Having a better understanding of the layout of the wreck, we quickly located the forward gun, made our way to the starboard side, and located our entry. We recalculated 1/3s so that we would have 600 psi in, 1200 psi out, and 600 psi minimum gas for the dive. 600 psi would give us roughly 36 cft of gas to penetrate the wreck with, and 72 cft to get out of the wreck. We found a primary tie in at access point 4S2, made our way to 3S2, and entered the wreck.
To give you a sense of the wreck, we were in a hallway that runs down the length of the ship toward the stern. The only difference is that the hallway is lying on its side, so instead of it being a tall narrow passageway, it was more like a wide and short passageway. The entrance at 3S2 was covered in white metridium with the usual strawberry anemones and algae. There are a ton of fish and other critters around the wreck. Inside the wreck, there are crabs, starfish, algae, and sediment. The walls are a dark brown because of the algae instead of the grey, navy paint they once were. As we made our way down the hallway, our first minor obstruction turned out to be a doorway that was tilted at an odd angle. My first attempt was straight on, but the starboard side of the doorframe caught my valves. I pulled myself up, tilted downward, and pulled myself through easily. Once through, I turned slightly to see how Kevin faired before continuing on.
The next issue we ran into was around access point 3S4. There was a panel or door that had fallen across the passageway. I was still a bit preoccupied by the line, and focused on the next tie in. My first thought was to go under the door, but couldnt fit and quickly realized that if it fell after we were passed it, it would have trapped the line. Realizing the error of my ways, I decided to go over it, and run the line through the middle of the hallway. This didnt work out as planned. There was something above me that was blocking my way. On my first attempt, I was still close to the starboard side of the hallway. So on my second attempt, I moved more toward the center, and was able to continue forward unrestricted. With about 3 minutes to go on the clock, and another 200 psi left on the inbound leg of the trip, we continued forward. With the light pouring in through panel 3S4, Kevin decided to place a non-directional line marker to mark the exit above. I felt the line being tugged on, turned around to check on things, Kevin let me know about the plan to place the marker, and I helped by holding the line tight. It seemed like a good idea to mark the exit in case we got into trouble. The thing is that once the marker was set, it was time to turn the dive, and we ran in to a bit of confusion at this point.
The team position once we turned the dive was supposed to be Kevin in front with me reeling the line in from behind. There was a bit of surge in the boat, Kevin drifted behind me, and inadvertently pushed me down into the silt. The area silted out while I was removing the non-directional marker. Even with the hallway silted out, we still had about 1 to 2 of vis, and it was nothing compared to the simulated drills we did the day before. I was surprisingly relaxed through the entire situation. Within a few seconds, Kevin initiated touch contact as he moved back into position, checked to make sure the non-directional was removed, and we continued on our way out of the wreck.
Once I was out of the silt and reeling in the line, the wreck once again opened up to me. Turns out I had missed a lot on the way in. Besides the numerous tie ins, hallways, galley, and side rooms I had missed on the way in, the most humorous part was the panel I had attempted to go under before finding the restriction above it. The restriction turned out to be a metal bar protruding from the wall similar to the arms that mount in a garage to hold up a shelf. Not only was the self imposed restriction rather silly, it turns out that the entire hallway was wide open, I just hadnt noticed it on my way in. I was so focused on the line and reel, I missed just about everything. The good news is that I had a second chance to see what I had missed on the way out. A few minutes later we were heading out of the wreck, and on our slow ascent to the surface. Turns out we had gone about 100 into the wreck, and it was incredible.
We made our way back to the marina, filled the tanks, and headed to Kansas City BBQ for dinner. An interesting bit of trivia is that they used the restaurant to film the end scene in Top Gun. After working our way through a ton of meat, we were ready for the video review. On the dives today, Joe had moved into the wreck a head of us, and caught some great shots as AG kept a watchful eye over us. The video was mixed with sections of light from the access points illuminating everything, and dark sections where all you could see were our HID lights. It showed the tie ins along with the team working together. It also captured a lot of the wreck we had missed, and was a blast to watch.
After the video, we continued with a lecture about the limits of the class, and how they impact the diving were doing. Andrew pointed out how each dive bumped up against the limits of the class. Either we were limited by our gas supply (80 cft penetrations), or we were limited by our NDL. By sticking to the limits, we kept things conservative, and made sure we didnt push to far to fast.
For example, a set of double, high pressure, 100 cft tanks filled to 3,000 psi gives you 180 cft of gas. With a penetration limit of 80 cft and a minimum gas of 40 cft (i.e. reserves or rock bottom), we would have an additional 60 cft of gas along for the ride. A full fill would give you 80 cft of extra gas. To put it another way, wed have between 1,000 to 1,300 psi on top of the 700 psi wed keep in reserves at the end of every dive. At times its very tempting to put this gas to use, and stay in the wreck a bit longer to see whats around the next corner. Especially when using Trimix or Nitrox to extend your bottom time. The reality is that without the proper experience and training for this environment, you can get yourself into trouble in a heartbeat. Sticking to the plan as defined by the limits of the class makes sure we stay conservative while slowly building experience in this new environment.
We wrapped up the video review and lecture with some additional pointers from AG, and spent the rest of the evening checking out San Diego before heading back to the hotel.
Day 3 started the same as the others with a Starbucks run before jumping on the boat at 8 am. We were all excited to get back in the wreck. The previous days dives had showed us the basics of how to get in and out of a wreck. In place of the anxiety and nervousness from the day before, we were ready to head back in, and do a bit of cautious exploring. With Janeane feeling better, she was ready to take the reins, and lead us into the Yukon. Our fills were spot on today at 25/25, and we would be using a 20% EAD to extend our bottom time.
We worked out the plan for our first dive while Danny made quick work of getting us to the dive site. The dive would be in the 80 range. We would descend along the stern line, move to the mortar well between the stern and the rear gun, recalculate our gas plan, and head into the wreck. We would follow the same 3rd deck passage as the one Kevin and I had explored the day before. The only difference would be that wed start at the stern, and work our way toward the bow. With a plan in place, we hit the water, checked our gear, and were on our way down the stern line in no time.
The vis the day before was in the 20 to 30 range, but today it seemed closer to 15 to 20. There was this odd haze at about 30 fsw that continued on down to the wreck. AG was a head of us showing us the way to our entrance, which wasnt far from the stern upline. Janeane quickly recalculated our penetration pressure at 500 psi (30 cft), set a primary tie outside of the wreck, and we were on our way in. With Janeane leading this dive, I was in complete curiosity mode.
When Kevin and I had done this section of the wreck the day before, we had completely missed our actual position in the wreck. What I mean is that about mid ship on the 3rd deck of the wreck is the Galley and Dining Hall compartments. These rooms are rather large, and a bit different from the rest of the ship. We had been so focused on making our way down the hallway, that we had missed a chance to check out these rooms. Armed with this knowledge today, we werent going to let this opportunity slip by a second time.
There is a large hallway that runs athwart ship just before you get to the Dining Hall. It starts at about 70, drops to about 105, and is hard to miss. Looking into the Dining Hall you find your basic large room. On the port side of the room, you can see a bit of sediment creeping into the wreck. You dont have much of that on the starboard side, and it kind of threw me for a second. AG had mentioned the day before that the Galley was where the fryers and stoves was located, but Im not sure if he meant that equipment was still there or not because I dont remember seeing it on this dive. Its possible that coming from the Mortar Well we hadnt made it far enough into the wreck on this dive, and when I thought I was looking at the Galley, I was still over the Dining Hall. Oh well, another section of the ship to check out more thoroughly on a later dive.
Continued below...
