HMSC Columbia Feb 15th

[Underwater Ogre]

It was a beauty of a day for diving yesterday...hopefully everyone took advantage of it.:cool2:

Here's a few shoot I took on the Columbia. The vis was as good as it gets. We had a boat load...a bunch doing penetration, a bunch doing an AOW and a couple of us meandering around.

U/O

 

[CR Diver]

Great pic's. Good shot of "Mrs Underwater Ogre" at the bow. The vis looks a lot better on the outside of the wreck than it was inside. See you Tuesday night at Union Bay?

 

[Underwater Ogre]

The vis was good...I did see some silt being pumped up from deck 4 into the ventilation ducts. Wonder how that happened?

I'll see you for coffee time tomorrow...I'll bring the donuts. Oh...and she prefers to be called UnderwaterH.

 

[eliminator]

well, vis was awesome inside till I started doing reel work, or should I say "real" work. anyways, was an awesome day and looking forward to going back.

nice pics btw, see you tonight in Union Bay

 

[wedivebc]

well, vis was awesome inside till I started doing reel work, or should I say "real" work. anyways, was an awesome day and looking forward to going back.

nice pics btw, see you tonight in Union Bay

That is one tough wreck to penetrate clean. The silt goes almost up to the deckhead near the forward end. Good call on running a reel. One guy didn't a few years back and never made it out. Columbia has way less cut-outs than some of the later artificial reefs.

 

[deepdiverbc]

I was told that the Columbia was not stripped to the same extent as the other ARSBC wrecks and that the ceiling insulation is suppose to still be in place and falling down. Also the wreck being on it's side would make things even more confusing. Something to consider for anyone that wants to penetrate it. It wouldn't be my first choice if I was starting out.

 

[CR Diver]

There are some light fixtures and wiring / piping seperating from the ceiling, hanging down in a few spots, but for the most part it seemed in pretty good shape. Silt is piled uplike snow drifts inside some of the rooms, 10 - 12 inches deep against the port bulkheads and walls. Still a great wreck, looking forward to the next trip

 

[yukoncherry]

Did my first 3 dives on this wreck yesterday. Amazing vis 60 ft or so Id guess. Saw an Irish Lord, a medium sized ling, some big box crab, and lots of other life on the wreck. Didnt go inside but I noticed insulation still hanging on the walls of some of the rooms I could see into. Looking forward to exploring inside on hose gear next month. I can picture that getting pretty messy though. Glad I finally got to check out this areas most famous wreck.

 

[firstdive2005]

Nice pics, I gotta get out there soon.