Divesafe International students dive the wreck of HMCS Columbia during both the Occupational SCUBA program and the Surface Supply program.
A project by the artificial reef society of British Columbia, the HMCS Columbia lies upright in approximately 120 feet of water with a 35 degree list to port. We fear that over the years this list is increasing. The ship was a 366 foot long Restigouche – class Destroyer that served from 1959 to 1974.
Our occupational SCUBA students dive the wreck with enriched air nitrox for extended bottom times. The surface supply students have the opportunity to do penetration dives on the ship.
On surface supply, after a reconnaissance dive to seek out the best penetration points, diver one tends diver two’s umbilical at the entry point while diver two penetrates the wreck. The two divers then swap roles and sometimes entry points. When a diver enters this wreck the sediment inside gets disturbed, reducing visibility.
These surface supply dives give the students some great experience with confined space diving, something they will undoubtedly come across when they enter the commercial diving industry.
Marina Teramond @ NMPL
You can’t imagine how I fall in love with the underwater world and everything connected with it because I find it so magnificent. Your article inspired me so much because this experience which students can get is so valuable and I would like to appear in this situation. Students are provided with such a unique opportunity to dive into the wreck and explore it, be filled with the absolutely excited emotions and learn truly necessary things which will need them in the commercial diving industry. To tell the truth, the process of diving described in this article blew my mind because it is truly complicated but entertaining at the same time and it is such an effective way to become more skilled in this field.