Bomber Wreck Dive

[Daniel379ba]

I've been doing some research on Lake Washington and found this great website on wreck dives.
http://www.boydski.com/diving/Lake_Wash ... Wrecks.htm
It gives many dive sites in lake Washington.

Now, I found twice mentioned a bomber, yes a navy bomber, in lake Washington.
http://www.boydski.com/diving/dives/PB4Y-wreck.htm
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/tek-tr ... ngton.html

One of them mentioned 150 feet while the other mentioned 175 feet so I'm nor sure if there are two different bombers or they got names wrong and rounded on dates. That makes both tech dives so that makes me think, whats the path to get there?
I'm interested in tech diving and would love seeing something like this so what is the path I take?

Also on our forum was a good topic:
http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=11051
Listed some good sites and considerations.

Where is this? "There is also the wreck of the I-90 bridge center span at the south end, it's in about 60' of water, as well as the lake washington mill site, which is fun and REALLY shallow. "

FInally, is there any of these that people know really well and is there anyone that would be willing to take me?
Thanks!

[Jeremy]

.

[Jeremy]

Teenagers and their tech diving fantasies....

Koos (kdpreez on this forum) is a local GUE instructor. They dive the bomber all the time. You first take Fundies then take Tech 1. It looks like an amazing dive.

Hit him up, I'm sure he'd be happy to answer your questions.

[Daniel379ba]

Hehe I just love diving :P
I sent him an email and pm , thanks for the advice!

[John Rawlings]

Any good PNW tech instructor can prepare you for a dive on the "bomber". Here's a list of them:

http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9126

[H20doctor]

Anyone can dive a wreck, as long as they have proper training.. The wrecks in lake washington are kept on the down low, in order to preserve them for future divers, and the years to come.. You can dive them, you just need to get in touch with the right divers..

[boydski]

One of them mentioned 150 feet while the other mentioned 175 feet so I'm nor sure if there are two different bombers or they got names wrong!

Hi Daniel,

There is only one big bomber in the Lake (PB4Y) as well as a torpedo-bomber (Harpoon) and a PBM patrol bomber. Only the PBM is at recreational depths. The PB4Y is about 150' deep, with the lake bottom depth being a bit deeper depending on if you set your depth gauge for Fresh Water or Salt Water. If you leave your gauge set for Salt Water and it says you're at 150' in the Lake, you're actually about 156' deep. A depth gauge set for fresh water and placed on the bottom near the deepest part of the wreck might read almost 165'.

Good Luck with your Tech Training,

[CaptnJack]

I don't think any agency certifies minors (i.e. <18yo) for technical diving, so this will have to wait awhile Daniel.

[Mortuus]

I don't think any agency certifies minors (i.e. <18yo) for technical diving, so this will have to wait awhile Daniel.

Yeah, I havent heard of any either.

I would focus on getting a LOT more recreational experience first though. There is so, so much to learn before tech. I was the same as you. When I got OW certified, I instantly became curious about tech. Now, according to some organizations, I could have started it with 50 dives, and very little non-training experience under my belt. However patience has really payed off.

[Jeff Pack]

with over 100 dives, my first tech class was a real eye opener. Now I've got about 2 months of skills practice to get squared away.

[camerone]

Yeah -- it's an eye opener to take a real class where it's not "You Pays Your Monies, You Passes Da' Class and Gets Da' C-Card." Whole different ballgame -- and one the recreational industry would be better off with.

In fairness, though, the last time I went out out, I saw an instructor kick his O/W students out of the water and tell them they needed to get a couple more pool sessions before he'd let them back in. I won't mention the school, site, or delve into the fact that perhaps a little more pool diligence up front would've prevented even being there, but I give him kudos for kicking them out...

Anyone can dive a wreck, as long as they have proper training.. The wrecks in lake washington are kept on the down low, in order to preserve them for future divers, and the years to come.. You can dive them, you just need to get in touch with the right divers..

Most are pretty fragile, too - at least the airplanes are - and one wrong touch can trash a wing/tail/etc. Plus, the lake visibility is pretty horrible with a bottom that is more of a thicker jello than a real solid ground. One bad move as you descend and you can blow out the whole site for a couple of days and put yourself in a zero-viz scenario, which is spooky when it happens. Hell, _my_ first zero-viz in the lake was by far much worse than the lights-out, lost line drill and the blind exit during cave training, at least to me.

That said, any tech class in this town will generally take you to the lake to see at least one of the cool bits on the bottom when you're ready

[LCF]

There are some really nice wrecks in recreational depths, in water that isn't inky black and in viz that isn't measured in inches. There's a REASON Scott puts a disclaimer on ALL the Lake Washington dives, that they are for advanced divers only. The bottom of that lake is a very spooky place.

But you can dive the caissons at Edmonds, or the barges off Shilshole, or the Possession Point ferry (which is one of my favorite dives in the whole Sound), all of which are in recreational depths and offer the possibility of a great, non-deco dive with reasonable viz. There are lots more -- you have Scott's book, go and explore the possibilities!

[lamont]

Where is this? "There is also the wreck of the I-90 bridge center span at the south end, it's in about 60' of water, as well as the lake washington mill site, which is fun and REALLY shallow. "

More info on the I-90 bridge section with some vid here:

http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=19324

[Mortuus]

Where is this? "There is also the wreck of the I-90 bridge center span at the south end, it's in about 60' of water, as well as the lake washington mill site, which is fun and REALLY shallow. "

In addition to the link Lamont posted, there is also a (different) section of the I-90 bridge that is a rec dive, and is diveable from shore. Info in the Dive Site Listings forum.

[kdupreez]

The 3 biggest plane wrecks in Lake WA are the PB4Y-2 Privateer (Navy version of a B24), PBM Mariner and PV2 Harpoon.

I highly recommend Scott Boyd's book "Northwest Wreck Dives" for lots of information, including coordinates..

Privateer sits upright in about 155ft of fresh water, 2,000ft north east of Magnuson park.. The port side wing sticks in the mud and its listing at about 30 degrees . Theres a line out to the PB4Y from shore that we currently maintain, we dive it often from shore and boat.

Its for sure a Technical dive with more experience required when diving from shore with scooters (Also NOT recommended as a summer/boat season dive from shore)

The coordinates are well known and available in Scott Boyd's book "Northwest Wreck Dives"

This is what a PB4Y-2 Privateer looks like when its not underwater



Here are some Multi-beam sonar data for the PB4Y-2 Privateer in the lake..


The other big one is in the south of the lake, just north of Boeing Field.. Its a PBM-5 Mariner and its in about 70ft of fresh water and actually sits updside down!!



And here is the sonar data for the mariner. you can clearly see it sits upside down and in the mud.



The third bigger plane is a PV2 Harpoon and is just north of Sail Sand Point in about 130feet of fresh water and also probably a Tech dive due to bad viz and boat traffic The plane is face planted into the mud and sits vertical.. the tail has broken off and lies next to the plane.. The plane is in very fragile condition, with the stabilizer recently torn off due to someone snagging the line that was tied to the stabilizer.

here is a PV2 Harpoon in the air..



And here is the sonar data in the lake.. its kinda hard to make out the plane in the rough sonar data though..

[mz53480]

Koos, the depths shown on those sonar charts are in meters?

[kdupreez]

Yes, meters fresh water AFAIK. Could be slightly off as I have not done any corrections or adjustments from the raw NOOA multi beam data.

[renoun]

Danial, I seem to remember you saying your family had a boat you could dive off. There are some shallow wrecks in relativity safe locations that might be achievable goals for you in the near future. This would give you a chance to figure out the basics of diving off your boat and stay in relatively shallow depths while you gain experience. Even the shallow wrecks in the lake can be dark and silty.

I haven't been on these wrecks but I think you could consider; The Boss in Blakely Harbor, The Dauntless just North of Shilshole with the Boeing Creek reef nearby for a second dive, The Omar and Shilshole Barges are nearby but a little bit deeper, The Murph/Wingina in Quartermaster Harbor could be done on the same day as diving Sunrise at the slack.

If you took your boat to the Olympic Peninsula there are some good shallow boat dives there too. In Port Townsend there is the Alaska Reefer, The Comet (can be done from Shore), and The Orca in addition to great shore diving at Point Hudson. Discovery Bay is nearby with The Warhawk, one of the oldest wrecks around, and Ed's Fault is nearby for a second dive.

[Daniel379ba]

Thanks guys so much for the info!!!!!!
Those sonar maps are really cool!
And Renoun, ya we have a boat in lake wa when the weathers good so we will defintally do that, thanks for the links!!!!

[Daniel379ba]

Thanks guys so much for the info!!!!!!
Those sonar maps are really cool!
And Renoun, ya we have a boat in lake wa when the weathers good so we will defintally do that, thanks for the links!!!!

[Chris Borgen]

Here's another good website by Dan Warter that has good history and video.

http://www.dcsfilms.com/Site_4/Lake_Was ... recks.html

[kdupreez]

Here's another good website by Dan Warter that has good history and video.

http://www.dcsfilms.com/Site_4/Lake_Was ... recks.html

DCS guys have done some freegin amazing work in the lake and sound..

you could also peruse over to puget sound divers web site. Ben as probably side scanned the entire lake and there is some awesome video too.

http://www.pugetsounddivers.com

[archisgore]

I just read this whole thing! Now I want in!