Ship to take a dive for the fun of it

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July 30, 1998 By Terry Rodgers STAFF WRITER

Sink it and they will come.

That's the idea behind a plan by the San Diego Oceans Foundation to purchase a surplus Canadian destroyer escort and, sometime next summer, intentionally sink it 1.5 miles off MIssion Beach.

Supporters say the sunken ship will become an underwater Disneyland for recreational divers, many of them free-spending tourists.

And that's just the tip of the bow.

TV and movie producers likely will clamor to use the sunken warship as an authentic-looking set for filming various tales of undersea adventure.

The makers of the "Baywatch" television series reportedly have expressed a strong interest in constructing an episode around the sinking of the ship.

When Tinseltown's finest aren't tinkering around the wreck, anglers will be hovering over it for a chance to hook into a lunker.

Fish typically are attracted to any type of underwater structure, so the sunken ship should make an ideal artificial reef.

To accomplish its goal, the Oceans Foundation must raise about $600,000 to purchase the 366-foot-long Yukon, a mothballed destroyer escort; tow it down from its current berth in British Columbia; and alter the ship to make it safe for the environment and recreational divers.

They also must pay for an extensive enviromental report and obtain permits.

The plan was endorsed yesterday (7/29/98) by the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the San Diego Council of Divers. Each sent delegates to express support at a hearing before the San Diego City Council's Committee on Natural Resources and Culture, which voted 4-0 in favor of the proposal.

The idea must be approved by the full City Council and eventually, the state Coastal Commission.

The Yukon is currently owned by the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia, which bought the retired fighting ship from the Canadian Navy and is reselling it for $245,000.

It would be placed in water about 85 to 120 feet deep offshore from a point roughly in line with the end of Thomas Street in Mission Beach. All engines, special instruments and toxic materials would be removed from the ship.

"Our first responsibility is to do no harm to the ocean, and to improve it actually," said Richard Long, chairman of the project. "Our second one is the safety of the people who go aboard."

Interior bukheads will be removed to eliminate smaller confined interior spaces. All ropes and electrical wiring would be taken out to prevent entanglements that could endanger divers. Several 4-by4-foot holes would be made in the hull to give divers easy escape routes, which will be clearly marked with arrow-style signage.

If the ship is scuttled according to plan, it will lie on the ocean floor with its mast pointing up -- vertical, that is -- in the water. Since the ship is 70 feet tall, the top of the mast will be at a depth of about 30 feet -- shallow enough for even a novice recreational diver.

The depth that most experienced recreational divers are permitted to go is about 130 feet.

More experienced divers would explore deeper, into the bowels of the ship.

Councilman Harry Mathis, a former nuclear submarine captain and the chairman of the committee, regarded the project with a sense of personal irony.

"As a former career naval officer it's sort of a novel idea for me to sink a ship so we can create a tourist attraction," said Mathis.

The city's approval is necessary for two reasons: First, because it has jurisdiction over the ocean bottom from the shoreline to 3 miles offshore, and second, because the city would take ownership of the vessel once it is resting on the ocean floor.

A major issue not fully resolved during yesterday's council hearing was the extent of the city's liability exposure should a diver die or become injured while exploring the sunken vessel.

Members of the committee asked the City Attorney's Office to analyze the liability issue and submit a written report.

Accidents in local waters claim the lives of an average of two to three scuba divers each year, but none has been killed while diving in "wreck alley," an offshore area off Mission Beach that contains three other sunken ships, said city Lifeguard Chief B. Chris Brewster.

To enable local lifeguards to conduct rescues or recover bodies at the Yukon, the Oceans Foundation has promised to donate specialized air tanks necessary for hour-long dives in deep water.

The lifeguard diving team will also require additional deep-diving training, which the foundation also pledged to provide.

While the project's potential to enhance tourism and fishing were touted, the diving community clearly is the most eager to see Project Yukon accomplished.

"We view the Yukon project as the single most important event to revitalize the scuba industry in Southern California," said Steve Anderson, president of a local diving club.

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