New Shipwreck at Casino Point
I attended a presentation a few days ago given by California Ships to Reefs to discuss the possibility of bringing a new, 50-foot shipwreck to Catalina’s Casino Point dive park. Ships to Reefs is best known as the offshoot of the group that sank the Yukon in San Diego’s 
Mission Bay.
The ship they are proposing to bring to the dive park is the kelp cutter Ocean Harvest. Kelp cutters are not particularly pretty ships, and they lack the glamour that a sunken warship or yacht– or even fishing trawler– would have.
But the Ocean Harvest has a lot to recommend it. Chief among them are that it has already been cleaned of all toxics, and the engines and major equipment have already been removed– so the vast amount of work needed to prepare the ship for sinking has already been done. Preparing a ship to sink safely is an enormously complicated task, and the Ocean Harvest would be relatively simple.
In addition, a tremendous amount of divers come to Casino Point to get certified. (I myself got certified there eight years ago.) A wreck that is more technically challenging to the diver is also a more dangerous wreck, and the simplicity of the hull design of the kelp cutter would make it safe for new divers.
The project is moving fast, with an anticipated sink date in May-June of this year. The project is being headed by Dr. Bill Bushing, and the project team is being assembled. I’ve volunteered myself to do just about anything, so I am sure I will have more updates for you as time goes on.
Posted by Jeff Lewis on February 3rd, 2009 | Posted in Diving, Island Update |
The dive park is already a great dive for beginners (and offers other stuff for beginners with advanced friends!). The less technical wreck would be great for those of us easing our way into wreck diving. I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes open for further details!