Date: Saturday, February 16, 2008

Location: Yukon, Wreck Alley

Time: 11:40 AM

Dive length: 40 minutes

Surface conditions: strong northwest swell, 12 to 15 second intervals

Visibility: 5 to 10 feet

Maximum depth: 92 feet

Temperature: 54°

Critters seen: huge schools of Blacksmith fish, Senioritas, Surf Perch, California Sea Cucumbers, Hermissenda crassicornis, Giant Kelp….

I knew that we would have some decent swell on the way out, when I checked the northwest swell models this morning. This was confirmed, after picking up Kathy, ‘Iron Man’ Charlie and NOOA Jim and at the dock, when we headed out Mission Bay channel and saw some pretty sizable 5 foot swells crashing against the rocks creating some pretty spectacular whitewater on either side of the jetty, on our way out.

So it came as no surprise when, upon surfacing from their first dive on the Yukon this morning, Jim and Charlie gave us a friendly warning that Kathy and I were in for a pretty rough ride on Lady Yuke.

We had seen the slow lazy swells rolling in at about 15 second intervals as we waited on the deck of the Scuba Do for Charlie and Jim to surface.

Sure enough, when Kathy and I arrived on the Yukon after descending down the Forward Guns decent line, the surge was in full swing: we could see huge schools of Blacksmith fish being pushed first one way and then the other on the deck. It was almost comical…

The plan was to head towards the Captain’s Bridge and play around there for while, and then head back, which is what we did, knowing that trying to swim the full length of the ship under these conditions, would probably not be a great idea.

Visibility was a dark and murky 5 to 10 feet, where about all you can see were strange dark shapes looming ahead of you, not really sure what they were in the gloom.

However, we were able to identify where the ascent line attached to the Forward Guns, and make our way slowly, hand over hand toward the Captain’s Bridge.

The cutouts into the ship’s hull were exhibiting dramatic “Push me—Pull you” suction and surge: as you would swim by one, the surge would come blasting out and pushing back about 3 feet, then a pause, and the section would begin, pulling you like a giant vacuum cleaner into the ship’s dark interior.

Of course, by keeping a healthy distance from the cutouts, you avoided being sucked in or spat out.

Kathy , who is a PADI Instructor, later surprised me by saying she actually tells her students in the wreck diving classes she teaches, that if they get accidentally sucked into the Yukon, to simply wait 15 seconds or so, and they will be promptly spat out again.

I had already decided that I wasn’t going to be testing that theory today, and hence I kept my distance from the cutouts.

As we made our way toward the Captain’s Bridge, huge schools of blacksmith fish seem to shadow us, as we all rocked back and forth in the surge together as one.

Arriving at the bridge and slightly further on, Milt’s Tilt, we lingered for a while, admiring the bright snowy white canopy of Metridia and which cover this area. Surprisingly, here the visibility actually picked up a bit, to about 10 feet.

At this point, I gave the signal to begin heading back to the bow, and we began returning to whence we came.

Returning to the Forward gun area, we found that the closer we came to the bow, the stronger the surge. We made the mistake of ascending slightly near the cutout dolphin area, only to find that Mr. Surge was trying to sweep us completely off the decks altogether; the solution here we found, was to simply grab onto any protruding metal object, such as a gun barrel, and hang on for dear life.

It was also here, that we could see rather vividly, the affects of this northwest swell on the Yukon: the kelp on the starboard bow area was rippling in the current at about a 45 degree angle.

And when I say ‘rippling,’ perhaps I should say ‘ripping,’ because the tips of the kelp were a blur of motion in the surge.

At this point, we had no trouble agreeing that it was probably time to end the dive and we began a leisurely ascent and for the surface and friendlier conditions.

We were careful not to ever, ever, let go of the line, for fear of being swept away and deposited ungracefully on the shores of Mission Bay, 1.8 miles away.

We climbed aboard the Scuba Do, agreeing that while it had been a stimulating and educational experience in the power of Mother Nature, it was probably sufficient diving for one day.

We are supposed to be taking out someone tomorrow for their first dive on the Yukon; I will have to examine conditions carefully before deciding if this will be a good idea or not.

Dive safe everyone, and remember: respect Mommie Nature and her power, for even Southern California has winter conditions.

Note: this dive report was dictated into voice recognition software.