Date: 6-21-08
Location: Wreck Alley, Yukon
Times: 11:15 am/1:30 pm
Max Depths: 99 ft./85 ft.
Mix: 34%/32%
Viz: actually, fairly mediocre: 10-12 ft max at depth/1-3 ft. at 15 ft.
Surge/Current: strong [est.] 2-3 knot current on surface; strong surge down below: strong 'push me/pull you' in diver cut-outs. Not friendly conditions for divers new to the Yukon.
Critters Seen: Blacksmith fish, Surfperch, Barred Sand Bass, Large Lincod, Lemon Dorid, CA sea cucumbers, Masking Crab, Black-Eyed Gobies, Tube-Dwelling Anemones, Sea Pens…[ISIFS]: I'm Sure I'm Forgetting Something [CRS] :)
Dive Buddies: Jimbo, Merrianne and Brad
Remarks:
Dive: #1
Despite mediocre visibility, today's dives on the Yukon were actually quite delightful. Fun was had by all.
We picked up Merrianne, Brad, Jimbo [designated 1st mate] and his 16 yr. old daugher Kelly [designated 2nd mate, excellent surface support and Skipper on the way back] at the dock and headed out to the Yukon under already warm temperatures.
Arriving at the Yukon, we were treated to a full-on invasion of dolphins, 4-6 pods half a dozen dolphins each, leaping joyfully out of the water on either side of out boat, chasing a huge baitball of fish about 30 yards ahead of us. Some of them were leaping out of the water so close to the boat, we could almost reach out and touch them.
They surrounded our boat and kept up the show for almost half an hour, while we tied up to the Stern Mooring Buoy, before finally moving on towards the South, still chasing the baitball. Pelicans could be seen diving and splashing into the water also, trying to get some dinner to take home.
What a cool way to start the day!
Upon arrival at the Stern Buoy, it was decided that Merrianne and Brad would descend first, with Jimbo and I following about 45 mins behind, leaving the boat in the capable hands of Jimbo's daugher, Kelly, who had been briefed on the location of lifejackets and instructed in the use of the onboard Marine Band Radio, in case anything should happen.
After Merrianne and Brad had been down about 40 mins, Jimbo and I could restrain ourselves no longer, so we suited up and jumped in.
Upon arrival on the Stern, we noticed that someone, in a burst of patriotic zeal, had attached an America flag to the ascent line, so I pulled it out to full length and hammed it up for the camera. We also noticed that the bottom part had become unattached, so we made a mental note to fix that on the second dive.
The plan was to enter through the diver cutout in the Stern, go in through Burma Road, go through the first chamber, into the second chamber and up through the cut-out at the top.
So, after a brief pause for the camera outside of the Stern opening, making sure my 'good profile' was facing the camera, I penetrated into the first room, which Jimbo bringing up the rear behind me.
After ducking under the various pipes and ropes hanging from the ceiling, I found myself in the second room, with the cutout at the top. Looking behind me, I could see Jimbo following, not far behind.
As I mentioned, the original plan had been to simply exit through the top at this point, but looking down, I noticed that I was in sort of an elevator shaft which dropped down to the bottom of the ship, about 20 ft. below and I was curious what lay at the bottom.
So, after signaling Jimbo that I intended to drop down into the shaft, I deflated my BC and began the long drop down. After what seemed forever, I finally arrived at the bottom. Looking up, the skylight above looked to be about the size of a postage stamp.
Looking down, I found myself in a fairly large chamber, with mucho sand at the bottom, actually sloping upwards along the walls about 3 ft. Note to self: don't use fins down here.
Turning around and orienting myself, I glimpsed something bright yellow on the bottom. Upon closer examination, I realized it was beautiful Noble Dorid about 5 inches long.
I frantically signaled to Jimbo, far above me and he got the hint and gently glided down to check it out.
Upon arrival on the bottom, I was relieved to see that he didn't use his fins to stir up the sand and calmly began framing the Dorid in the viewfinder of his camera, while I shone the double beams of my Nite Rider wrist light on it. After about 4 strobe flashes, he seemed satisfied and we began our slow ascent up towards the skylight, high above us.
Emerging out through the top exit, we were greeted with a rather strong current, which was whipping the kelp back and forth in the surge. We were basically sucked out of the opening and then somersaulted over the hull and down onto the superstructure.
From here, we finned our way towards the Captain's Bridge and then, upon arrival at our agreed upon turnaround point, began heading back.
Heading back to the Mortar Bay, we played around here before beginning our ascent up the Stern Buoy Line, satisfied that we had had an excellent dive, even though viz had been less than spectacular.
On the Safety Stop, we had a rather comical mis-understanding.
For some reason, I got the idea that Jimbo had racked up deco and decided I stay with him for the duration of it.
He got the same mistaken idea about me and we both signaled to each other that we would wait until the other was ready to ascend.
After about 6 minutes of this, we each began to wonder when the other would be out of deco and kept asking each other and the other would respond: "What deco? What are you talking about? I"m fine!"
It took us about 10 minutes to work out this 'Who's on First' routine, before we finally figured out that neither one of us had any deco and we made our ascent to the surface.
Later, we agreed we could see the headlines now: "DIvers run out of air and die at 15 ft. each waiting for the other to go out of deco that never existed."
Dive #2
Despite the mediocre viz, everyone agreed that we were having a good time and we would stay to do a second dive, so again, Merrianne and Brad jumped in first and after waiting about 45 mins, Jimbo and I did the same. We waved to them on the way down as they were coming up.
This time, it was agreed that Jimbo and I would head toward bow and them make our way back along the hull.......but, not before we did our patriotic duty and before proceeding, repaired the flag on the Stern end with a zip tie so that both top and bottom were secured to the line. Are we cool or what?
We made our way towards the bow, Jimbo's flash going off periodically as he found things to shoot and before we knew it, we were at the bow.
I decided I would do another first for me: I would ascend up through the Dolphin cutout, which I did and Jimbo being the copycat that he is, followed not far behind. You have to use care, because the openings at either end are not very wide and it's easy to hook a piece of equipment on it on the way through.
From here, per the plan, we made our way back towards the Stern, along the amazingly clean hull.
About 30 ft. on, I found a cutout I decided I wanted to check out, so I dipped down into it only to find that it was a bit gloomy inside and led to parts unknown of the interior of the ship and didn't feel very friendly, so I popped back up through the exit and we resumed our way Sternward.
About 8/10ths of the way there, I spotted a rather large Lincod, perched on a ledge, looking out at us.
I gestured to Jimbo and he needed no further prompting and aimed his camera at Mr. Lincod and began flashing away with his strobe.
He tolerated this for about 5 flashes, before glaring at us in annoyance and shooting off over the hull.
No matter. Jimbo had gotten his shots.
From here, our gauges indicated it was time to begin coming up, so we headed for the Stern Ascent Line.
Here, Jimbo and I had another one of our comical misunderstandings.
With about 1000 lbs of air left, I figured we had a couple minutes left to mess around, so asked Jimbo by sign language if he'd like to just cruise around here for a couple minutes before heading up.
He misinterpreted my signal to mean: would I like go around the ship another two times?
Thinking I had temporarily lost my mind, he gestured rather emphatically that, NO, he was NOT interested in circumnavigating the ship another two times on 1000 lbs. of air.
I was thinking, OK: whatever dude............let's go up, which we did.
It was only upon arrival back on board that I understood his vehemence in not liking my plan, which I had thought was pretty innocent at the time. How comical.
All's well that ends well, however, and we had all had a good time and fun was had by all.
We even designated his daughter Kelly 'skipper' on the way back and let here commandeer the boat, although she later indicated that while she enjoyed 'going fast' she just didn't want to do it while she was at the helm.
Great day on Lady Yuke--we'll have to do it again, sometime!
Dive safe, everyone.........
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