Greetings!

We found what has to be the world’s largest yellow eye rockfish today. I am pretty sure that one of them would have put the run on my not inconsiderable sized German Shepherd. And if that didn’t eat him in one gulp, I am sure some of the ling cod could have.

It seems to be a diver secret that some of the biggest fish in the Pacific Northwest live on the wreck of the Sceptre Squamish near Comox. Today, Jeremy, Mark, Chris, Kim and I chartered the boat belonging to Pacific Pro Dive and spent a glorious day diving the wreck of the Sceptre and the Gulfstream. Unfortunately, Jeremy threw his back out yesterday and being the good sport he is, he came along on the charter and kept swinging until the last minute when he finally decided he better not dive. Good call Jeremy. The wrecks aren’t going anywhere.

The Sceptre was a barge that sunk in about 180’ of water near Comox. By itself, it is just a big barge, but what makes this wreck unique is that it sunk with a 150 ton crane on its deck. As the wreck hit the bottom, the crane tipped over and is laying down perpendicular to the boat. The frame of the crane boom is literally filled with fish. They seem to find protection in the lattice of the crane boom even though you can see right through it. This wreck has more fish life on it than any other wreck I have seen to date in the PNW. I am not joking about the size of these fish! Some of them are huge! And they are everywhere. It is really a sight to see this many fish. Even the regular ol’ brown rockfish were huge.

Diving the Sceptre is not for the faint of heart. It is deep and dark and sometimes there can be some significant current in mid-water. There is an up-line though and if you have the training and experience, it is a terrific dive. It is a bit more than a GUE Tech I dive and maybe a bit less than a full-up Tech II dive. If there was a Tech 1.5 dive, this would be it. It really requires 02 and 50% to do safely, and since this is outside the range of Tech I….. Get the training and then you can really enjoy this dive.

Our second dive was on the Gulfstream. This is a terrific Tech I dive and can be done safely with 21/35 and 50% as a deco gas. We swam under the bow and that was about 165’ so this is really in the 18/45 range and we were diving this gas so no big deal, but for Tech I divers, you can do the complete dive and see the best parts of the wreck while staying within Tech I limits. The visibility on this wreck today was amazing and we could see the entire wreck from bow to stern from amidships. The history of the Gulfstream is tragic and can be found elsewhere. Suffice to say there is a memorial to those who lost their lives on the wreck so make sure and respect this when you dive the Gulfstream. I have dove this wreck before but today, even though surface conditions were pretty ugly, once we descended past 40’, the visibility was excellent and we had a terrific dive. Thanks Bill from Pacific Pro Dive for taking a chance on the weather.

All in all, a great day and a couple of great dives.  

Guy