OP
Join Me Diving Wreck Alley Thursday, April 8
- Thread starter fisheater
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
OP
fisheater
Contributor
Well, never did get another diver to sign up and meet our five diver minimum.
On DiveTrippers, I saw that the other three divers were also trying to get a fifth diver. I PM'd them and we all agree to chip in 1/4 of the cost of the elusive fifth diver. So, we each ended up with our own 1/4 of the dive deck. Talk about luxury!!
Capt. Anita and DM Lee were wonderful. Both are helpful and fun. The Humboldt is a fine dive boat, too.
The weather was absolutely wonderful. 79F with a slight cooling breeze. Blue, cloudless sky. Gentle swells. If anything, it was challenge to get suited up in my drysuit. (I decided to dive dry so I could experience deep DS diving.)
Dive One:
HMCS YUKON - a 366 ft. Canadian destroyer, sunk as an artificial reef 10 years ago. It was hard to get a "feel" for the size of the wreck, as the vis was "atrocious" (as described by a San Diego diver who was staying home until things got "diveable") at 6-8 feet. However, the low vis, darkness, surge and kelp sure made this North Coast Diver feel at home!
I had to cut my dive a bit short, as my buddy ran through his air quickly, but I had a fun time. We descended on the bow buoy and then dropped to the sand at about 100 fsw and swam aft, then ascended to the starboard side (as the Yukon lies on her port side). I followed my LOA buddy straight across the top of the ship to the buoy and we started our ascent. I only got a feeling of "floaty feet" once and was quickly able to control it. I found that using my wing for buoyancy was best, only adding enough air to my DS to avoid the squeeze.
29 min. 94 ft. max depth. 65 ft. ave depth. Surface temp 64F. Bottom temp 49F.
Dive Two:
Second dive on the Yukon. By this time, two USMC dive boats showed up and tied up to the after buoy. During our SI, we watched a bunch of Marines in doubles enter and exit.
This time my buddy said that when he was at 1/2 tank he'd say goodbye and ascend solo, leaving me to join the others in a three man team. We all agreed on this plan and I was able to stay down to within 5 minutes of my NDL. Vis was no better, but I really enjoyed the dive. I was glad for my new can light, as it enabled me to stay with my buddy(ies) and I could see into the many diver access holes cut into the ship. With the low vis, we did no penetrations, the insides of the ship being more cloudy than the outsides.
While swimming along, I came face-to-face with two Marines swimming back the other way. That's a first first! They were really booking along and only gave me a quick nod to my "I'm a friendly civilian" wave. Soon thereafter, we heard the Marine dive boats starting up and leaving. They must have been close to overdue.
The Yukon is covered in strawberry anemones and the insides are full of metridiums. We saw lots of kelp bass, barred sand bass, painted greenlings, barred sand bass and various perches.
42 min. 88 ft. max depth. 54 ft. ave depth. Surface temp 64F. Bottom temp 50F.
Dive Three:
USCGC Ruby E. A 165 ft. Coast Guard Cutter sunk as an artificial reef 20 years ago.
Vis was less than on the Yukon. My original dive buddy sat this one out, so it was team of three of us. We descended on the only buoy line, at the stern. We swam the length of the ship and then back towards the stern. It was obvious that this ship had been under longer, as the there were rusted through areas on the deck plates. We did a small swim-through penetration in the wheelhouse, from port to starboard, and then explored the bow area. At that point, I lost contact with my buddies. Though I helicoptered around and around, shining my can light like a beacon, I didn't see them. I couldn't tell if they'd gone up in a hurry, due to an emergency or if they'd turned to the fore for more exploration. I decided to find the up line and hang out near there until I found the others or it was time for me to surface. Just as I came down to within five minutes of my NDL (which was my self-imposed limit), they returned from their explorations and we surfaced.
36 min. 79 ft. max depth. 58 ft. ave depth. Surface temp 62F. Bottom temp 50F.
All in all, a GREAT day of diving, especially for a North Coast Diver.
On DiveTrippers, I saw that the other three divers were also trying to get a fifth diver. I PM'd them and we all agree to chip in 1/4 of the cost of the elusive fifth diver. So, we each ended up with our own 1/4 of the dive deck. Talk about luxury!!
Capt. Anita and DM Lee were wonderful. Both are helpful and fun. The Humboldt is a fine dive boat, too.
The weather was absolutely wonderful. 79F with a slight cooling breeze. Blue, cloudless sky. Gentle swells. If anything, it was challenge to get suited up in my drysuit. (I decided to dive dry so I could experience deep DS diving.)
Dive One:
HMCS YUKON - a 366 ft. Canadian destroyer, sunk as an artificial reef 10 years ago. It was hard to get a "feel" for the size of the wreck, as the vis was "atrocious" (as described by a San Diego diver who was staying home until things got "diveable") at 6-8 feet. However, the low vis, darkness, surge and kelp sure made this North Coast Diver feel at home!
I had to cut my dive a bit short, as my buddy ran through his air quickly, but I had a fun time. We descended on the bow buoy and then dropped to the sand at about 100 fsw and swam aft, then ascended to the starboard side (as the Yukon lies on her port side). I followed my LOA buddy straight across the top of the ship to the buoy and we started our ascent. I only got a feeling of "floaty feet" once and was quickly able to control it. I found that using my wing for buoyancy was best, only adding enough air to my DS to avoid the squeeze.
29 min. 94 ft. max depth. 65 ft. ave depth. Surface temp 64F. Bottom temp 49F.
Dive Two:
Second dive on the Yukon. By this time, two USMC dive boats showed up and tied up to the after buoy. During our SI, we watched a bunch of Marines in doubles enter and exit.
This time my buddy said that when he was at 1/2 tank he'd say goodbye and ascend solo, leaving me to join the others in a three man team. We all agreed on this plan and I was able to stay down to within 5 minutes of my NDL. Vis was no better, but I really enjoyed the dive. I was glad for my new can light, as it enabled me to stay with my buddy(ies) and I could see into the many diver access holes cut into the ship. With the low vis, we did no penetrations, the insides of the ship being more cloudy than the outsides.
While swimming along, I came face-to-face with two Marines swimming back the other way. That's a first first! They were really booking along and only gave me a quick nod to my "I'm a friendly civilian" wave. Soon thereafter, we heard the Marine dive boats starting up and leaving. They must have been close to overdue.
The Yukon is covered in strawberry anemones and the insides are full of metridiums. We saw lots of kelp bass, barred sand bass, painted greenlings, barred sand bass and various perches.
42 min. 88 ft. max depth. 54 ft. ave depth. Surface temp 64F. Bottom temp 50F.
Dive Three:
USCGC Ruby E. A 165 ft. Coast Guard Cutter sunk as an artificial reef 20 years ago.
Vis was less than on the Yukon. My original dive buddy sat this one out, so it was team of three of us. We descended on the only buoy line, at the stern. We swam the length of the ship and then back towards the stern. It was obvious that this ship had been under longer, as the there were rusted through areas on the deck plates. We did a small swim-through penetration in the wheelhouse, from port to starboard, and then explored the bow area. At that point, I lost contact with my buddies. Though I helicoptered around and around, shining my can light like a beacon, I didn't see them. I couldn't tell if they'd gone up in a hurry, due to an emergency or if they'd turned to the fore for more exploration. I decided to find the up line and hang out near there until I found the others or it was time for me to surface. Just as I came down to within five minutes of my NDL (which was my self-imposed limit), they returned from their explorations and we surfaced.
36 min. 79 ft. max depth. 58 ft. ave depth. Surface temp 62F. Bottom temp 50F.
All in all, a GREAT day of diving, especially for a North Coast Diver.
Bubbletrubble
Contributor
6-8 ft vis on the Yukon. Been there, done that. I'm glad to hear you had a good time.
You need to do the Yukon on a good vis day (50+ ft. vis).
Anita's great. I didn't realize that she was serving as captain on the Humboldt now.
That's a big boat for 4 divers to enjoy!
You need to do the Yukon on a good vis day (50+ ft. vis).
Anita's great. I didn't realize that she was serving as captain on the Humboldt now.
That's a big boat for 4 divers to enjoy!
FrankPro1
Contributor
Nice Report Fisheater! Did you take your camera? I would have loved to join you, but between classes, work and getting my boat ready for the water, there has been little time for much else. Next time your planning on being down here for some tropical dives, if the conditions are right we should explore some of what Palos Verdes has to offer. Let me know
Thanks for the report
Too bad about the viz, the Yukon is pretty imposing when you can see more of it, and the RubyE reminds me of a parade float with its covering of strawberry anemones looking like flowers
Too bad about the viz, the Yukon is pretty imposing when you can see more of it, and the RubyE reminds me of a parade float with its covering of strawberry anemones looking like flowers
Similar threads
