Petoskey, Michigan: Underwater Crucifix of Gerald Schapinski
Schapinski accidentally shot himself in 1962. His tombstone crucifix -- 11 feet tall -- broke, was bought by a scuba club as a marine memorial, and submerged just offshore in Lake Michigan. Visible to landlubbers only one day a year, when a hole is cut in the ice.
- Address:
- 101 E. Lake St., Petoskey, MI
- Directions:
- Park at the Petoskey City Marina, and walk out onto the ice near the clock tower at Bayfront Park.
- Hours:
- One day only, in early March. Local health policies may affect hours and access.
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A hole is chopped in the ice each year for one day at the beginning of March to allow Skin Diver Church pilgrims a view the submerged sanctuary. A white-marble crucifix was set up 65 feet down in Little Traverse Bay Aug. 12, 1962, by a local divers club, to honor diver Charles Raymond, who drowned in Torch Lake.
In 1985 the Michigan Skin Diving Council moved the crucifix to a more public 22 feet of water. The memorial now remembers all who lost their lives beneath the waves, in bodies of water everywhere.
[Cheryl, 03/17/2008]Skin Diver's Church (I believe that's what it's called) . It is a small shrine on the bottom of Little Traverse Bay...but I don't know how many have actually seen it.
[Jodie Walker, 07/30/2000]Nearby Offbeat Places
Mysterious Moving Tombstone, Petoskey, MI - < 1 mi.
Archangel Grotto, Petoskey, MI - 8 mi.
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During non-frozen months, adventurous visitors can take a boat out to a buoy floating above the crucifix, east of Petoskey Marina, and try to peer down.