Posted by tleemay on May 08, 2002 at 14:28:57:
I have the Great Escape out of Queen's Wharf Long Beach booked for a
trip to the wrecks of the Palawan and Avalon off Palos Verdes/S.
Santa Monica Bay (subject to conditions of course).
We will depart Queen's Warf (the GE's NEW dock) in Long Beach at 7am
the morning of the 23rd. We should be back to the dock around 5 pm.
Staterooms are available on a first booked - first served basis.
The trip is all inclusive which includes food, snacks, and
non-alcoholic drinks. Air fills after the first dive are also
included, so bring you tank(s) full to the boat for dive 1. Crew tips
are extra and appreciated when deserved.
The Palawan is an old steel hulled cargo ship that was intentionally
sunk as an artificial reef in 1977. Her specs at sinking were
approx. 441' x 57'. She sits in about 126'-130' of water in the sand
surrounded by a debris field that includes a stack of telephone poles
and lost fishing tackle, including some mono line. This site is known
for legal sized ling cod in the wreck as well as barn doors on the
sandy bottom surrounding the wreck. Rock crabs are stuffed into every
nook and cranny of the wreck they can find. The lobster here is good
too, but well out of season during June. The last couple of times we dove this wreck the vis was in excess of 80' on the wreck itself. This
is an interesting site for both macro and wide angle photography and
video. This is also the favorite local wreck of the crew of the Great Escape - so they know her well.
The Avalon was originally an old 1891 steamer passenger ship that at
one time ran passengers between the San Pedro and Avalon, right along
with the Catalina. Her specs at sinking were about 240' x 40'. The
Avalon ended up sinking just off Palos Verdes' Pt. Vicente in 1964
after breaking a chain and floundering in a storm. Prior to the time
of her sinking, she was retrofitted as a salvage barge - most notably
used during the salvage of another wreck in the area, the Dominator.
The Avalon sits in between 65'-72' of water. The vis here is spotty at
times ranging from 5'-60', but the last three times I dove her, the
vis was better than 20' each time. Pieces of the wreck are strewn
about, but the main hull is relatively intact with the exception she
has collapsed onto herself over the decades. This site too attracts a
lot of game and offer more than it's share of photo ops.
If the sites are not divable that day, we will seek an alternate
destination (this will be the Captain's decision the day of the trip).
For more information or to book - go to the Great Escape Charters
website at www.diveboat.com and click the 'Calendar' section.