SS Governor 2012

joshua smith · July 16th, 2012, 04:30 AM

Last week, the Maritime Documentation Society conducted our annual dives on the wreck of the SS Governor. The Wreck lies in 240' of water off of Point Wilson, near Port Townsend, WA.
For further information about the wreck, please visit SS Governor

The currents in this area are notoriously powerful and difficult to predict, meaning that there are usually only one or two windows of time in a year when the site is dive-able.

We all met at the dock in Port Townsend and loaded the gigantic mountain of gear required for dives like this onto our boat, Lu Jac's Quest, captained by the excellent Phillip Jensen of Diver's Dream Charters. The trip, as usual, was planned and led by the President of the MDS, Ron Akeson, owner of Adventures Down Under dive shop, located in Bellingham, WA. Divers were: "Divealert" Dave Hancock (callsign "Spider"), Dan Warter ("Ginger Fury"), Paul Hangarter ("Short Bus") Rob Wilson (still working on that one) , Ron Akeson (ditto) Chris Newley ("Fishguts"), and myself, Joshua Smith (Nailer? I dunno. I give nicknames to people, but they never return the favor). Our Safety divers and Deckhands were BJ Nussbaum("Laser") and his Fiance, Erin Keck ("Cuppie") All of us were diving APECS Megalodons except for Chris, who dives a KISS Classic.

We had intended to recover the Ship’s Bell we found last year, but were unable to get a Marine Archaeologist to accompany us to document the recovery. Mark Allen, of Underwater Admiralty Sciences, who own the salvage rights to the wreck, was aboard as well. He had anticipated the bell recovery, but chose to come out anyway.

Chris had never dived this wreck before, and he doesn’t own a scooter, so I volunteered to leave mine behind in order to buddy with him. We left the dock and headed out into very thick fog. We spent hours creeping around the wreck site, seeing inbound freighters on the radar long before we could see them with our eyes. Finally, with less than an hour to go before predicted slack, the captain gave us the OK to throw our grapple overboard to try and hook the wreck. At this point most of us had decided that the dive was going to be blown, because we didn’t have enough time, but BJ managed to grapple the wreck on his first try, and it was "go time!" Ron elected not to dive because of the limited time frame, which I would normally do myself, but everything felt "right" to me, and I reasoned that I might as well gear up, knowing that I could call the dive off at any point until I had a deco obligation.

Chris and I were the last two in. After meeting at the floats attached to our shotline, we made eye contact and exchanged "OK, Down" signs and began our descent. Viz wasn't great on the surface, with a lot of plankton blooms, but by 100' or so, it had opened up nicely. As I approached 180', I could see the strobes the other teams had hung on the shotline, and could even see their lights as they scootered along the perimeter of the wreck. I paused to hook my own strobe to the shotline, and then dropped down to join Chris on the wreck. We had agreed on a plan topside, that unless visibility was terrible, we would not use a reel, but simply stay within visual range of our strobe. Since Viz was 25-30', that's what we did. I exchanged a quick "fist bump" with Chris, to congratulate him on his first dive on this iconic NW wreck, and we set off to explore the wreckage. We were hooked in near the bow, which is barely recognizable as a ship any more- it looks more like a huge underwater pile of scrap metal. I saw a canary rockfish deep inside the wreckage that appeared to be twice the average size. Nearby, inside the twisted remains of the foremast, a monstrous ling cod that looked to be close to 6 feet in length lurked, waiting for lunch to swim by. We did a sort of cloverleaf circumnavigation of the shotline, moving in circles away from and back to the line. At 25 minutes run time, we collected our strobe and started our ascent. An hour and a half after we dropped, our heads broke the surface and we got back on the boat. A fantastic dive!

That evening, Chris had to leave us to deal with a crisis at home- his dog had been attacked by a bigger dog (all is well, dog is fine now!) This left me without a non-scooter buddy. Ron volunteered to join me the next day.

The following morning, we motored out into fog and lightning to see what fate had in store for us. Once again, we didn't get clearance to set the hook until slack was almost on us, but we had anticipated this, and were ready to roll. As he was gearing up, Ron discovered that a hole had been poked in his rebreather loop somehow- he was out. Rob and Paul immediately volunteered to ditch their scooters and dive with me. (Thanks, guys!). I was the last diver in, and as I hit the water, I felt a huge surge of cold water at my right wrist. I had just installed new wrist seals and dry gloves before the trip, and figured something I had done had failed. I shouted to Rob and Paul to go ahead without me, BJ threw me a life ring and towed me back to the dive ladder, cursing the whole way. Back on the ladder, BJ saw that my glove liner had gotten pinched in my dry glove ring. He popped my glove off and fixed it right away. With a big grin, I shoved off the ladder and kicked over to the shot line.

I knew that Rob and Paul were only a few minutes ahead of me, and I knew I could find them once I got there- their reel line was a different color from Dave and Dan’s, if I couldn't see their lights when I got down. Doing a solo descent into 240' was spooky and cool all at the same time. Sure enough, as I reached 180', I could clearly see both teams of divers, and I quickly teamed back up with Rob and Paul for another tour of the bow section. It was basically a repeat of the previous days dive- fantastic!

It wasn't until I was back on the deco trapeze that I realized that I had a hole in my right wrist seal- my arm had been wet since I jumped in, but now water was starting to creep over my torso, and down my other arm. I was getting pretty cold, and I still had an hour of deco left. Not good.

I suffered through most of it, but with 5 minutes left, I broke. I signaled my buddies that I was done, and surfaced. I figured that I had padded my plan enough that I could afford to skip 5 minutes, and hypothermia was becoming a legitimate concern. Back on the boat, as I peeled off my soaking wet undergarment, somebody behind me asked what had happened to my left shoulder blade. I had no idea what they were talking about, and said so. They told me it was all covered in red welts, and as they were explaining this to me, it started to itch like mad. I was just starting to realize that it might be a skin bend, when I felt something shift inside my body, and suddenly it felt like my left nipple was in a clamp- I pulled up my shirt and saw more welts appearing on my chest. The crew immediately made me sit down and start breathing 02. After about 15 minutes, my symptoms seemed to have resolved, and I went back to breathing regular air. After 48 hours, I felt fully recovered, except for some lingering soreness. I’m categorizing it as a "near miss" As tired and cold as I was, I probably should have done *more* deco instead of less. My decision not to seek treatment was, well, *my* decision.

Overall, It was a fantastic trip. I will never tire of diving that wreck. It is so huge, and can only be dived so infrequently, I don't know if I'll ever see the whole thing- I have 7 dives on her, now, and I feel like I’m just getting started! Thanks to everyone who made it possible!

Dave Sutton · July 16th, 2012, 05:30 AM

Nice writeup Nailer!

Looks like the team's headed to the Carl D Bradley with us soon? You coming?

BJ and Cuppie are engaged? Tell them "Howdy" from Jitka and I, and congrats.

Best,

Dave

.

joshua smith · July 16th, 2012, 06:20 AM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Dave Sutton)

Nice writeup Nailer!

Looks like the team's headed to the Carl D Bradley with us soon? You coming?

BJ and Cuppie are engaged? Tell them "Howdy" from Jitka and I, and congrats.

Best,

Dave

.

Hey, Dave! No, sadly, I won't be there. Last year was really awfull for my business, and I'm struggling to make up for it this year. Can't afford to make this trip.

rjw · July 16th, 2012, 11:17 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Dave Sutton)

Nice writeup Nailer!

Looks like the team's headed to the Carl D Bradley with us soon? You coming?

BJ and Cuppie are engaged? Tell them "Howdy" from Jitka and I, and congrats.

Best,

Dave

.

Are we going to be seeing you again Dave? We are looking forward to heading that way.

Dave Sutton · July 17th, 2012, 12:14 AM

Hey Rob, need to see when I get done with the flying gig here. Marks camera was recovered this weekend. Hope to be back outta the desert in time to see you. I spy a 787 across the ramp btw!

Dave

.

Dave Sutton · July 17th, 2012, 12:16 AM

Hey Rob, need to see when I get done with the flying gig here. Marks camera was recovered this weekend so you can just enjoy the wreck and not need to be looking for it. Hope to be back outta the desert in time to see you. I spy a 787 across the ramp btw!

Dave

.

**PeterN** · July 17th, 2012, 02:03 AM

Nice write up, and thanks for being transparent about your issues.

Peter

***Clare*** · July 17th, 2012, 06:49 AM

Thanks for posting!

joshua smith · July 17th, 2012, 07:20 AM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Dave Sutton)

Marks camera was recovered thisweekend

Really? Can you share any details with us?

July 16th, 2012, 04:30 AM	#1
joshua smith New Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 42 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	SS Governor 2012 Last week, the Maritime Documentation Society conducted our annual dives on the wreck of the SS Governor. The Wreck lies in 240' of water off of Point Wilson, near Port Townsend, WA. For further information about the wreck, please visit SS Governor The currents in this area are notoriously powerful and difficult to predict, meaning that there are usually only one or two windows of time in a year when the site is dive-able. We all met at the dock in Port Townsend and loaded the gigantic mountain of gear required for dives like this onto our boat, Lu Jac's Quest, captained by the excellent Phillip Jensen of Diver's Dream Charters. The trip, as usual, was planned and led by the President of the MDS, Ron Akeson, owner of Adventures Down Under dive shop, located in Bellingham, WA. Divers were: "Divealert" Dave Hancock (callsign "Spider"), Dan Warter ("Ginger Fury"), Paul Hangarter ("Short Bus") Rob Wilson (still working on that one) , Ron Akeson (ditto) Chris Newley ("Fishguts"), and myself, Joshua Smith (Nailer? I dunno. I give nicknames to people, but they never return the favor). Our Safety divers and Deckhands were BJ Nussbaum("Laser") and his Fiance, Erin Keck ("Cuppie") All of us were diving APECS Megalodons except for Chris, who dives a KISS Classic. We had intended to recover the Ship’s Bell we found last year, but were unable to get a Marine Archaeologist to accompany us to document the recovery. Mark Allen, of Underwater Admiralty Sciences, who own the salvage rights to the wreck, was aboard as well. He had anticipated the bell recovery, but chose to come out anyway. Chris had never dived this wreck before, and he doesn’t own a scooter, so I volunteered to leave mine behind in order to buddy with him. We left the dock and headed out into very thick fog. We spent hours creeping around the wreck site, seeing inbound freighters on the radar long before we could see them with our eyes. Finally, with less than an hour to go before predicted slack, the captain gave us the OK to throw our grapple overboard to try and hook the wreck. At this point most of us had decided that the dive was going to be blown, because we didn’t have enough time, but BJ managed to grapple the wreck on his first try, and it was "go time!" Ron elected not to dive because of the limited time frame, which I would normally do myself, but everything felt "right" to me, and I reasoned that I might as well gear up, knowing that I could call the dive off at any point until I had a deco obligation. Chris and I were the last two in. After meeting at the floats attached to our shotline, we made eye contact and exchanged "OK, Down" signs and began our descent. Viz wasn't great on the surface, with a lot of plankton blooms, but by 100' or so, it had opened up nicely. As I approached 180', I could see the strobes the other teams had hung on the shotline, and could even see their lights as they scootered along the perimeter of the wreck. I paused to hook my own strobe to the shotline, and then dropped down to join Chris on the wreck. We had agreed on a plan topside, that unless visibility was terrible, we would not use a reel, but simply stay within visual range of our strobe. Since Viz was 25-30', that's what we did. I exchanged a quick "fist bump" with Chris, to congratulate him on his first dive on this iconic NW wreck, and we set off to explore the wreckage. We were hooked in near the bow, which is barely recognizable as a ship any more- it looks more like a huge underwater pile of scrap metal. I saw a canary rockfish deep inside the wreckage that appeared to be twice the average size. Nearby, inside the twisted remains of the foremast, a monstrous ling cod that looked to be close to 6 feet in length lurked, waiting for lunch to swim by. We did a sort of cloverleaf circumnavigation of the shotline, moving in circles away from and back to the line. At 25 minutes run time, we collected our strobe and started our ascent. An hour and a half after we dropped, our heads broke the surface and we got back on the boat. A fantastic dive! That evening, Chris had to leave us to deal with a crisis at home- his dog had been attacked by a bigger dog (all is well, dog is fine now!) This left me without a non-scooter buddy. Ron volunteered to join me the next day. The following morning, we motored out into fog and lightning to see what fate had in store for us. Once again, we didn't get clearance to set the hook until slack was almost on us, but we had anticipated this, and were ready to roll. As he was gearing up, Ron discovered that a hole had been poked in his rebreather loop somehow- he was out. Rob and Paul immediately volunteered to ditch their scooters and dive with me. (Thanks, guys!). I was the last diver in, and as I hit the water, I felt a huge surge of cold water at my right wrist. I had just installed new wrist seals and dry gloves before the trip, and figured something I had done had failed. I shouted to Rob and Paul to go ahead without me, BJ threw me a life ring and towed me back to the dive ladder, cursing the whole way. Back on the ladder, BJ saw that my glove liner had gotten pinched in my dry glove ring. He popped my glove off and fixed it right away. With a big grin, I shoved off the ladder and kicked over to the shot line. I knew that Rob and Paul were only a few minutes ahead of me, and I knew I could find them once I got there- their reel line was a different color from Dave and Dan’s, if I couldn't see their lights when I got down. Doing a solo descent into 240' was spooky and cool all at the same time. Sure enough, as I reached 180', I could clearly see both teams of divers, and I quickly teamed back up with Rob and Paul for another tour of the bow section. It was basically a repeat of the previous days dive- fantastic! It wasn't until I was back on the deco trapeze that I realized that I had a hole in my right wrist seal- my arm had been wet since I jumped in, but now water was starting to creep over my torso, and down my other arm. I was getting pretty cold, and I still had an hour of deco left. Not good. I suffered through most of it, but with 5 minutes left, I broke. I signaled my buddies that I was done, and surfaced. I figured that I had padded my plan enough that I could afford to skip 5 minutes, and hypothermia was becoming a legitimate concern. Back on the boat, as I peeled off my soaking wet undergarment, somebody behind me asked what had happened to my left shoulder blade. I had no idea what they were talking about, and said so. They told me it was all covered in red welts, and as they were explaining this to me, it started to itch like mad. I was just starting to realize that it might be a skin bend, when I felt something shift inside my body, and suddenly it felt like my left nipple was in a clamp- I pulled up my shirt and saw more welts appearing on my chest. The crew immediately made me sit down and start breathing 02. After about 15 minutes, my symptoms seemed to have resolved, and I went back to breathing regular air. After 48 hours, I felt fully recovered, except for some lingering soreness. I’m categorizing it as a "near miss" As tired and cold as I was, I probably should have done more deco instead of less. My decision not to seek treatment was, well, my decision. Overall, It was a fantastic trip. I will never tire of diving that wreck. It is so huge, and can only be dived so infrequently, I don't know if I'll ever see the whole thing- I have 7 dives on her, now, and I feel like I’m just getting started! Thanks to everyone who made it possible!
(Online)

July 16th, 2012, 05:30 AM	#2 (permalink)
Dave Sutton Banned Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Union Beach, New Jersey Posts: 1,281 Thanks: 73 Thanked 189 Times in 103 Posts	Nice writeup Nailer! Looks like the team's headed to the Carl D Bradley with us soon? You coming? BJ and Cuppie are engaged? Tell them "Howdy" from Jitka and I, and congrats. Best, Dave .
(Offline)

July 16th, 2012, 06:20 AM	#3 (permalink)
joshua smith New Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 42 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Quote: (Originally Posted by Dave Sutton) Nice writeup Nailer! Looks like the team's headed to the Carl D Bradley with us soon? You coming? BJ and Cuppie are engaged? Tell them "Howdy" from Jitka and I, and congrats. Best, Dave . Hey, Dave! No, sadly, I won't be there. Last year was really awfull for my business, and I'm struggling to make up for it this year. Can't afford to make this trip.
(Online)

July 16th, 2012, 11:17 PM	#4 (permalink)
rjw New Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Marysville, Wa Posts: 6 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Quote: (Originally Posted by Dave Sutton) Nice writeup Nailer! Looks like the team's headed to the Carl D Bradley with us soon? You coming? BJ and Cuppie are engaged? Tell them "Howdy" from Jitka and I, and congrats. Best, Dave . Are we going to be seeing you again Dave? We are looking forward to heading that way.
(Offline)

July 17th, 2012, 12:14 AM	#5 (permalink)
Dave Sutton Banned Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Union Beach, New Jersey Posts: 1,281 Thanks: 73 Thanked 189 Times in 103 Posts	Hey Rob, need to see when I get done with the flying gig here. Marks camera was recovered this weekend. Hope to be back outta the desert in time to see you. I spy a 787 across the ramp btw! Dave .
(Offline)

July 17th, 2012, 12:16 AM	#6 (permalink)
Dave Sutton Banned Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Union Beach, New Jersey Posts: 1,281 Thanks: 73 Thanked 189 Times in 103 Posts	Hey Rob, need to see when I get done with the flying gig here. Marks camera was recovered this weekend so you can just enjoy the wreck and not need to be looking for it. Hope to be back outta the desert in time to see you. I spy a 787 across the ramp btw! Dave .
(Offline)

July 17th, 2012, 02:03 AM	#7 (permalink)
PeterN Supporting Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 322 Thanks: 238 Thanked 49 Times in 22 Posts	Nice write up, and thanks for being transparent about your issues. Peter
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July 17th, 2012, 06:49 AM	#8 (permalink)
*Clare* Retired - going diving Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 457 Thanks: 74 Thanked 178 Times in 39 Posts	Thanks for posting! __________________ Clare . "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions....Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great." Interested in dive training? Always happy to chat/answer questions so get in touch via PM or visit www.techdiver.co.uk
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July 17th, 2012, 07:20 AM	#9 (permalink)
joshua smith New Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 42 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Quote: (Originally Posted by Dave Sutton) Marks camera was recovered thisweekend Really? Can you share any details with us?
(Online)