SAN DIEGO, CA – Two Southern California divers have come up with an ambitious plan that will change the diving in San Diego.
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| The goofy looking forward guns of the Yukon.. because the wreck is on its port side! That's just weird! |
The wreck of the Yukon, a 366ft long Canadian destroyer intentionally sunk in 2000 as an artificial reef, currently sits on the ocean floor two miles off of Mission Beach. The Yukon project took hundreds of thousands of dollars and almost as many man hours to prepare for sinking, and in July of 2000, it was finally ready to take become a new site for divers and to attract more marine life to the area.
However, rough surface conditions caused the ship to take on water, and to sink before prematurely. Now, instead of resting upright, the wreck sank lop sided, and now sits in 105 feet of water on its port side.
Although the Yukon has thrived as an artificial reef, attracting marine life and divers alike, the fact that the wreck is lying on its side instead of right side up has bothered many local divers—but not for long. After ten years of resting on her port side, two divers have decided to upright the Yukon.
The ambitious project is the brainchild of dive buddies Ed Hocken and George Kennedy, who came up the idea after a long night of post dive drinking. Hocken explained his idea in a recent phone interview from his parent’s converted garage, where he lives.
“We were at Applebee’s, downing pitchers Coors Light, when I was like, ‘Dude! Wouldn’t it be cool if the Yukon was upright instead of on its side? You know, like a normal boat?” And an idea was born. “Ever since then, we’ve been obsessed with up righting the Yukon.”
Funding for the project has been a challenge, but as of November, Hocken and Kennedy have raised over $200—almost half of their projected cost of $500. “Most of the money is from change we found under George’s sofa,” admits Hocken, “my grandma said she would chip in $10, though.”
The duo have designed a detailed plan as to how exactly they will upright the wreck, which weighs 2,300 tons.
The plan to upright the Yukon, drawn on the back of an Applebee’s placemat, calls for a 17ft Boston Whaler, 200ft of rope, approximately 12,000 ping pong balls, and the help of two dolphins.
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| Detailed plan on how the Yukon will be pulled upright. |
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| Final view of successfully up-righted wreck. |
“We watched Mythbusters, so we know that we can use the positive buoyancy of ping pong balls to lift the wreck…then we can use the ropes attached to the [Boston Whaler] and the dolphins to pull the Yukon so it is sitting correctly in the sand” said Kennedy. “We’ve done several tests of the system in our bath tub, using Legos and Micro Machines, and it works. We are certain that we can upright the Yukon.”
Hocken also described previous versions of the plan, which included the car jack from his 1988 Honda Accord, "about a gazillion zip ties," and “maybe a pulley or two.”
Hocken and Kennedy’s endeavor has already received an endorsement from Ships to Reefs, a non profit organization dedicated to locating, preparing, and then sinking ships to become artificial reefs. Ships to Reefs spokesperson Dennis Nordberg described the poorly sunken Yukon as an “eyesore,” and said “seeing the her [the Yukon] on her side instead of upright is like having that neighbor with the car on cinder blocks on their front yard or their Christmas lights up year round---plain tacky and ugly to look at.”
Local divers are also excited about seeing the Yukon upright: “The first time I saw the Yukon, laying there all lopsided, I was disappointed…even the Titanic is up right on the ocean floor,” said one diver.
“We hope this will be our legacy,” said Hocken, “our gift to divers here in San Diego.”
The pair is currently accepting financial donations, and anyone with a Boston Whaler, lots of extra ping pong balls, or knowledge of marine mammal husbandry are encouraged to contact the Surface Swim, at surfaceswim@gmail.com. -Gary Baldi, reporting for the Surface Swim
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