Day Island Wall Lovers - Please Read

[OE2X]

Did a wonderful dive at Day Island Wall in Tacoma today. We saw more Wolf Eels and GPO's then I've ever seen on a dive. They were all HUGE.

When we were packing up to go home a resident came down to tell us that there is a petition being drawn up to send to one of Tacoma's councilmen to gate the access and have it only for members of the community.

The points of contention are:

Public parking - Please don't park in front of the driveways, gates or restrict access to the locals.

Public nudity or at least not being discreet when changing. Come on folks - no one wants to see your white NW tan.

There are no bathrooms here. Please do not use the bushes, beach etc...

Noise - This is a small little community. Voices carry. Save the loud stories for later.

We really need to be as unseen and discreet as possible otherwise we will loose this amazing dive site as a shore dive.

I will get the councilman's name and post it with his address so you we can do a letter campaign. In the meantime pass this on any other divers, dive shops and boards where people might see this.

 

[Harle]

There are actually residents in that area that do support the divers but the residents that do not are the most vocal...primarily one of them.

I do agree that we should respect the neighbors. Thanks for the heads up! I look forward to seeing if you can track down the rep.

 

[kalvyn]

Did a wonderful dive at Day Island Wall in Tacoma today. We saw more Wolf Eels and GPO's then I've ever seen on a dive. They were all HUGE.

When we were packing up to go home a resident came down to tell us that there is a petition being drawn up to send to one of Tacoma's councilmen to gate the access and have it only for members of the community.

The points of contention are:

Public parking - Please don't park in front of the driveways, gates or restrict access to the locals.

Public nudity or at least not being discreet when changing. Come on folks - no one wants to see your white NW tan.

There are no bathrooms here. Please do not use the bushes, beach etc...

Noise - This is a small little community. Voices carry. Save the loud stories for later.

We really need to be as unseen and discreet as possible otherwise we will loose this amazing dive site as a shore dive.

I will get the councilman's name and post it with his address so you we can do a letter campaign. In the meantime pass this on any other divers, dive shops and boards where people might see this.

Just a point of clarification - Day Island is actually in the City of University Place, and not Tacoma. Also, the lady who spoke to us after our dive mentioned it was the UP City Planner, who's name is Dave Swindale. He has an email address, but I'm somewhat loathe to post it here. If you want to find it, it's pretty easy, though.

I plan on contacting Mr. Swindale after I get back from Tuscon. I'll pass along whatever information I find out.

Jimmie

 

[PacNWdiver]

I've talked with Mr. Swindale on a couple of occations. He's a very nice fellow and very even handed. The access issue has to do with State law and there is very little home owners or the City of UP can do to block access. A simular deal happened in Seattle, homeowners wanted to annex easments to Lake Washington and it didn't happen.

Now, use restriction. That can happen. The city of UP can't stop people from going there but they can stop people from diving there. So, OEX2 has a good point about behaving yourself there, otherwise we will loose the privalege of diving there.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

A big part of the problem is crowds ... some of the local dive shops host shop or club dives there, and it's just not the proper site for it. A few weeks back, Kalvyn, OE2X, TBone, and myself were there and a very large group ... perhaps 40 or more divers ... showed up. They were from a local shop that hosts dives there regularly.

I don't want to get down on the shop for doing it ... that's their right. However, I think some care has to go into where to choose your dive sites when you have a group like that. One with limited parking, no facilities, and known issues with neighbors should not even be considered (IMO).

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Harle]

The crowds can be really bad. I believe that I was there that day also. There were actually several clubs that showed up at the same time. The neighbors called police who handed out tickets for parking violations. This site is so dependent on the tide tables that it lends itself to flash crowds.

I am also a University Place resident so I would definitely talk to my city to make sure that we keep access. One huge benefit for us is that other than Titlow beach, this is about the only other public access to the sound via University Place so I dont see the city blocking access for a dozen residents..

 

[Harle]

I just got word that a shop is diving Day Island tonight (12/2)... so I am going to dive Lobstershop wall at 6:30pm if anyone wants to join me.

 

[OE2X]

I think perhaps we are at a point were we can put together a sort of advisory on the rules on conduct and have them sent out to all the LDS in the greater Seattle - Tacoma area. Ideally this would be posted in the shop and given out to the trip leaders.

This should also go out to the assorted dive clubs as well.

If anyone would like to help me with the wording or if you have fax #'s for any of the shops, please pm me.

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I would recommend trying to engage someone from the Tacoma UWS in the process. They use the site regularly, and it would be most productive if they helped put together a notice, rather than being handed something and asked to post it. Perhaps Kalvyn can broach the topic when he returns ... he goes there regularly. Harle ... who I dove with last night ... is also affiliated with that shop.

If you need help getting word out to the major dive clubs, let me know. I can forward something to people I know who are members of Moss Bay, Marker Buoys, Emerald Seas, and Depth Chargers and ask them to post it on their respective online boards.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[badgirldivin']

Well, I dive out of the Tacoma UWS shop, and I could easily get the ball rolling on something to quiet the gang down when we're out there. I avoided diving there this evening because it would be a later splash time, and I had been informed about this petition.
Someone let me know what needs to be done. I have a friend who used to live on the island, and I've contacted him to see if he has old friends that he can chat with. And since I live in University Place, I'd love to have Dave Swindale's info. This is an awesome dive site that I'd hate to see go to boat access only.

Connie (aka Constance)