Palos Verdes Wreck Diving...Sort Of.

[MaxBottomtime]

Merry and I planned a day of diving on manmade structures that aren't shipwrecks but aren't artificial reefs. The first dive was on an old bilge pump off Rocky Point. The pump is the type found on old tall ships.

Patrick Smith took a photo of our mutual friend Paul Kanner at the bilge pump. I didn't know how old the photo was but I was hoping to get a decent shot of Merry hovering over the pump.

As we reached the bottom we were a bit disappointed. There was only one wheel and it looked as if it had been on the bottom for a long time. I called our friend Dr. Andy Saxon to let him know his numbers were right on but there wasn't much to see. He told me Patrick's photo was ten years old. I learned a lesson about gathering all the information before attempting a dive in a new place.

For our second dive we went to the crane off Haggerty's. It is a popular lobster dive during season but is also home to three moray eels. We saw all three today as well as the resident schools of fish. We didn't get the day we had hoped for but still had a nice day under the surface. Water temperatures were 60-61° on the bottom while the surface is still an uncomfortable 70° for drysuit diving.

 

[Jake]

Is the crane something you can get to when entering at the beach/athletic club, or is it a boat dive?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

It would be a long swim but not impossible. It's only about thirty feet long so it would be easy to miss.
Dive Sites - Google My Maps

 

[Jake]

It would be a long swim but not impossible. It's only about thirty feet long so it would be easy to miss.
Dive Sites - Google My Maps

Sounds like I should wait until I can hitch a ride. Thanks for the link to the map. That's a really cool resource.

 

[shucksun]

That looks like a nice dive!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

It can be. I've seen Giant Sea Bass there many times. During a dive with limited visibility I had a Sevengill shark swim within five feet of me. Margaret Webb found a nudibranch that still hasn't been identified. We've seen a juvenile Humpback and a few Gray whales swimming through the kelp nearby. There are three moray eels living among the rusty hulk. We've also had dives when we didn't find anything we were looking for, but there is always something to see.