Unidentified Minesweeper in Lake WA

[Joshua Smith]

We did a dive on it today. Info can be found on Romer Treece's(Dan W's.) Site:

http://www.dcsfilms.com/Site_4/DCS_Website_59.html


We splashed 2 teams off the Aluminator. Team one consisted on Dan Warter, Rob Wilson, Paul Hangarter, and myself. Second team was Eric Foreman and Albert Candelaria. Ken Gustafson was good enough to volunteer to be a safety diver. (Thanks, Ken!) We met up in Kenmore this AM after a few of us got our wires crossed and showed up in Kirkland....

Anyway, by 8:15, we were headed towards the wreck site. Dan had the coordinates locked in pretty tight, and after a few passes over the wreck, working closely with Captain Howie, he dropped the downline. It turned out to be a direct hit! No need to tie off to the line and navigate to the wreck for this crew.

Team one splashed first, followed closey by Eric and Albert in team two. After What seemed like a really long descent, we all joined up right on the afterdeck, and marvelled at the precision of the line drop- Dan had placed the "monkey fist" right on the deck! Paul and Rob secured the line, while Dan and I worked our way forward slowly. Vis was, I'm guessing, 12 feet or more, which is more than one can hope for in the Lake. According to my OMS bottom timer, which is callibrated for fresh water, my max depth was 187'. We slowly swam around the wreck, for bow to stern, while Dan filmed everything on his new camera, (that he appreciates now more than he did when he first got it, I'm guessing!). The wreck is in really good shape, much as you can see it the link to Dan's site, above. We hunted for clues to it's identity, but found nothing conclusive. These efforts are a work in progress, and I feel that it's just a matter of time until her identity is revealed. All too soon, our bottom time was up, and we headed towards the upline to commence our long decompression. Water temps were just about balmy, although I didn't record them on my computer. Anyway, Deco was as pleasant as you could ask for around here, and the entire dive passed withjout any drama, or need for Ken to do anything but help us gear up, and get back on the boat. I want to thank everyone who was there today for a great dive- I couldn't ask for a better group to do what we did today; Let's do it again, soon!

[mattwave]

Cool Dive, sounds like you guys had fun!

[Joshua Smith]

Cool Dive, sounds like you guys had fun!

Missed you, bro- hope your mouth heals up soon!

[Tangfish]

Sounds like an awesome dive!

I can't wait to do some dives in the lake this summer. Isn't it pretty sketchy though with all of the boat traffic?

[Joshua Smith]

Sounds like an awesome dive!

I can't wait to do some dives in the lake this summer. Isn't it pretty sketchy though with all of the boat traffic?

Yeah. There wasn't much traffic today, but you really want a live boat with a proactive skipper topside, as well as a safety diver, if possible! (thanks again, Ken!)

[Grateful Diver]

It is a nice dive.

I was always told, however, that it's bad form to drop a downline directly onto a wreck ... some of them are pretty fragile and we don't want to inflict further damage if it can be avoided.

12 feet of vis is awesome for the lake.

Proactive skipper is definitely a requirement on the lake this time of year ... some of those boat operators out there scare me ... they haven't a clue what a dive flag is for.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[spatman]

sounds like a fun adventure, nailer!

i have a couple noob questions:

According to my OMS bottom timer, which is callibrated for fresh water...

how is a bottom timer calibrated differently? (or am i taking a joke too literally?)

Ken Gustafson was good enough to volunteer to be a safety diver.

what kind of skills are required to be a safety diver, and what's involved in the actual role?

[Joshua Smith]

Bob: I hear you about the wreck preservation, but I should have been more clear: The ball of rope we used for a downline did absolutely no harm whatsoever to the wreck. We weren't trying to hit it in the first place, just get near it, but the monkey fist is used instead of a heavy downrigger to protect the wreck in case the line gets too close.

Spatman- The OMS/ Scubapro bottom timers used by many tech divers as a backup to their computers are callibrated for fresh water, for some strange reason.

The safety diver's job is to help everyone gear up, attach stage bottles, and assist them into the water, then stand by in the event that one of the divers has a problem- if the divers are in deco, they can't surface without serious consequenses, obviously, but if someone has a rebreather failure or gas loss, they may need the safety to bring a bottle to them on the downline. The divers can inflate a SMB and send it up to the surface with a slate saying "Need 02" for example. Most of the time, the safety is a newer tech diver learning the ropes.

[John Rawlings]

I was always told, however, that it's bad form to drop a downline directly onto a wreck ... some of them are pretty fragile and we don't want to inflict further damage if it can be avoided.

As an add-on to Nailer's post above, here is a link that shows what a "Monkey's Fist" looks like:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey's_fist

It is a means of sinking a line that is also one of the least likely methods to cause damage to anything that it happens to drop on. Works really well in bodies of water without current such as Lake Washington.

Evereyone diving the wrecks in the lake should be so cautious....

- John

[Tangfish]

here is a link that shows what a "Monkey's Fist" looks like.- John

I see no link. So, is this what a "monkey's fist" looks like?

[Grateful Diver]

I don't see the link, John ... am I missing something obvious?

No intent to "correct" on my part ... but I wouldn't want to give people the impression that it's generally acceptable to drop a downline directly onto a wreck. In the short time I've been diving these wrecks I've already seen damage that was caused by that practice.

As long as people are cognizant of the fact, and are taking steps to minimize the risk of damage, I'm content ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[John Rawlings]

Ooooops! My bad!

I put the link in now....

- John

[Joshua Smith]

Calvin's got it. It was nice of Chuck Norris to let us tie a rope to him and throw him over the side like that. (His muscles are so dense, he sinks like a rock!)

No problem, Bob- I should have been more clear about the whole thing to begin with. We're very conscious about preservation, and never leave line wrapped around a wreck, or drop heavy stuff on them, or do anything that would damage or detract from them.

[mattwave]

We're very conscious about preservation, and never leave line wrapped around a wreck.

Who the heck keeps leaving line around the wrecks in Lake Wa? We always know when we have found a wreck before others because it's clean from line!

[Grateful Diver]

We're very conscious about preservation, and never leave line wrapped around a wreck.

Who the heck keeps leaving line around the wrecks in Lake Wa? We always know when we have found a wreck before others because it's clean from line!

I've noticed that as well ... there was a line running almost the entire perimeter of the MT6 the other day ... I don't get it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Joshua Smith]

That one baffles me as well- is some buffoon too lazy to reel up their line, so they just cut it, or something?

[mattwave]

We're very conscious about preservation, and never leave line wrapped around a wreck.

Who the heck keeps leaving line around the wrecks in Lake Wa? We always know when we have found a wreck before others because it's clean from line!

I've noticed that as well ... there was a line running almost the entire perimeter of the MT6 the other day ... I don't get it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Yah the people who do it should clean it up.

BTW we have adapted lowering the drop down to the wreck in the lake it saves on silt and on wreck.

[Tangfish]

That one baffles me as well- is some buffoon too lazy to reel up their line, so they just cut it, or something?

Oh sorry, I've been leaving those lines there because I think it looks pretty.... kind of like Spiderman was there.

[Romer Treece]

Yeah, it's always nice to see cave line around these wrecks like they were caves or somethin. I don't get it.
CLEAN UP YOUR LINE!! If you want to leave line move to Mexico or Florida!
Dan

[mattwave]

Yeah, it's always nice to see cave line around these wrecks like they were caves or somethin. I don't get it.
CLEAN UP YOUR LINE!! If you want to leave line move to Mexico or Florida!
Dan

Yah if you are going to leave line at least bake some cookies.

[johnbenway]

I was always told, however, that it's bad form to drop a downline directly onto a wreck ... some of them are pretty fragile and we don't want to inflict further damage if it can be avoided.

Actually if you look at chapter 12 of your DIR handbook, it's ok because it's a MINESWEEPER!

[Romer Treece]

VEGAN cookies of course!!

[John Rawlings]

VEGAN cookies of course!!

I don't know if cookies made of ground-up vegans would taste very good....

[Joshua Smith]

VEGAN cookies of course!!

I don't know if cookies made of ground-up vegans would taste very good....

The problem is those vegans got no fat on them. You gotta wrap them in bacon, then roast 'em real slow......adds a very nice flavor, but pretty much anything wrapped in bacon is tasty.....

[Sounder]

VEGAN cookies of course!!

I don't know if cookies made of ground-up vegans would taste very good....

The problem is those vegans got no fat on them. You gotta wrap them in bacon, then roast 'em real slow......adds a very nice flavor, but pretty much anything wrapped in bacon is tasty.....

Mmmmm.... bacon wrapped vegans!!