Dive Schedule

Dive Team Meeting & Shore Dive

Location:  Les Davis Pier, Tacoma WA
Date: Saturday June 26th
Dive Slots: Open
Max Depth:  60 Ft
Hazards: None
Dive Rating: Beginner – Advanced

Let’s get together for a fun dive!

Quarterly we’ll be hosting a non-working fun dive.   This is a great opportunity to get in the water, hone skills and meet with the other MAS divers.

For this quarter we’ve selected Les Davis Pier in  Tacoma.   If you’ve never been to the site, Les Davis is a easy entry shore dive with fun structure and plenty of marine life.  After the dive we’ll plan on grabbing a bite to eat restaurants on Commencement Bay.


Beeswax Wreck Exploration Weekend 1

Location:  Garibaldi Marina, OR
Date: Saturday July 11th & Sunday July 12th
Dive Slots: 4 Per Day
Max Depth:  70 Ft
Hazards: Current, Swell Low Visibility
Dive Rating: Advanced

In 2015 a team from MAS performed a sidescan survey of an area of interest in the Short Sands beach area off the Oregon Coast.   Several targets were identified including a potential anchor and chain as well as several features with “unique characteristics”.

In the summer of 2017 we dove several of the features and, with video evidence, were able to determine that they were probably man made.   Unfortunately were unable to investigate the potential anchor and chain target due to dive conditions.

This summer we plan on taking a fresh look at these as well as other potential targets.  Our goal for the weekend is to:

  • Find the anchor and chain feature
  • Use metal detectors to positively identify the suspected man-made features.
  • Explore an area of interest for potential artifacts

Beeswax Wreck Exploration – Weekend 2

Location:  Garibaldi Marina, OR
Date: Saturday July 24th & Sunday July 25th
Dive Slots: 4 Per Day
Max Depth:  70 Ft
Hazards: Current, Swell Low Visibility
Dive Rating: Advanced

Based on new discoveries last fall, we believe we’re starting to narrow down the possible location of the Beeswax wrecksite.

In June the MAS  team will be performing a magnetometer survey of an area of interest off the coast of Oregon.   We anticipate that the mag survey, along with sidescan data we’ve already acquired, will produce several dive ready targets of interest.


Survey of the Wreck of the Dauntless

Location:  Shilshole Marina, Seattle WA
Date: Saturday September 18th
Dive Slots: 4
Max Depth:  60 Ft
Hazzards: Low Visibility
Dive Rating: Intermediate

On December 30, 1923 the Mosquito Fleet Steamer Dauntless was blown off her moorings in Kingston in a fierce storm, drifted across the Puget Sound and wrecked just north of Golden Garden Park in Seattle.

This Autumn, in collaboration with the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society, MAS will be performing a survey of the wreck of the Dauntless.  The Dauntless lies in 60 ft. of water and is a short run from Shilshole Marina

This will be our first project using photogrammetry for archeological survey.  Our plan for the survey is to take baseline and offset measurements of the wrecksite as well as thousands of detailed photos.  We will use the photos as well as the measurement data to build a highly accurate 3D photogrammetry model.


Wreck of the Fairy Exploration

Location:  Steilacoom WA
Date: TBD
Dive Slots: 4
Max Depth:  60 Ft
Hazards: Mild Current, Low Visibility
Dive Rating: Intermediate

The paddle wheeler Fairy was the earliest American steamship to service the Puget Sound.  On October 22, 1857, off the docks at Steilacoom her boilers exploded causing the ship to catch fire and eventually sink.  She hasn’t been seen since.

With the help of MAS historical researchers and several volunteers, we did an initial survey of the area in the summer of 2018.   Unfortunately our old magnetometer failed that day but we were able several targets of interest from the sidescan data.  We dove on several of the targets but were unable to find evidence of the wreck.

https://www.nwnewsnetwork.org/post/history-teacher-obsession-sunken-ship-and-crew-searching-its-wreck

Armed with our new magnetometer we plan on taking a fresh look at the area off Steilacoom late this summer.  Our goal is to build a bathymetry map of the area overlaid with the magnetometer data and identify new targets of interest to dive.   Stay tuned for updates as the Fairy project moves along.