Adventure on the Empress of Ireland
By Capt. David Caldwell
June 23, 2002
Dives
1 & 2
Well it has been nine long years since I have been to Rimouski and dove the
Empress of Ireland. Things here
look about the same except the last time I was here you didn’t see or hear
about the wreck although people obviously knew about it, they didn’t advertise
it as much as this time. It seems
like a lot of places such as restaurants, local businesses and hotels all have
something on the Empress. The town
looks about the same but it has been built up a little more but it still has
that small coastal community flare to it. The
scenery around here is beautiful with the St. Lawrence River and the hills and
valleys all around. The people here
all speak French and English is hardly spoken.
We met up with Capt. Jean-Pierre, the owner of the dive charter boat.
He is the primary charter operator that runs charters to the wreck.
Our trip is his first charter of the season, for the most part it is
still late spring to them up here. The
boat is nothing what we are use to, It’s an old fiberglass ChrisCraft that
most people would use for a pleasure boat. The boat runs well with twin engines
is very fast and has a full compliment of marine electronics.
It is a lot different from the first boat I went to the Empress on, which
was a 90’ steel whale watching boat. Having
a small fast boat is really the way to go because it is very easy to pick-up and
head out on a short notice, which sometimes is necessary because of the ever so
changing weather patterns.
After loading the small boat with our gear, we started out for the wreck.
It took almost a half hour to reach the sight.
The Canadian government has the wreck moored as well as buoyed stating
that the wreck is a protected sight. This was not there the last time I was
here. We quickly picked up one of the three moorings, which happened to be the
midship portion of the wreck. That
was good because that is where we tied in the first time that I dove the wreck,
and I felt comfortable in this area even though it was nine years ago.
Heather and I had our gear situated first just by a matter of chance so
we started getting ready first. We
got suited with the help of Simon the crew; he was very helpful by just standing
by and assisting only if needed. After
getting all set we made a side roll into the water, I rolled in first and
Heather followed right behind me. We
hung onto a rope until we could reach the down line. The current was very strong and it could easily blow you away
from the boat. I pulled myself
along the mooring line and started heading down.
Heather was close behind and within a matter of 10’-15’ below the
surface the visibility went down to about 5’-10’, and the water got
extremely dark, almost dark black. When
you looked to the surface the water looked dark green, it was an incredible
site.
We descended down to about 75’ and the port rail appeared out of know where.
The mooring was attached through two portholes; one still had the swing
plate still intact. It was as I
remembered it as if I dove it yesterday. Heather
and I orientated ourselves and off we went swimming towards the bow. We got to a section where the rail takes a dip down, this is
where the front of the helm area which has been collapsed, but the rail is still
intact. The wreck sits at about
70-80 degrees almost on its side, at the rail it is about 75’ –85’ and it
drops down to 140’. We dropped
down to where the helm would have been, which is the middle of the forward deck
area. We saw some of the deck booms
and winches. At this point we swam
back up to the rail and back towards the mooring line.
Heather was following close behind so not to get separated because she
wasn’t orientated to the wreck. It
is a big wreck and takes a few dives to become familiar with what end is really
up. Although as long as you stay
outside the wreck and on the deck all you need to do is swim up and you should
reach the rail. In theory this
should happen but not always, with a wreck this big and decks that have
collapsed over the years that when you swim up you could actually swim into the
wreck without even realizing it. Once
we got to the mooring line we noticed that we still had time to swim around some
more.
Heather had been shooting video and she
was carrying the camera against a strong current so she decided to take a break
from shooting and clip the camera off next to the mooring line.
Once she clipped it off we swam back towards the stern, there is a blast
hole that was caused by a salvage crew years before. We got to the blast hole
and explored that area for a while. Through
out the dive the deepest we got was 120’ and that was only for a short time,
most of the dive was spent around 85’-95’.
It was great because you could do a 25’-30’ dive without getting into
all kinds of deco. After spending
sometime at the blast hole we moved back to the mooring, picked up the video
camera and made our ascent towards the surface.
It was a awesome dive and worth the 12 hour drive to get here.
After spending about two hours on the surface we prepared ourselves for our
second dive. We decided to use the
same tanks from our first dive for our second dive so we didn’t need to change
over tanks. But we needed to get
suited back up and get ready to jump in for round two.
Over the side we went and down the mooring line to the rail.
Once at the rail we decided to swim into the wreck through an opened
hatch located about 10’ from the mooring.
It was a easy penetration and I swam in about 15’-20’, and Heather
stayed near the entrance so I could stay in sight of her light.
Once she shined the light away from my direction for a second it got real
dark. So dark that my eyes started playing tricks on me as they
tried to focus in complete darkness. She
shined the light back in my direction and I swam towards her.
Once I reach her we both turned around and swam towards the exit.
That was really exciting to look out through a string of portholes from
the inside of the wreck. After we exited the wreck we swam back over the rail and down
towards the deck, which was the ceiling from where we penetrated.
We swam down to about the middle of the ship.
There are large open wholes that dropped down two – three decks into
the wreck. We explored this area
for a short time and started making our way back to the mooring line.
The whole time the current was screaming and you needed to hang onto
something the whole time, or you would blink and you were gone off the wreck. Once we reached the line we started our ascent to the
surface. By the time we reached the
surface the current had increased even more and the temperature dropped because
of the water blowing by you. It got
cold real quick, so it was good that we didn’t have a long deco.
If we did we would have been shaking from the cold when we got out, but
everything was just right and we exited the water just in time from getting real
cold. This dive was even better
than the first.
June
24, 2002
Dive
Cancelled Due To Strong Winds.
June
25, 2002
Capt.
Dave’s Dives 3 & 4
We gathered at the boat around 7:30 for an 8:00 departure. The weather had made
a 180* change from the day before, with flat calm sea’s and a slight wind from
the southwest, a good wind to dive the Empress. We headed out for our second trip to the wreck sight.
We all had plans to check out some areas that we all saw the day before,
so we wanted to tie into the midship again.
We all discussed where this area was and how we could all check it out.
Something funny happened within two days of diving the wreck, the midship
mooring had broken loose and the surface barrel had floated away.
Interesting thing is that these three moorings have just recently been
installed for this up coming season, so all of the ground tackle was new.
A belief could be had that this wreck is haunted with the spirits of the
victims of this horrific catastrophe. It
appeared, knowing that we had intentions and a plan to visit a particular part
of the wreck, that something around us didn’t want this to happen.
After tying to the mooring off the stern, we started suiting up and preparing
ourselves for a dive. Paul and Lee
started suiting up first because Heather and I went in first on the last trip
out. They quickly put it together
and headed into the water with Heather and myself close behind. We
started down the line and the current was real strong and the temperature seemed
colder than the two days before. Heather
and I got a little disorientated going down the line and with limited visibility
things were not going right. We
where on the rail at about 75’-85’and I started swimming towards the bow
with Heather following behind. On
occasion Heather and I were out of sight of each other and it was difficult to
stay orientated with the wreck, within a few minutes into the dive things did
not feel right. Heather motioned to
me to turn around and head back to the line, so without hesitation I started
swimming back to mooring. Within a
matter of a few minutes we arrived at the mooring line, and Heather gave me the
thumbs up.
Sometimes things just don’t go right and a solid dive team can identify when
things are going sour. To have the
discipline to turn a dive that we traveled so far to reach is one of the things
it takes to turn a dive. When we
reached the surface we discussed collectively as a group about the things that
didn’t go right. There was some
disappointment in turning the dive but there was no doubt that it was the right
thing to do. After staying out for
good long surface interval and slowly getting ready for a better second dive.
We discussed exactly what we were going to do and what area of the wreck
that we were going to check out. Paul and Lee found a good area to see that was
relatively easy to get to without becoming disorientated, so we opted to check
it out. When we got down to the
rail of the wreck we took a moment to get our bearings.
Once we got comfortable and orientated we started dropping straight down
from the mooring. We followed the
deck down to about 120’, and noticed that the decking had collapsed like a
sandwich that had multiple layers. The
area that we wanted to see was an area of decking that had been torn off a year
before by a fishnet being dragged by a fishing boat. It opened up a new section
of wreckage that has not been seen that much, meaning that there was a lot of
stuff to see. For example we saw
complete deck chairs, ornate woodcarvings, bathroom fixtures and bits and pieces
of the victims. On Paul’s and
Lee’s dive, Lee thought he found a soap dish, so he dug at it and got his
hands on it. When he brought it to
his sight he realized that the soap dish had teeth.
Anyway Heather and I were having a great dive on this go around.
We carefully stayed in communication even though we where in zero
visibility. We paid close attention
to where we were in reference to the mooring line.
We knew if we moved together that we could stay orientated to our
position.
Once we had a chance to look around we gave the signal to head back towards the
line. It was a big change from our
first dive. We worked as a close
team working together, to stay orientated, keep in constant communication, and
keep each other safe so we could both enjoy our dive. This wreck gives you strange thoughts if you believe in the
spirit world, I have dove many wrecks and none have given me the feelings that I
feel or experiences that I have had on this wreck. This sight would be like walking through a cemetery and
knowing that below the head stones that a dead body is buried there, but at this
sight you don’t know where the bodies are buried.
The more I dive this wreck the more respect that develops within me.
I have less of an ambition to remove anything from the wreck even though
the wreck is protected, I feel as if I am removing things from the dead.
As Lee said disturbing the dead gives you bad JUE JUE, and he is in the
dead people business so I trust his statement.
June
26, 2002
Capt.
Dave’s Dives 5 & 6
Today Heather and I had a day that originally was going to be a day off of
diving, but because we missed a day because of bad weather we decided to got out
to the wreck again with the two of us. Jack,
Donna, and Greg were making the long drive up today and would be joining us
tomorrow. Simon, Jean Pierre’s
crew also joined us for today’s dive. We
opted to dive the bow section so when we arrived at the wreck we picked up on
the bow mooring and started getting ready to dive. Simon mentioned that we should wait a while and the current
would slow down a little and it would be better to get in 30’- 40’.
So we decided to get everything ready so when it slowed down we could
jump in. While we were hanging out
another operator came by and tied off and waited with us.
They had plans to replace the mooring that had broken loose two days
before. So they started getting the
ground tackle ready for their dive while we carried on good dive conversation.
The current started to slow down and it was time to make our first dive of the
day, this would be our sixth dive on this trip.
Heather jumped in first and I followed close behind, the current was
still running but it had slowed quite a lot since we first arrived.
We started down the line and staying close together we reached the wreck.
The mooring was tied into the rail as all the other ones were, so we
orientated ourselves as to which direction was towards the bow. We then started checking out the forward deck area looking at
the bits, winches, lifting booms and lots of decking. Dropping down to about 120’ we where located on the
centerline of the decking. From
that position we started zigzagging our way towards the stern.
Under the decking that we where swimming over was the first class
staterooms. We dropped over a rail
and where now on the main forward deck area.
We noticed that where the forward staterooms would have been, the wall
was deteriorated and you could look forward to the bow and see how the interior
walls had collapsed. It gave you a
clear picture of what it would have looked like when it was intact.
At that point we decided to make our way back towards the upper rail and
get ourselves back to the mooring line. We
definitely got a good look at the forward bow area and came up with some new
areas to check out on a second dive. After getting to the mooring we noticed
that we had sometime to spare so we moved forward to the tip of the bow, we
wanted to check out the name on the bow area but the current was real strong and
there was not much to hang onto. So
in this case we stayed close to the rail so we could hang on and if necessary we
could drop over the rail into the lee of the current.
As we swam forward we saw a complete porthole fully intact with uncracked
glass. What a sight to see, you
wished that you could work on these artifacts and bring them home.
Well
this dive was just about over, all we had to do is swim about 30’ back on the
rail to the mooring line and up we went to make a short deco stop.
This was a great dive and we got to see a whole new section of the wreck.
At this point we got to see the wreck from the stern to the bow and it is
a huge wreck and I can’t wait to make the next dive.
We sat out for our surface interval for about an hour just relaxing in the sun
and waiting for Simon to return and talking the best we can with Jean Pierre.
It’s different to talk with someone where you don’t know French and
they don’t know English, but you can still carry on a conversation.
It goes to show if you have a little patience and you are both divers,
you can always talk about diving. Within
a matter of a few minutes Simon returned from the deep.
He got out and he could translate more of a conversation between all of
us. We had a great talk about
different things about diving and stories that they knew that pertained to the
wreck. Before we knew it we had to
get ready for the next dive, oh boohoo. I
can’t wait, because this dive we decided to venture back to the first class
deck area. We jumped in the water
and down we went, at the bottom the visibility had gone to zero.
You couldn’t see two feet, but we knew right where we wanted to go,
back to the first class deck area. Within
minutes we were swimming down the rail and then down towards the centerline of
the ship. While making this swim
you passed along the first class cabins and without getting into any penetration
you could see how the interior cabin walls have collapsed.
If the wreck wasn’t protected this area would be a great digging area.
It kills me to come across some of the best artifacts that I have ever
seen and not be able to touch anything. It
should be a criminal offense to protect shipwrecks from wreck divers taking
booty.
From the centerline of the wreck we looked at the decking and the ship went one
way, the deck went another way, and the wall went another way.
We had zero visibility and felt our way around by following where the
wall and the deck met. When everything started going in different directions we gave
the turn around sign and we headed back to the rail. From the rail we swam towards the mooring and up we went for
a short deco. So far we have not
run a guideline while diving this wreck, although we have become very orientated
to the wreck and a big part of this is that I have dove the wreck before and I
felt comfortable leading the dives. Within
2- 3 dives Heather also found herself becoming orientated to swimming the wreck
and at any point during the dives that we had accomplished she was able to find
her way as well. There are a lot of
different rules of thumb in regards to running lines and not running lines.
I am a believer in using guidelines on shipwrecks especially if the wreck
is smashed up on the bottom and there is a huge debris field.
Debris fields are very disorientating to swim around and it takes more
than a few dives to become comfortable swimming without a line returning you to
the mooring line. Diving the
Empress has some very distinct orientation points that really can’t be
mistaken, first is the rail, because it runs the full length of the ship, and
it’s at about 75’- 85’. Second
is the 70*-80* angle of the wreck, more or less, along with the way that the
teak decking runs parallel to the rail. The
deck is torn up in some areas and missing in others, but it still runs parallel
to the rail running bow to stern. Third
is do some homework and studying pictures, deck plans, ship models, and anything
else that give you none points. Parts
of the wreck have been removed though salvage and decks have collapsed over the
years but knowing what or how this happened you can still keep yourself from not
getting lost. It is a very large
wreck and it is known for being dark and having zero visibility.
Until I had a couple of dives and talked with divers that dive the wreck
all the time, I ran a line.
June
27, 2002
Dive
7
The second group that was joining us arrived the day before today.
We had Jack, Donna, and Greg all of them dive with us on a regular basis
off the Donna III. So everyone was comfortable diving together and that takes
pressure off not knowing the people you are diving with.
We all met first thing at the hotel for breakfast and it gave us the
opportunity to give a dive briefing and how things ran.
The weather was looking okay, but there was a dense fog that created zero
visibility on the surface. It was a
good thing for modern day electronics because if we didn’t have them we where
going to sit at the dock until it burned off.
Jean Pierre pushed the bottoms on the G.P.S. and switched on the radar
and off we went. Someone asked the
questions about getting blown off the wreck or not finding the anchor line and
Simon the divemaster replied “don’t get blown off”.
That was a true statement and everyone knew that meant don’t get lost
on the wreck. Rule meaning run a line if you are not comfortable.
We had everyone else get suited first and get into the water, as it was there
first dives on the wreck. It worked
out well because on a small boat everyone has to participate helping each other
out, it’s almost required in order to make these trips successful.
Jack and Donna got ready first, Donna decided against bringing the video
camera on the first dive which was good because it was their first dive on the
Empress and it was best to get an idea of what to expect for conditions.
Greg got ready next using his Inspiration rebreather. He suited up and checked all the bells and whistles and off
he went. Believe it or not the
current was non-existent. They
didn’t believe us but in the back of their minds they knew they had good
conditions. The other thing was the
sea was flat calm which takes the pressure off diving the wreck for your first
time. The first dives that we had
at the beginning of the week also gave us a flat calm sea, a huge stress
reducer.
Heather and I made the decision that since we dove the bow section the day
before and since these guys haven’t been diving the wreck that the stern would
be a good place to start. We got
suited and had a plan to drop straight down from the mooring and check out a
debris field that had all kinds of things to see.
Heather jumped in first and when she jumped in her light helmet went
sinking off in big blue. Simon
mentioned that she forgot her helmet and I said I saw it on her when she jumped
in. After the dive she said she saw
it floating away, she made a quick judgment call to stay on the line and not do
something dumb like trying to go after it, even in a mild current.
Gear can be replaced easier than chasing you ass down, good choice.
Anyway back to the dive I followed her down the line passing Jack and
Donna, then Greg coming up. We got
to rail and down we dropped to about 120’.
We stayed at this depth and started moving towards the stern checking out
some of the best artifacts that just couldn’t be had.
Boy it is real tough to see such beautiful things and not be able to
bring anything home. It’s not all
that bad I guess considering that next year when we come back that these things
should still be around. Moving
towards the stern we slowly came up from 120’ to about 110’ then to 90’.
Stuff is everywhere you look you can see down into the wreck multiple
decks into the ship. Decks are
stacked on top of each other and some are about a foot apart, layer on top of
layer. Once we reached the stern we
got to the rail and moved forward towards the bow back to the aft mooring line.
We reach the line and up we went for our deco.
On the surface things where changing rather quickly, the fog had blown out and
it was starting to clear up, but with the fog lifting it started to change the
flat calm sea. Simon had passed us
on the line heading down for his dive and everyone was doing a surface interval.
We saw a large ship pass us and within minutes large waves came towards
the boat, it almost seemed like the wake of the ship that passed moments before.
Guess what? It wasn’t the wake it was large waves building rather
quickly. We started getting ready
to get back in and Jean Pierre looked at me and I looked at him and he gave us a
sign to hold on. He motioned that
he wanted to wait a minute until Simon got back on the deck, and more important
to see what these waves were going to do. Within
minutes Simon surfaced and the waves were now cresting whitecaps.
Simon rolled into the back of the boat, we stowed gear and off we went
back to port. It was really
something to see the river go from flat calm to a solid 4’- 6’ sea within
minutes and I mean minutes. We got
back to dock with one dive in and by the looks of it we were not going to dive
for days after, but things change quit quickly in the St. Lawrence.
It’s here on minute and gone the next, by early evening after filling
our tanks it went back down to being flat calm, go figure.
June
28, 2002
Dive
8 & 9:
We got the weather report the night before and we where told to call in the
morning to see if we would have a go or no go.
We talked with Danny another operator that ran out to wreck as well as
Jean Pierre. Danny was the person
who filled our tanks with a portable compressor that he brought to Jean
Pierre’s house for the week. It
was a great setup to be able to bring our tanks to his house and have our tanks
pumped up. Well after talking with
him he was an optimist and he said that we would get out for sure.
That was good to hear considering the weather report was grim and
considering what we had experienced, that was good to hear.
We called first thing in the morning before we met everyone for breakfast
and the weather was looking awesome, another go figure.
Everyone was ready to go before we even gave the word, flat calm seas,
fog burning off and there was no wind. Well
how about that a total opposite from the day before, you never know until you
wake up in the morning what the day will bring.
We had a quick breakfast and off to the boat.
Today Simon wasn’t going to be on the boat and he was going to miss a
great day.
We loaded the boat and off we went back for more thrills and chills.
Since we didn’t get to do two dives the day before on the stern we
opted to tie off in the stern area again. Everyone
had no problem with that because they where just getting orientated to the wreck
so it was a good choice. Heather
and I mentioned some areas to check out and it and it would add to everyone’s
dive. Today Greg was going to lead off by heading in first followed
by Jack and Donna. Greg was all set
and ready to lead off and down he went. Greg
was diving solo so it seemed that he was diving conservative, which was good.
I believe his greatest fear was not being able to find the mooring line,
and without having another dive buddy to work with it’s best to play it safe
and dive conservative. Jack and
Donna followed in right behind Greg, and Donna brought her video camera on this
dive. She figured she came a long
way not to come back with some video and the other thing was there was no
current to speak of on the surface. Not
having current on the surface didn’t mean we wouldn’t have any on the bottom
but there would be a good chance there may not be any.
At this point Heather and I got set to go with the help of Jean Pierre mostly
handing us our gear as we needed it. It’s
always good to have someone pass you stuff as you need it rather than bouncing
around the boat with heavy tanks on your back.
Heather was missing her helmet and I didn’t recognize my dive buddy
without it. That didn’t mean I
lost her but it she didn’t look like my regular dive partner.
Down the line we went with great smiles and hearts pounding as we start
another great dive. We passed Donna
on the line and as we got to bottom Jack was just starting his ascent.
I could see Greg’s light off in the distance as he was following the
rail back for the bow towards the stern. Heather
and I dropped straight back down from the mooring line again to the other rail
on the starboard side. Here we
started zigzagging our way back up to the portside.
Visibility was poor as usual but there was no current and the water
seemed to be a lot colder than the day before.
Heather and I stayed tight together and stayed in constant communication,
we were not going to have any miscommunications or disorientations as we did on
our third dive. We were far from
the mooring line and we didn’t want to have any mishaps.
After our third dive we stepped right into each other’s shoes to make
sure we were both on the same page. It
makes all the difference in the world to dive as a team and not just have
someone diving with you. Jack and
Donna are a good example of this exercise, and when one is out of tune the other
knows it.
The water was cold and I started getting chilled so I gave the thumbs up and
Heather gave the thumbs up and we headed back to the mooring line.
Another great dive and everyone seems to get better and better, we
surfaced and everyone helped us getting out of the water.
The weather was warm and sunny boy did Simon miss a great day to be
diving. After making a short
surface interval we all started getting prepared for our second dive of the day.
Greg got in his gear first and cranked up his rebreather, followed by
Jack and Donna. Heather and I
started getting suited up again and we jumped in for our second dive. We both enjoyed diving the stern section the most out of the
whole wreck. It had so much to see
and you could see all kinds of stuff. You
see things here that you don’t get to see back diving in Mass. Bay.
The wreck is preserved quite well over the years, something to consider
is that the St. Lawrence River can get ruff but it doesn’t have that heavy
ocean ground swell that pounds wrecks to a pulp in the open ocean.
The ship is intact to the point that it has shape and figure of a
beautiful ocean liner. It is truly
a world class dive sight that has a incredible tragic story that goes with it,
to put your hand on it and to swim around it is better than any museum could
ever have to offer.
After passing Donna then Jack we could see Greg off in the distances making his
way back towards the line, the two of us swam slightly forward then started to
descend to the other side of the wreck. We
knew that this was going to be our last dive in the stern area so we wanted to
make one final swim around the whole area that we had been exploring for the
last two days. There was so much to
see and so little time to check everything out.
The more that I swim around the stern the more stuff that pops out to
clear view, the things that you see here is amazing.
This last dive in the stern was going to be short because the water
temperature had dropped and it was getting cold.
We reached the other side of the wreck and started swimming towards the
stern. Once we reached the debris area that we had been diving for
the past couple of days we started swimming up the decking and back towards the
mooring. Before I knew it we
reached the mooring and the dive was over.
I can’t wait until tomorrows dive because the weather is getting better
and better.
June
28, 2002
Dives 10 & 11:
This whole little jam up took seconds to happen and I look back it felt like an hour. Heather knew the second she saw me get startled that I was in a jam and by her moving back away from me was the best thing to do, because there wasn’t much she was going to be able to do for me if she got stuck to. By not making quick movements and thinking about the situation I was able to get myself out. After I got out I went over the top of the area that I got into and I could see down into the cavity that I swam into. It was tight and how I ever got myself into it I will never know. What I do know is that I will keep a better eye on what’s above me besides what is next to me or below me. After we got orientated again we continued our dive moving back towards the mooring. Before we knew it we found our way back to the line and the dive was over. When we got to the surface Heather and I talked about my jam up and we both agreed that we made the right decision doing what we had done. Even though I got in a little jam it was still an excellent dive.
It wasn’t very long and we headed in for our final dive of our trip. We have had 10 awesome dives and this was going to be our last and final dive on the Empress. Simon suggested that we drop straight down from the mooring and swim towards the stern. He mentioned that there was an area where there was a huge skylight and it looked down though the center of the ship. We quickly found this area and swam around here for a short time. Then we continued to swim back towards the stern checking out an old staircase that the stairs had collapsed. You could see two or three decks down into the ship. It was a great entry point into the wreck, something to keep in mind for the next dive when we come back next year. Before we knew it the time was up and it was time to head back to the line and call it a dive.
Not everyone
puts an expedition together to go to a foreign country that only speaks French
to dive a shipwreck in cold water, limited visibility, with strong currents
except for hardcore wreck divers. This wreck is for that type of diver and not for someone who
likes to have their hands held on guided dives. The conditions here are harsh, difficult, and change on a
moments notice as we have experienced on this trip.
Although we got to see some of the better conditions of the wreck sight,
we also got to experience some of the more difficult conditions.
You cannot plan to dive the Empress with having excellent conditions
because they don’t always exist, and for the most part the conditions are
difficult if not challenging. You have got to prepare yourself in everyway to reap safe
comfortable dives. Heather and
myself found that the dives that we had accomplished throughout the week were
challenging and experience building dives that got better and better.
If people think that it’s all that easy then why aren’t there droves
of technical wreck divers venturing their way to the Empress.
Is it fear or the lack of interest or is it just a badass wreck that
wannabe tech divers are too chicken shit to dive?