| Limey Diver |
Wreck of the Olympic Aug 5, 2007Continuing on from the rigs, we were successful in convincing the boat to go to the Olympic, despite it being dah dah dah "a reverse profile" (most of us had stuck to 60-70 feet on dive 2)We quickly changed from our stroke-gas (air) to 32% as the Olympic sits in about 95 feet. The vis was "so so" for the Olympic -- about 30 feet of greeny water with a mild current. The boat captain (claimed) he deliberately set the anchor a little way off the wreck to avoid getting snagged up as he had done in the past (maybe his definition of little is different). Generally boats anchor on this wreck, rather than drop a shot line (most divers are just going to yank the shot line off the wreck as they pull themselves up/down it). Bearing in mind we are in one of the busiest shipping lanes (I think 40% of all cargo containers that come into the USA come via this harbor), it's a really nice idea to come back up the line. So we definitely take the reel. Pete jumps in and all I hear is some rather coarse swearing. Pete has just dropped the reel in 100 feet of water. It's the only reel we have and we are 99% sure that no one on the boat has a spare. We decided to descend anyway and see if we can make out the wreck from the anchor line. We get to the bottom, look in the direction the captain pointed us and I see a vague fuzzy black object. However, I've been fooled chasing these things before (the mysterious black fuzzy objects that seem to move away from you as fast as you chase them). Pete waited on the anchor line while I swam twenty feet away. Meanwhile "team 1" is gone into the ether. I start to lose sight of the anchor, so decide we definitely need a line, and end up cannibalizing my SMB/safety spool (great, it's not like I'm going to need *that* if we lose the anchor!) I tie off  and we start our hunt for the wreck (which we failed to find on a previous dive when another team laid a parallel line to ours, forcing us off in the wrong direction ...)  Thankfully, the black fuzzy thing is indeed the wreck, and I tie off (thanks Danny -- the cave class really has increased my confidence in working with line) Vis on the wreck is not that great (hence the doctored up video with fake blue added) and lack of lights really doesn't help much.  We can vaguely see the hull (or superstructure?) in the distance, so vis is not wretched, I am just used to being spoiled at this site!   The wreck is covered in places with fishing nets, giving it something of an eerie feeling   We head toward the bow (I think) and bingo! Now we are talking Ling Cod! (Nothing like those in Seattle though). It heads inside the wreck pretty quickly though.  The bow ( I think -- it certainly looks more pointy than the other end)  A very rare kind of scorpionfish (scorpionus-notoftenus)  On the way back, we pass over what I think of as the "ribs" of the ship -- probably the hull with it's welding points ?   It's always nice to find the line right where you left it :)   We had a bit of gas and a few mins left, so went the other direction (toward the stern I think)     Then a quick exit back to the spool. A quick "discussion" on whether we should pull the line (I was going to) but Pete was concerned there were other divers on the wreck relying on our line (even though we had not discussed sharing a line) As we were running (really) close on bottom time, I went with his plan and we got back to the anchor at 28 mins. I said my last goodbyes to my SMB and spool (since i was in a hurry to tie off, I had left the bag attached) and we started the ascent. Despite being second down, we were the last divers on the boat. Thankfully the DM was persuaded to go back and get my SMB/spool (even though he had to cut the line -- well, he claimed it had snapped due to the anchor moving but ...) A pretty nice dive overall. 11:02 AM - 8/8/2007 - post comment
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