Project Yukon » ship wreck http://www.hmcs-yukon.org Everything You Need to Know about Scuba Diving in the Web Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:53:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Wreck Diving in the Caribbean http://www.hmcs-yukon.org/wreck-diving-in-the-caribbean.htm http://www.hmcs-yukon.org/wreck-diving-in-the-caribbean.htm#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:27:10 +0000 admin http://www.hmcs-yukon.org/?p=29

One of the best Caribbean wreck dives is the wreck of the C/S Charlie Brown on the island of Statia (St. Eustatius). Statia is only a quick 10 minute plane ride from Saba. I truly love vacationing on Saba. It is well away from the crowded reefs like Bloody Bay Wall on the Cayman islands or Palancar reef on Cozumel.

In its hay-day the C/S Charlie Brown spent almost 50 years lying fiber optic cable around the world. She was built in 1950 and is 327 feet long with a beam of about 41.4 feet.

The wreck of the Charlie Brown lies in 98 feet in water lying peacefully on its side. This wreck offers advanced divers, wreck divers, and underwater photographers the opportunity of a life time to watch everything from sea turtles to nudibranchs on the outside of the wreck.

For those of us who are more advanced, exploring the lone hallway that runs down the middle of the wreck is truly breathtaking. This hallway is wide open and runs about 120 feet through the wreck. Once inside you must visit the cable tanks and galley or move all the way forward to explore the reel room.

Unlike most wrecks the Charlie Brown was purposefully sank to form an artificial reef. But, she was not completely salvaged before the sinking. This now provides a look and feel of a real ship wreck.
Now, a little about how to get to Saba to start this dream vacation; Saba is what is called the Dutch Caribbean. The best way is to book your airfare to the island of St. Maarten. (SXM). Once you are on St. Maarten you will have two choices on getting to Saba:

* Take the Winair flight to Saba
* Take the 2 hour ferry to Saba.

Everything is really close. Saba is only 5 square miles while Statia is 8 square miles. You can get to most dive sites within 15 minutes. Saba is a volcanic island with spectacular lava tubes underwater. The best way to truly explore these Dutch islands is to start at Statia for a couple of days, then move on to Saba and end up at St. Maarten. St. Maartin has a great rain forest and this makes a great day to decompress after all of the diving.

For more information on scuba vacations, visit our website – http://www.scuba-info.com/Scuba-diving-vacation.html

Greg Deskin has been a PADI Course Director for over 12 years. With thousands of certified students, he has been asked many questions about scuba and scuba equipment. You can visit his scuba website at http://www.scuba-info.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Deskin

]]> http://www.hmcs-yukon.org/wreck-diving-in-the-caribbean.htm/feed 0 Wreck Diving – Discovery the Mysteries of the Deep http://www.hmcs-yukon.org/wreck-diving-discovery-the-mysteries-of-the-deep.htm http://www.hmcs-yukon.org/wreck-diving-discovery-the-mysteries-of-the-deep.htm#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:20:11 +0000 admin http://www.hmcs-yukon.org/?p=17 As long as people have been building boats and ships they have been sinking. And as long as people have been able to dive under the water they have been going down to look at these sunken ships. There is a magical and mysterious lure to that part of our history resting undiscovered on the bottom of the ocean. Scuba divers dive on wrecks for several reasons. Some seek treasure and profit. Some are professional or hobby archaeologists and are interested in historical information. And other divers just enjoy the excitement and adventure of visiting a ship wreck.

Safety is the biggest concern for all scuba divers but even more so for wreck divers. There is a risk of becoming trapped or lost in a wreck. Special training is available to scuba divers where they learn how to use special equipment. Reels of line are used to lay down a safe path through the maze of a ship wreck. Extra tanks of air are slung from the diver. Powerful underwater lights are required to light up the darkness. Wreck divers learn how to plan their dives so that they use one third of their air to reach the wreck, one third of their air to enjoy the wreck and return to the surface and hold the last third in reserve in case of emergency. Wreck divers have to especially cautious of hazards such as sharp and jagged metal.

Many recreational divers enjoy diving on artificial reefs. These are ships that have prepared and sunk on purpose in especially designated spots. Divers can practise their skills in the relative safety of a ship wreck that is well-mapped and sitting a safe depth. These ship wrecks are called artificial reefs because they soon become the habitat for corals, anemones and creatures of all kinds. Some artificial reefs will host up to four times their own mass in living creatures.

Most divers adhere to a policy of “non-disturbance” This means they do not interfere with the wreck or carry anything away. It is only fair to leave the ship wreck untouched so that other divers can enjoy it. But the environment soon starts to change the wreck. Breakers pound the metal or bust up the wood. Down deeper, currents carry away loose pieces and scatter them across the ocean floor. Even the creatures that make the wreck their home slowly start to break it down.

There is a compelling beauty to a sunken ship and great sense of adventure and challenge to learn the skills and become a wreck diver.

Rocky Boschman is a marine biologist and founder of Scuble.com. (http://scuble.com/) He has been actively promoting conservation for many years. Scuble.com is an online community and a great resource for information about the oceans. Join now, its free.

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