Filmmaker dives to sunken steamboats in Moosehead Lake

Courtesy of Ryan Robbins

Sunlight illuminates the fantail of Twilight II wreck in Moosehead Lake in late August. The Twilight II is one of several steamboats that rest on the floor of Moosehead Lake and will be featured in a historical documentary film being produced by the Moosehead Marine Museum in partnership with Ryan Robbins, the film’s director and founder of Moosehead Lake Divers.

More than a dozen steamboats lie on the floor of Moosehead Lake. Some have been identified — such as the Twilight II, the Kineo and the Priscilla — while other wrecks remain nameless.

In a quiet cove of Moosehead Lake, the sun filtered through the water in long beams stretching down to dance over the wreck of Twilight II. A steamboat measuring nearly 100 feet in length, the Twilight was covered with algae and rust. It’s wooden bow lied in the shallows near the shore, just an arm’s reach from the surface of the lake. And from there, the wreck tilted into the deep.

Scuba divers Ryan Robbins and Matt Kane swam along the ship’s railings on Aug. 12, descending slowly to the stern of the vessel, more than 40 feet below the surface. The two divers were capturing footage for a historical documentary “ Sunken Steamboats of Moosehead Lake.”

This summer, the Moosehead Marine Museum received two separate $10,000 grants from the Libra Foundation and the Fisher Charitable Foundation to support production of the film, which will include underwater footage and other imagery, combined with stories told by local residents.
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