Coming here for another dive in the winter when the kelp is gone and you can actually see the wreckage has been a diving priority for me in the last few months. Unfortunately, the far side of Discovery Island has consistently had the strongest winds in the Victoria area (according to the weather stations). I've tried taking my boat out here several times, but the wind and waves were too much for my small Zodiac. On one day I had my boat all loaded up and then noticed that the Discovery Island weather station was recording 100 km/hr winds. By some miracle, I managed to make it out there one calm day in December, but when I swam out from the shelter of the tiny island, the current was too strong to swim against. I clawed my way back to the far side of the islet and walked back to the side where my boat was. That was a 15-foot deep, 7-minute-long dive. Finally, it was a nice, sunny, calm day (although there was the standard gale warning for later in the afternoon) and I took my boat across to the far side of Discovery Island (Feb. 25, 2010). I swam out to where I thought I remembered the wreckage, but I didn't find anything except for what looked like the stern of a more modern dinghy with copper/brass brackets. Visibility was only 10-15 feet, but it was sunny and bright. I had used up half my air without finding the wreck so I surfaced to find out that I had swam the wrong way, even though I was using a compass. I seem to be good at that. I was close to the opposite side of the channel near Alpha Islet. I swam back to where I started on the surface and descended again for another try. I swam around for a bit along a flat, rocky reef about 25 feet deep. I almost resigned myself to not finding the wreck and figured I'd better at least take some photos of something. I was taking a picture of a seastar on the reef when I saw a large anchor in the background. After taking some photos, I followed the attached chain and it led down the side of the reef, across the sand, to the main portion of the wreck about 30 feet deep. With the kelp gone, everything was easy to see. The chain went through the hawse pipe that I remembered from last time. Then it led to a jumbled area with a pulley, a small cannon and piles of other rusty stuff. There was an informational plaque left by the Underwater Archaeological Society of B.C. As I followed the chain, there were scattered deck knees, pins and half-buried sections of planking in the sand. The chain made a sharp bend and then it led up to the "pile of rusty stuff" that I couldn't recognise last time. With the kelp gone, you can see that it's what's left of the chain locker. There was still the group of copper rockfish swimming around. There were more deck knees and pins sticking out of the sand leading off into the distance, but I didn't have the air to follow them too far. Despite there not being much of a recognisable ship left, the scattered bits are pretty interesting to swim around and try and guess what they might once have been. I'll mention again that this is a heritage wreck and removing or disturbing anything is illegal and won't make you many friends.
