Trip Report: S.S. Governor, Puget Sound USA

starfishdiving · 6th August 2006, 17:18

We had a spectacular three days of diving last week. A fine group of CCR divers and two excellent (OK, make that 1 and a half) OC guys got in some of the best diving they had ever done exploring the wreck of the SS Governor.
The "Gov" is located in the entrance to Puget Sound. This is the Admiralty Inlet area between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island.
The whole gig was organized by Ron Akeson (Adventures Down Under, Bellingham, WA US). The charter boat was the Lu-Jac's Quest (Capt Phil Jensen, Anacortes, WA). Phil brought the boat down from Anacortes to Port Townsend for the 3 day expedition. The wreck site is only about a 1/2 hour run from PT. We had long ago picked the days for the best minimal tide exchange and good slack current window. Ma Nature provided the perfect weather.
The Governor went down on a March night in 1921. Fog, mis-reading of lights and a collision with the M/V West Hartland were the causes of her sinking. The SS Governor now lies in aprx 240FSW and in the in-bound lanes of the Puget Sound VTS (vessel traffic system).

Just before noon on Wednesday was our first dive. Our fine deckhand/safety diver Jason did a Yeoman's job of dropping the buoy line grapnel onto the deck right at the collison point. First team of divers were the ones with the scooters. The lesser endowed group (includes me) followed minutes later.
We were greated at the wreck by no current and up to 40 foot of visibility!
Incredible! No one who had been on the this wreck before could recall such perfect conditions. While the supersctructure is pretty well collapsed, very recognizable features were quite visable and distinct. There was a pantry near the coliision site. We located a fair amount of dinner ware in two cabinets plainly seen in the open. Mooring bits and fairleads from the port deck area were laying on the crushed areas. (The ship lies on her starboard side at about a 20 degree list) NOTE! Nothing is permitted to be removed from this ship-wreck! Photography/video only. Ron Akeson did get in a whole bunch of video time on these dives. It was well documented.
Some of the largest Yellow-Eye Rockfish I've ever encountered were seen on this ship. Big-un's...at least two that tipped the scales at over 100 lbs!

We left the bottom at 26 minutes into the dive. At the planned time and depth (120 FSW), Jason met us and made sure all were accounted for. At 100 feet of depth, the deco stage rig was unclipped from the Marker buoy line and we enjoyed a very comfortable deco period. Total run-times were between 78-96 minutes for all. Perfect...Just perfect!

The next day we returned for our second plunge to the "Gov". Again, Jason dropped the hook right dead in the middle near the engineering area. The top of the wreck here was just a tad over 200 feet in depth. Visibility was again in the 40 ft range. Wow! Here the structure has opened to allow a descent into some of the machinery spaces. It was no problem to see the massive boilers as they were fully exposed. I dropped over the starboard side to the bottom at 235 ft. I was greated by a long line of brass portholes and deadlights all lined up right where the had fallen from the hull when the steel corroded over time. As the old steel gave way, the brass frames just fell out. Amazing! After 85 years of scouring currents, the brass on most of them was still shining. Remember! No taking of artifacts. Again, Ron was every where with the video cam. This dive was around 30-35 minutes (depth and teams depending. Deco again went right as planned. this time we had two fine safety divers to assist us. Jason and Paul.

Our third dive (and day) begged the question as we loaded-up and went out from the marina. Can we do a Trifecta? Is it possible we are going to do 3 excellent dives on the Governor? The current window for this one was a bit narrower tha the first two. The tide exchange was late in the day and had a greater range. Also, when the weather is warm in the NW part of the US and Washington state, the afternoon marine layer winds do come up a bit stronger. This time, it took two trys to snag the wreck. But, the winds were still light. There was a bit more current on the surface. When we arrived on the wreck, there was no current. This time the Grapnel had caught on wreckage just next to the hull. The depth here was 238 feet. As we surveyed the area it was evident we were much nearer the bow. We confirmed that later thru a recheck of our GPS position and the report from the gang on scooters. They had gone on to cover the area and found the bow along with its ground tackle gear. Once again huge Yellow-eye Rockfish stared at us as we merrrily swam along. I was able to find a large opening that lead down a passage way just below the main deck. It was a good eight feet high and ten feet wide. Covering every bit of this passage were invertebrates of all types found in the Pacific NW waters of the Juan de ***a straits. Absolutely spectacular! My buddy on this Dive was Matt Den Haan. Matt is the owner of Northwest Sports Divers in Bothell/Kenmore, WA.
At about 27 minutes, Matt and I returned to the grapnel hook. I flipped it over and rehooked the shackle to the crown of the hook. As planned, we were the last team off the bottom. We recovered our strobe and made our way up the line. I was watching the plumose anemones that covered the Gov as they disappeared from sight. Almost done, I thought. Three well planned dives that so far were executed with out any problems. I'll wait to really cheer once we are all back on the boat. Matt and I had a run time for this dive of 102 minutes.
We all got back on the boat and retrieved our deco stage and the other down rigging. Then we all celebrated. Three for Three!

This was my 5th, 6th and 7th dive on this wreck in the past 26 years. I've made more attempts and been nixed many more times than I have successfully done the dives. I am one happy diver!

While we did rotate some divers over the three days, four of us did the whole enchilada: Ron Akeson (Meg CCR), Dave Hancock (Meg CCR) (Ideations, Dive-alert Pres.) Peter Den Haan (Evolution CCR)(NAUI, Silent Diving, etc) and Randy Williams (Meg CCR) (Starfish Diving, Inc. Seattle). We also had our two OC guys: Mark Theune and Rob Wilson. Earlier, I had said 1 and half OC divers. This is because Rob is a new Meg owner but hasn't fulfilled his required dives yet for CCR Trimix cert. He has done may OC trimix dives. This was his second and third successful dive on the Governor. Mark did the first two dives on OC. Mark did just fine! We also had with us on the second day, Dan Warter. Dan works with Matt at NWSD. Dan is a very accomplished Meg CCR diver and videographer. This was the first successful dive to the Governor for Dan. Matt Den Haan ( diving his new Evo CCR) was with us on the last day. Dan had to run the store so the boss could play! This was the first dive to the Gov for Matt.

The SS Governor is a very tough wreck to get on to. Our NW currents, her position in the mouth of Admiralty inlet, etc... all contribute to its difficulty.
As we discussed on the boat, there may not have been more than (maybe?)40 divers who have ever dived this wreck.

The ship is owned by Robert Mester (Thank you , Bob!) of Admiralty Underwater Services. AUS has a strict rule about taking nothing from this wreck. Permission must be granted and forms to be signed. Also, permission must be granted by the US Coast Guard, Capt of the Port/VTS Puget Sound. Ship traffic can be busy in this area.

A big boat-load of Bravo-Zulus' to Capt Phil Jensen for his superb boat handling (and lots of eats on board). Again, Thank you Ron for organizing this expedition. Ron! We are hot to get copies of your video!

Finally...A huge round of applause to Mr. Murphy! Wherever he was, he wasn't to be found hanging around us for three days. That sucker should go on vacation more often whenever we go diving.

Dive Safe! GO CCR!

Mixaddict · 6th August 2006, 17:28

Randy,

Thank you very much for the trip report. Sounds like an absolute blast! Next time you guys are planning something, there are a couple of us CCR divers in Salt Lake City that would love to come up and join you! We have been looking for an excuse to come up and do some diving in the Northwest.

Congrats on a successful trip.

Regards,
Randy Thornton (MixAddict)

camerone · 6th August 2006, 21:42

Wow - sounds fantastic!

I heard conditions were really good; they were incredible just around the corner in the Strait (on the Diamond Knot...) all weekend.

Was it crowded on the Governor? The Porthole guys were saying that there were several groups all trying to do the wreck at the same time...was wondering how that was going to work out.

starfishdiving · 7th August 2006, 02:44

Quote: (Originally Posted by camerone)

Wow - sounds fantastic!

I heard conditions were really good; they were incredible just around the corner in the Strait (on the Diamond Knot...) all weekend.

Was it crowded on the Governor? The Porthole guys were saying that there were several groups all trying to do the wreck at the same time...was wondering how that was going to work out.

Hey group:

What "several" groups? There was only Porthole with the GUE folks and us.
Then, only on the first day, Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday we were the only divers on the site. While the GUE Team got on site first, we were starting our ascent as they were coming down. They did go back and do another dive on the late PM slack. Mike (Porthole Charters) told us later that evening that they had a very good dive like the first. Later, I was told that they also were "bucking" a strong current. Hmmm...could be if they were later into the tide change. Like I posted in my report, we didn't experience any currents problems on any of our three dives. Whatever!

Safe Diving!

mattwave · 7th August 2006, 23:21

Great Report Randy,
it was great to dive the wreck with you, what an experience. Phil the captain was top notch, and Jason is an excellent safety diver, he can't wait to get enough time on his EVO to enjoy such a dive. Thanks Ron for putting toghether a rare opportunity. Hope you guys had a good time diving the Bomber today.

Matthew

RonMicjan · 8th August 2006, 06:13

grrr, missed this one, of course with perfect conditions, Randy, why couldnt you just give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice in it?? This is worse then the night the king's stinking son fired me!!

**Gill Envy** · 8th August 2006, 07:06

Randy, thanks for the report, sounds awsome!! maybe the gov is doable by kayak

just kidding... looking forward to hearing more about it. I'm sure i'm not the only one who is curious about how the evo's handle that depth and duration, perhaps matt and peter would like to share their experiences with us. Maybe someday i'll be up to it

starfishdiving · 8th August 2006, 16:23

Ron!

Hey, you 'ol salt...Didn't mean to rub the wound. I am sorry you couldn't make the dives. You are at the top of the list for next time. Really!
It was amazing how good the condx were. If it wasn't for dumb luck, I's have no luck at all!

Correction: I had not realized that our other OC dude (Mark Theune) was already in the training program on his new Meg. So, that makes our count of 1 and a half OC divers on the trip reduced to 1 OC. It's all in the ratios.

Get out and get wet!

RonMicjan · 8th August 2006, 19:47

Patti and I along with the dive club i preside at are heading down to Clear Lake for some fun this weekend, nice easy diving, except for the cold water (36F), altitude, 3,000 feet and the bozo that runs the place, other than that, its pretty neat, viz in the couple hundred feet range, until you touch the bottom then it goes to zero from the 6 foot layer of volcanic ash that covers it. have attached a pic of patti from a couple years ago while still on OC.

Silent · 8th August 2006, 20:57

Okay thanks for making me jealous again Ron!!

I sometimes struggle to get viz like that in swimming pools round here!

Hope you both have a great time.

Neil

6th August 2006, 17:18	#1 (permalink)
starfishdiving Water is Life! Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Seattle, WA USA Posts: 32	Trip Report: S.S. Governor, Puget Sound USA We had a spectacular three days of diving last week. A fine group of CCR divers and two excellent (OK, make that 1 and a half) OC guys got in some of the best diving they had ever done exploring the wreck of the SS Governor. The "Gov" is located in the entrance to Puget Sound. This is the Admiralty Inlet area between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island. The whole gig was organized by Ron Akeson (Adventures Down Under, Bellingham, WA US). The charter boat was the Lu-Jac's Quest (Capt Phil Jensen, Anacortes, WA). Phil brought the boat down from Anacortes to Port Townsend for the 3 day expedition. The wreck site is only about a 1/2 hour run from PT. We had long ago picked the days for the best minimal tide exchange and good slack current window. Ma Nature provided the perfect weather. The Governor went down on a March night in 1921. Fog, mis-reading of lights and a collision with the M/V West Hartland were the causes of her sinking. The SS Governor now lies in aprx 240FSW and in the in-bound lanes of the Puget Sound VTS (vessel traffic system). Just before noon on Wednesday was our first dive. Our fine deckhand/safety diver Jason did a Yeoman's job of dropping the buoy line grapnel onto the deck right at the collison point. First team of divers were the ones with the scooters. The lesser endowed group (includes me) followed minutes later. We were greated at the wreck by no current and up to 40 foot of visibility! Incredible! No one who had been on the this wreck before could recall such perfect conditions. While the supersctructure is pretty well collapsed, very recognizable features were quite visable and distinct. There was a pantry near the coliision site. We located a fair amount of dinner ware in two cabinets plainly seen in the open. Mooring bits and fairleads from the port deck area were laying on the crushed areas. (The ship lies on her starboard side at about a 20 degree list) NOTE! Nothing is permitted to be removed from this ship-wreck! Photography/video only. Ron Akeson did get in a whole bunch of video time on these dives. It was well documented. Some of the largest Yellow-Eye Rockfish I've ever encountered were seen on this ship. Big-un's...at least two that tipped the scales at over 100 lbs! We left the bottom at 26 minutes into the dive. At the planned time and depth (120 FSW), Jason met us and made sure all were accounted for. At 100 feet of depth, the deco stage rig was unclipped from the Marker buoy line and we enjoyed a very comfortable deco period. Total run-times were between 78-96 minutes for all. Perfect...Just perfect! The next day we returned for our second plunge to the "Gov". Again, Jason dropped the hook right dead in the middle near the engineering area. The top of the wreck here was just a tad over 200 feet in depth. Visibility was again in the 40 ft range. Wow! Here the structure has opened to allow a descent into some of the machinery spaces. It was no problem to see the massive boilers as they were fully exposed. I dropped over the starboard side to the bottom at 235 ft. I was greated by a long line of brass portholes and deadlights all lined up right where the had fallen from the hull when the steel corroded over time. As the old steel gave way, the brass frames just fell out. Amazing! After 85 years of scouring currents, the brass on most of them was still shining. Remember! No taking of artifacts. Again, Ron was every where with the video cam. This dive was around 30-35 minutes (depth and teams depending. Deco again went right as planned. this time we had two fine safety divers to assist us. Jason and Paul. Our third dive (and day) begged the question as we loaded-up and went out from the marina. Can we do a Trifecta? Is it possible we are going to do 3 excellent dives on the Governor? The current window for this one was a bit narrower tha the first two. The tide exchange was late in the day and had a greater range. Also, when the weather is warm in the NW part of the US and Washington state, the afternoon marine layer winds do come up a bit stronger. This time, it took two trys to snag the wreck. But, the winds were still light. There was a bit more current on the surface. When we arrived on the wreck, there was no current. This time the Grapnel had caught on wreckage just next to the hull. The depth here was 238 feet. As we surveyed the area it was evident we were much nearer the bow. We confirmed that later thru a recheck of our GPS position and the report from the gang on scooters. They had gone on to cover the area and found the bow along with its ground tackle gear. Once again huge Yellow-eye Rockfish stared at us as we merrrily swam along. I was able to find a large opening that lead down a passage way just below the main deck. It was a good eight feet high and ten feet wide. Covering every bit of this passage were invertebrates of all types found in the Pacific NW waters of the Juan de *a straits. Absolutely spectacular! My buddy on this Dive was Matt Den Haan. Matt is the owner of Northwest Sports Divers in Bothell/Kenmore, WA. At about 27 minutes, Matt and I returned to the grapnel hook. I flipped it over and rehooked the shackle to the crown of the hook. As planned, we were the last team off the bottom. We recovered our strobe and made our way up the line. I was watching the plumose anemones that covered the Gov as they disappeared from sight. Almost done, I thought. Three well planned dives that so far were executed with out any problems. I'll wait to really cheer once we are all back on the boat. Matt and I had a run time for this dive of 102 minutes. We all got back on the boat and retrieved our deco stage and the other down rigging. Then we all celebrated. Three for Three! This was my 5th, 6th and 7th dive on this wreck in the past 26 years. I've made more attempts and been nixed many more times than I have successfully done the dives. I am one happy diver! While we did rotate some divers over the three days, four of us did the whole enchilada: Ron Akeson (Meg CCR), Dave Hancock (Meg CCR) (Ideations, Dive-alert Pres.) Peter Den Haan (Evolution CCR)(NAUI, Silent Diving, etc) and Randy Williams (Meg CCR) (Starfish Diving, Inc. Seattle). We also had our two OC guys: Mark Theune and Rob Wilson. Earlier, I had said 1 and half OC divers. This is because Rob is a new Meg owner but hasn't fulfilled his required dives yet for CCR Trimix cert. He has done may OC trimix dives. This was his second and third successful dive on the Governor. Mark did the first two dives on OC. Mark did just fine! We also had with us on the second day, Dan Warter. Dan works with Matt at NWSD. Dan is a very accomplished Meg CCR diver and videographer. This was the first successful dive to the Governor for Dan. Matt Den Haan ( diving his new Evo CCR) was with us on the last day. Dan had to run the store so the boss could play! This was the first dive to the Gov for Matt. The SS Governor is a very tough wreck to get on to. Our NW currents, her position in the mouth of Admiralty inlet, etc... all contribute to its difficulty. As we discussed on the boat, there may not have been more than (maybe?)40 divers who have ever dived this wreck. The ship is owned by Robert Mester (Thank you , Bob!) of Admiralty Underwater Services. AUS has a strict rule about taking nothing from this wreck. Permission must be granted and forms to be signed. Also, permission must be granted by the US Coast Guard, Capt of the Port/VTS Puget Sound. Ship traffic can be busy in this area. A big boat-load of Bravo-Zulus' to Capt Phil Jensen for his superb boat handling (and lots of eats on board). Again, Thank you Ron for organizing this expedition. Ron! We are hot to get copies of your video! Finally...A huge round of applause to Mr. Murphy! Wherever he was, he wasn't to be found hanging around us for three days. That sucker should go on vacation more often whenever we go diving. Dive Safe! GO CCR! __________________ Randy Williams Seattle, WA USA Conius say: "Man who say it cannot be done should not bother the man who is doing it." Last edited by starfishdiving : 6th August 2006 at 17:29.*
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6th August 2006, 17:28	#2 (permalink)
Mixaddict RBW Member Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Evolution Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other CCR Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Draper, Utah USA Posts: 520	Re: Trip Report: S.S. Governor, Puget Sound USA Randy, Thank you very much for the trip report. Sounds like an absolute blast! Next time you guys are planning something, there are a couple of us CCR divers in Salt Lake City that would love to come up and join you! We have been looking for an excuse to come up and do some diving in the Northwest. Congrats on a successful trip. Regards, Randy Thornton (MixAddict)
(Online)

6th August 2006, 21:42	#3 (permalink)
camerone RBW Member Current Rebreather/s: Evolution Dolphin Other Rebreather/s: Dolphin Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 79	Re: Trip Report: S.S. Governor, Puget Sound USA Wow - sounds fantastic! I heard conditions were really good; they were incredible just around the corner in the Strait (on the Diamond Knot...) all weekend. Was it crowded on the Governor? The Porthole guys were saying that there were several groups all trying to do the wreck at the same time...was wondering how that was going to work out.
(Online)

7th August 2006, 02:44	#4 (permalink)
starfishdiving Water is Life! Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Seattle, WA USA Posts: 32	Re: Trip Report: S.S. Governor, Puget Sound USA Quote: (Originally Posted by camerone) Wow - sounds fantastic! I heard conditions were really good; they were incredible just around the corner in the Strait (on the Diamond Knot...) all weekend. Was it crowded on the Governor? The Porthole guys were saying that there were several groups all trying to do the wreck at the same time...was wondering how that was going to work out. Hey group: What "several" groups? There was only Porthole with the GUE folks and us. Then, only on the first day, Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday we were the only divers on the site. While the GUE Team got on site first, we were starting our ascent as they were coming down. They did go back and do another dive on the late PM slack. Mike (Porthole Charters) told us later that evening that they had a very good dive like the first. Later, I was told that they also were "bucking" a strong current. Hmmm...could be if they were later into the tide change. Like I posted in my report, we didn't experience any currents problems on any of our three dives. Whatever! Safe Diving! __________________ Randy Williams Seattle, WA USA Con***ius say: "Man who say it cannot be done should not bother the man who is doing it."
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7th August 2006, 23:21	#5 (permalink)
mattwave New Member Current Rebreather/s: Evolution Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Seattle Posts: 47	Re: Trip Report: S.S. Governor, Puget Sound USA Great Report Randy, it was great to dive the wreck with you, what an experience. Phil the captain was top notch, and Jason is an excellent safety diver, he can't wait to get enough time on his EVO to enjoy such a dive. Thanks Ron for putting toghether a rare opportunity. Hope you guys had a good time diving the Bomber today. Matthew
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8th August 2006, 06:13	#6 (permalink)
RonMicjan Cap Ron scourge of the NW Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Dolphin Home Build Other Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Classic Kiss Dolphin Home Build Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cape Disapointment, The Graveyard of the Pacific Posts: 1,119	Re: Trip Report: S.S. Governor, Puget Sound USA grrr, missed this one, of course with perfect conditions, Randy, why couldnt you just give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice in it?? This is worse then the night the king's stinking son fired me!! __________________ Marine rescue, towing and salvage. Interfering with natural selection since 1983. www.tmishop.com Diving bits etc. www.seatowpdx.com The Summer Job
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8th August 2006, 07:06	#7 (permalink)
Gill Envy Shearwater Copis Divers Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Evolution Other CCR Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: seattle Posts: 1,347	Re: Trip Report: S.S. Governor, Puget Sound USA Randy, thanks for the report, sounds awsome!! maybe the gov is doable by kayak just kidding... looking forward to hearing more about it. I'm sure i'm not the only one who is curious about how the evo's handle that depth and duration, perhaps matt and peter would like to share their experiences with us. Maybe someday i'll be up to it __________________ Gill Envy ...Because I wasn't born with gills! ><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>
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8th August 2006, 16:23	#8 (permalink)
starfishdiving Water is Life! Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Seattle, WA USA Posts: 32	Re: Trip Report: S.S. Governor, Puget Sound USA Ron! Hey, you 'ol salt...Didn't mean to rub the wound. I am sorry you couldn't make the dives. You are at the top of the list for next time. Really! It was amazing how good the condx were. If it wasn't for dumb luck, I's have no luck at all! Correction: I had not realized that our other OC dude (Mark Theune) was already in the training program on his new Meg. So, that makes our count of 1 and a half OC divers on the trip reduced to 1 OC. It's all in the ratios. Get out and get wet! __________________ Randy Williams Seattle, WA USA Con***ius say: "Man who say it cannot be done should not bother the man who is doing it."
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8th August 2006, 20:57	#10 (permalink)
Silent Staying Silent! Mostly... Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Ouroboros Other CCR Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Northants, UK Posts: 383	Re: Trip Report: S.S. Governor, Puget Sound USA Okay thanks for making me jealous again Ron!! I sometimes struggle to get viz like that in swimming pools round here! Hope you both have a great time. Neil __________________ On the dark side everyone can hear you scream......
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