MISSION BRIEFING
Date: September 19th, 2010 | Time: 6pm-11pm | Description: Two dives down to the Canadian Destroyer HMCS "Yukon" from the "Marissa" Dive Boat off Mission Bay, San Diego. Click here for specific wreck location and seabed image.
Star date 64183.2 (September 19, 2010, 6:12pm)
Twelve Red Shirt Divers gathered on the docks at Seaforth Sportfishing Landing, awaiting the arrival of the Marissa dive boat from its afternoon dive. We were heading out for 2 night dives on the shipwreck HMCS Yukon, located off Mission Beach, San Diego, CA. The Yukon is a 366 ft former Canadian Destroyer that was sunk as an artificial reef 10 years ago by the San Diego Oceans Foundation and sits in roughly 100 ft of water.
Once on board, divers scurried about preparing gear and getting acquainted. For some this was their first trip to the Yukon, for others their first trip at night and still others had rigged up stage bottles and tech gear as if they planned on visiting a galaxy far, far away. At the dive site, we tied up to the mooring buoy on the forward guns and received last minute instructions from Captain Nickolas and divemaster Dan. Divers hit the water around 7:30pm for our first descent into the darkness below. Visibility was pretty good at around 30 feet and the water was a chilly 52 degrees. Several divers headed off together to penetrate the wreck, while the rest of us explored the exterior. Since it's sinking in 2000, the ship's hull has been completely covered with pink and red Club-tipped Anemones (Corynactis californica) and white Giant Plumose Anemones (Metridium giganteum) and their colors really popped against the black water backdrop. The ship was also alive with crabs out for their nightly meal and sleeping fish tucked away inside portals and swim throughs. In between dives we warmed up with a hot meal, while swapping stories from the first dive. Then it was back into the dark, icy drink for another adventure into the unknown.
Twelve divers went out and twelve returned. The only Red Shirt casualty for the evening was a weight pocket lost on the first dive. Masterfully recovered, by John Wagner, on dive number two. Diving on the Yukon at night was an eerie but magical experience that I hope everyone may experience and one that I hope to repeat in the near future.
Signing off,
Blogapher Matthew Meier
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Photos by Matthew Meier
BLOGAPHER BIO:
Matthew Meier is a professional underwater, nature and travel photographer living in San Diego, CA.
To see more of his work please visit his website at www.matthewmeierphoto.com
