Tamlyn of Portland, Oregon, all formerly of St. Ignace, served as tour guides for a filming crew for a "Weather Ventures" episode this past July, diving near Mackinac Island and in the Straits of Mackinac, visiting shipwrecks such as the Eber Ward and the Minneapolis, west of the Mackinac Bridge.

Weather Ventures is a series that features how weather affects various areas in the world. In this episode, it focused on how weather affects the Great Lakes and its shipping industry. The Mackinac Bridge was also featured.

"Weather Ventures" camera crew members followed local diver Dirk Heckman to explore the wreck of the Eber Ward, an 1888 wooden steamer that sank five miles west of the Mackinac Bridge in 1909, owing to ice damage.

The three local divers were connected with the film crew through Mark Kistner of Metamora, a diving trainer, who dives with the trio, having certified both Mr. Tamlyn and Mr. Holle. Mr. Kistner was contacted by an acquaintance from Macomb, who put him in touch with The Weather Channel representatives.