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Ferry Boat Dawn, Lake Washinbgton, Seattle (Sep 24, 2006)Our final dive of the weekend was to the ferry boat Dawn, which lies in about 110 feet of water in Lake Washington.She was apparently sunk in 1946 on the orders of Seattle city council. Here's a link to the SCRET page on her: http://www.scret.org/Dawn/Dawn_archives.htm#historicalimages Here is a historical picture of the Dawn, apparently courtesy of Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society or the Mercer Island Historical Society.  The dive was planned a a no deco dive on 30/30 for 20 mins at an average of 110 feet. We also planned a 3 min stop at 20 on the way up as it was our second dive of the day. Richard wanted to go through a swimthrough he'd done on his previous dive on the Dawn, so we agree on that too. The dive was done on 80 stages of 30/30 with doubles left over from the first dive of the day for rock bottom/bailout gas (1400 psi in LP 98's for me) Conditions were expected to be similar to the bomber, so at least I had an idea of how it was going to be. I hadn't actually realized until we got down to her that the Dawn was of wood construction. What an awesome sight to see a wooden ship essentially intact after 50+ years. The power of fresh water! Part of the starboard side (I think)   Entering the "swimthrough"  Richards swimthrough actually turned into something more of a swim through almost the entire wreck. It was the most aggressive dive I've done inside a wreck, although there are windows all the way down the port side that we could have swum out of at pretty much any point (although my video lights didn't penetrate far enough to actually see them). Also, it highlights how easy it is to get "sucked into a wreck" as even though we entered it willingly, you really couldn't see the ceiling above your head. Something we dont (usually) get in Southern California. We went past a staircase on the way in. All the steps still seemed to be intact. In theory it might even be possible to swim up there -- maybe next time!  These stairs are actually going up, even though it looks like (to me) they go downward.  here we made a right-turn toward the stern I guess. Maybe the bow though -- I was somewhat disoriented in the 5 feet vis.  A section of floowing inside the wreck  An exciting new species of freshwater shark! Actually it's supposed to be a salmon. if only I'd brought a spear gun! (Joke joke)  Some kind of "device" maybe something metal. Not sure what it is.  Richard laying line on the way in.  Our turn point. It felt like we'd been going for ever, but was less than 5 mins.  Some collapsed beams on the way back out.  A hole in the inside flooring.  Back outside the wreck, swimming along beside where we'd just been inside.  A warped plank sticking up from the deck.  Some kind of post?  This looks like a railing on top of one of the decks.  One of the only pieces of obvious metal. Not sure what it is.  These stairs actually do go downwards :)  A section of deck.  This is an awesome dive. It's amazing to see the thing so intact. Also, a perfect stage dive. I surfaced after 33 mins or so with 500psi in the stage (and my breathing rate is not known to be the greatest) Thanks for the trip Rjack!! 10:40 AM - 9/28/2006 - post comment
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