I am a wreck diver, as most of you probably know. I love diving wrecks, no matter how old or new, no matter how shallow or deep. I’ve dove wrecks from Quebec to Bonaire, Germany to Tahiti, but most of all in California and Mexico. I am simply fascinated with shipwrecks, with sunken airplanes a close second.
Yesterday was the Fourth of July, and an opportunity for me to go wreck hunting. This is something I do often, and its the most fun you can have with your clothes on. We packed up the boat with all the Proton Magnetometer gear, communication and DGPS gear, rebreathers, cylinders from 17 cubes to 160 cubes, spare parts for every piece of equipment, a giant pile of dive gear, food and of course beer. ( Beer is a critical lubricant that keeps wreck divers operational, after the diving is done. )
We began the hunt for the famous David C Meyer off San Pedro, using all the research we had on the great vessel. A great old local piece of history, the Meyer was a beautiful ship. After deploying the towfish into the water, we began the search. “Magging” for wrecks is as boring as it gets, until you find what you are looking for. Two hours of sheer boredom watching proton magnetometer MF screens, DGPS numbers, fathometers and engine gauges. Two sheer hours of boredom punctuated by two minutes of sheer excitement. At 11 AM I screamed as the mag readout went from a dull flat line two hours long to a spikey hit that went right off the screen. We had found her !
Another hour of magging to confirm the boundries of the site and we dropped the hook, and started to gear up. I was the first over the side ( does that surprise anyone ? ) and when I hit the bottom, there she sat, a scatterfield at least 70 years old. The fish were everywhere, big Calicos and Sheepshead. Metal all over the bottom and wreck debris in ever low point among the rocks. You could just imagine this 280 foot long wreck hitting the bottom and starting to fall apart. Besides bagging two big fish ( fresh sashimi for dinner ) and eating about ten large scallops underwater while on the dive, I was able to explore part of Southern California rich maritime history.
It was a fantastic day diving a long forgotten wreck. This site will have to be dove extensively before we even begin to understand all thats down there. The nice part is the wreck is shallow, between 40 and 80 feet.
Oh, and the location ? Well its sitting right of Point Fermin ! DGPS numbers are available at
www.YaRight!.com
Kevin
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