"In life as well as in wreck," commented maritime historian and archaeologist John O. Jensen, "the Hetty Taylor was and is aesthetically a 'finer' ship than many of the more crudely built small vessels that plied Lake Michigan's coast."

The Hetty Taylor sits upright with her bow and portside in excellent condition, and her high degree of structural integrity reflects the nature of the wreck event--a relatively gentle foundering--and the site's 105-foot depth of water. Capsizing may sound like a violent end, but it is usually much easier on a ship than burning, colliding with other ships, or being pounded by waves in the high-energy surf zone and then torn apart by decades of exposure to ice and waves. The many efforts to salvage the Hetty Taylor reflect expectations that her capsizing had left her in much better shape than most other wrecking events would have.

As divers descend the mooring line to the wreck, the faint outline of the ship's hull gradually emerges. Gradually the lines become sharper and the details of the wreck slowly develop. The mooring line drops divers just off the starboard bow. The Taylor 's bow is a highlight of the site and is ideal for underwater photography and video. A windlass and anchor chain sit on deck, and the bowsprit with a broken jib boom are two of the more picturesque features of the site.

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