It is difficult to properly describe the slow dawning that is descending onto a shipwreck. Even in the best of visibility there is a moment when the ominous shape below you materializes into something recognizable. The dark shadow becomes the bow of the ship and the ghostly silhouette becomes the mast. It is in that moment you wonder at the perplexing nature of seeing a human-made object underwater. It is thoroughly amazing to see how the ocean has adopted these giant pieces of metal. Kelp makes home on the gun deck, anemones climb high above, clinging to the main mast, and fish spiral in and out of territory they have claimed in the captain’s quarters. A marine ecosystem is created on an artifact that used to house people. Even though it is unlikely, you can’t help but get a creepy feeling there might be a few skeletons scattered about under the layer of life.
This weekend I was in San Diego with a group from Pro Scuba diving the Yukon, the Ruby E, and the Naval Ocean Systems Center Tower in Wreck Alley. The first dives we did were on the Yukon, a 366’ Canadian Destroyer that was sunk “intentionally” on July 14th, 2000. I say “intentionally” because the ship was gutted, made diver friendly with cutouts and swim throughs, and loaded with explosives to be sunk on the 15th. During the night it flooded and made its own way to the bottom, landing on its side rather than on its hull as intended. The wreck is truly impressive due to its size and condition. We did four dives on the Yukon, which was the perfect amount to be able to see the whole ship. My favorite of the four dives was one that started by descending onto the stern. It was beautifully covered in anemones of every shade of pink and purple. It looked like a float out of the Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade. It was incredible how intentional the array of colors looked.
The next dive we did was on the Ruby E, which is a 165’ coast guard cutter that was sunk in 1989. It was fascinating to see differences between the Yukon, which has only been underwater for 14 years, compared to the Ruby E, which has been at the mercy of the sea for 25 years. The Ruby E was much more grown-over and delicate. We were warned before descending we should not touch the ship, as it would likely crumble. On this wreck the anemones were just as, if not more, amazing than on the Yukon. They were every shade of pink, white, purple, and orange. The whole ship looked like a carefully manicured garden. I also enjoyed that the Ruby E is significantly smaller than the Yukon. On the Yukon Sky and I passed another buddy team from our group occasionally but on the Ruby E it felt like a party at 80 feet, with our whole group being visible from any point.
Our last dive was on the Naval Ocean Systems Center Tower, which was the only actual “wreck” we dove. It was built in 1959 as a research station and was knocked over in a storm some years later. I believe the captain of our boat best described it when he called it a scuba diver’s jungle gym. It looks like just that with the supports of the tower being perfect for swimming around and through. It was particularly fun to swim through the octagonal hatch that would have been used to lower equipment down into the water from the tower. I also got a kick out of swimming past the staircase used to enter the tower. The tower was covered in life. We got the pleasure of seeing two small horn sharks, which was a species I had never seen before, as well as a huge mussel and a scallop (which my buddy opened up an ate under water). This dive was a great way to end our run in Wreck Alley.
For anyone who loves to explore a new type of dive environment I definitely recommend making the trip to San Diego. We booked our trip with Water Horse Charters and I was very pleased with their operation. The crew was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. I was particularly impressed with Anita, who was on our boat both days. She was very kind and considerate, and it was evident she had a lot of experience. She ran a tight ship, insisting on safe scuba diving practices, which I really appreciated. All of the dives were fun and exciting and I surfaced from all of them grinning. I don’t know if it’s the pirate in me, but I thought diving Wreck Alley was the perfect adventure.
Photo by Skylar Merritt
sounds like a dream!
ReplyDelete