Constantly Hardcore as Explorers beyond the surface, takes us to new levels of research and devlopment with brand new Shipwrecks coming to Los Angeles California. Adding to the allure and beauty of our known natural and decaying shipwrecks that are scattered throughout places like the world renowned “Santa Monica Bay” Hardcore Dive Team and Customized Scuba volunteers its services to California Ships to Reef as research divers to help bring more wreck dives at the depths of the barren flat sand that make up extreme distances between Point Dume and Rocky Point Palos Verdes California.
Customized Scuba featuring The Goby Dive Boat sweeps California Ships to Reefs survey dives 1-26-2013
Organizing our best research dive possibilities, newly elected California Ships to Reefs Director Beth Lendway aka “Bethlahammer” scans the entire local commercial recreational dive boat operators and finds one that stands out above the rest “Customized Scuba” featuring The Goby Dive Boat captained by Adam C. James to receive the call of help. Knowing of recent extreme positive reviews on The Goby helped push that decision forward. Customized Scuba responded “affirmative,” “whatever it takes to get the decommissioned 180ft Buoy Tender sunk in our diving area, we’ll do!”
We contacted some of our regular Hardcore Dive Team divers to set up some dives. And as the week went by, there was 1 cancellation. Worked kicked in by an add requesting on our facebook page for volunteer advanced divers, and another dive website. Within minutes we had a call, Brent Durand, an L.A. local underwater photographer/diver inquired if the spot is still open-it was. A day later 1 more cancellation from our team divers. The add went out again, a few minutes later, Benjamin Scheier messaged to get the spot. He too being an L.A. local diver with ties to California Science Center and the marine industry in Port of Long Beach. Our dive team was set to go and meet A.J. at the Marina del Rey public boat ramp. It was on set in stone!
Going through and gearing up in the morning pouring rain, the tiny cloud opening formed and was for us and The Goby Dive Boat to pass through. With the coordinates in hand and input to GPS we get to the sites approx 2 miles from Marina del Rey harbor entrance. Surface conditions were calm and cool looking. Surrounding Santa Monica mountain ranges where clear as if they’d just been painted with pillowy cotton clouds lazily hanging onto them and taking a break.
We dropped into the water with a decent southerly surface current to cover 2 specific near coordinate sites, looking great…descending, the water started getting darker. At 103′ we found the dead still bottom, Site #4 of California Ships to Reefs Marina del Rey Sink Site Photo Credit Brentdimagery.com
perfectly expected depth at the coordinate and tide level-another Goby target nailed bullseye-with nearly dark as night conditions, visibility reaching at least 5 feet, temps at 53 degrees. The usual uniform clean dense very fine diotomaceous sand went on in ripples with the normal residential bottom life creatures-sea pens, sea stars, lizard fish, tubeworms and baby octopus lined up waiting for a new wreck to live in. Got the samples, got the probes and images to confirm. No endangered nor rare species found! Sweet!
site #5 of California Ships to Reefs
After the deep cold survey dives, A.J. says “hey, wanna dive the Star of Scotland?” (classic!) Brent and Benjamine, both, never have, and said “yes!” We hit that with same conditions, awesome dives! Brent getting unique eerie wide angle shots of “Expired Star of Scotland Wheel Time” 1-26-2013 CSTR survey dives with Star of Scotland wreck
slipped down into the bottom, as if what’s to come will resemble the same. More of BrentDimagery photos in less than 4 ft of viz!!
With more gas bottles on board The Goby Dive Boat takes us to, and this now has been verified, a new and undived reef. We can’t tell you of all the massive marinelife living there, just can’t, because it wouldn’t be new anymore. It is a treasure of gold. Customized Scuba takes us to an undived, unknown reef, near the California Ships to Reefs sink site!
A parting shot: To know there is a real organization, California Ships to Reefs that work hard at bring diving sites where there are none, to work with them organizing dives, to finding avid local divers who would go out and do some extreme deep dark sand survey dives, to making our work all possible by a scuba diving business called “Customized Scuba” featuring The Goby Dive Boat makes us more than happy Hardcore Dive Team. On behalf of every future world and local diver who gets to dive and explore the “wreck” everyone here is working on- Thanks in advance!
California Ships to Reefs Marina del Rey (Santa Monica Bay, Los Angeles California) project sink site for either decommissioned 180ft USCGC Planetree WLB-307 (Mesquite Class Buoy Tender) or USCGC Iris WAGL-395/WLB-395 (Iris Class Buoy Tender) continues…