THE VIRGIN ALEUTIAN ISLANDS...SHIPWRECK CENTER FOR ANCIENT JAPANESE JUNKS AND MO

[fortunate]

I know a few things about shipwrecks in Alaska, but not near enough. I have had my boat out as far as Makushin Bay, west of Dutch harbor. This part of the world is full of shipwrecks...alot of them recorded...but, the majority of them not. It is probably the most over-looked area to search for treasure and gold [artifacts..porclain and more....that i know of. The current from Japan has sent many, many a ship this direction..some, i know about..but, no one knows the total score..it is enormous, i think.
I am not good at research..but, i know alot of people here are....any suggestions?
Fortunate

 

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[Blacksheep 6]

Dang...sacks shriveling up just thinking about diving up there...

Anyhow...Cornelius and Ivan Salis are your best bet on recon there...they are the research Guru's on this Shipwreck thread...buzz over to "the wind" thread and PM 'em from there...

Best of Luck and Good Hunting...

Blacksheep6...

 

[fortunate]

haha..funny..lol..but, no need for that. what most people do not understand is, Alaska is very, very warm in the summer months....for instance..i have also dredged for gold in the rivers in Alaska. in the middle of the summer, the interior rivers are so warm, that it is difficult to hump a 8 inch dredge for 3 hours straight in the rivers without breaking a sweat with just a wetsuit on.
but in october i use a drysuit for sea cucumber harvesting in kodiak and other places. My gold dredging buddy from the 40 mile river system uses a wet suit...he's tougher..lol

 

[bell47]

what would the vis and water temps be in summer/winter? Even in the winter the water temp can only be so cold once under the water! Are there also some WWII aircraft and ship battle wreckage up there?

 

[Rowdy]

I may be way off mark here, but doesn't the water around Alaska get deep really quickly? For some reason, I'm thinking the shelf drops into blue water closer to shore than in some other parts of the world.

Working a wreck in the carribean in 50-100' is one thing, trying to work one that is several hundred feet down would be another matter I think!

 

[fortunate]

Bell,
The viz is basically the same as anywhere else. After a gale or storm, the vis is terrible close to shore..especially at shallow depths. Doesn't much matter if it's winter or summer, the vis is basically the same. In some parts of Alaska it rains...ALOT!. in these areas, if you dive near a river or stream with lots of run-off, the vis is zippo. As for water temp in the summer..it hit a balmy 60 degrees this summer...wetsuit diving weather. now, it is around 52 degrees and dropping with less and less sunlight. But, I have some fellow diver friends who still use wet suits for diving sea cucumbers during the months of october and november here. One guy who still dives with me went all the way into january diving for green sea urchins in Kodiak one year. Tough guy...
as for ww2 stuff..i do not even know where to begin...kika harbor on the aleutian chain has been designated a national park..historical monument..something like that. it was the only place where japan held a toe hold on american soil...there are submarines and battleships and planes galore around this island....off limits to us though. another thing off limits is the military weapons and ordinance left at all the bunkers at promentories on the aleutian islands....Being as uncertain what the future held and wanting a quick departure from the aleutian chain, with the surrender of the war, most everything that was going to be used to defend against the japanese at the high bunker points, was buried and surveyed for future use in parafin wax...x marked the spot if needed again...rifles..ammo..and much more. when i was in dutch harbor in the aleutians with my boat, i ran into a man who was the boat engineer..(mechanic for a larger vessel.} told me about the u.s. contract they had to dipose of all the buried stuff on bishops point. it entailed 4 jacobs engineers..laborers and their landing craft...it was an all summer job to dig it all and blow it up at certain times. couldn't motor within a mile of the point when they scheduled a blast. when i asked him what all they were blowing up...he said it would be easier if i asked what they were not digging up and blowing up.....
i always wanted to go back out there and check out some of the spots they haven't gotten to yet....but, that would be illegal...

 

[fortunate]

Rowdy,
there are certain places in the state where it is straight up and down undewaTER. but, the vast majority is not that way. shallow water..and ehen a ship sank...alot did not get buried in sand like on the east coast..it is more rocky here on the outer coasts...with some big exceptions, like in bristol bay...yakutat...yakataga..sand point. alot of shallow water diving...such as what i am about to do now. in 3 days my sea cucumber dive season starts and runs through nov. into dec. all above 60' in soft bottomed mud or gravelly areas...then...enough of alaska...time to head for brasil and see the girlfriend for a couple o' months......yeehaa.

 

[mariner]

I wonder if anybody is likely to be in the region of Kiska Island in the near future ?

Mariner

 

[fortunate]

Bell...just did the first opener for cucumbers and made 3 k in 1 and a half days...yeah, there's money in it and sea urchins here. up here is a real mans' world. you can dredge for gold...dive cukes...urchins..geoduc ..hunt moose..deer sheep caribou..wolf bear...explore caves...and yes..discover shipwrecks here...it is paradise to me...and i know what it is like over there...over populated..regulated as a consequence and therefore...no real opportunities for an adventuresome person to 'go for it' and feel free...i was born in and spent many years in maine and new hampshire earlier...never want to go back....
gold miner....carpenter...diver...fisherman...adventurer...fortunate

 

[bucketofguts]

beam me up please! with health care, dental, 401k.and my mom who thinks you are................ well............ she is uneducated except being an RN with 20 years helping people. b

 

[Rowdy]

Bell...just did the first opener for cucumbers and made 3 k in 1 and a half days...yeah, there's money in it and sea urchins here.

I'm just a landlocked, transplanted Yankee, so humor me. What the hell do they do with sea cucumbers that makes them so valuable?!?!?

 

[mad4wrecks]

I am curious about the sea urchins myself. We have quite a few of them here in Florida. I think they are considered an aphrodesiac in Asia or something. (I tried ingesting a sea urchin before sex once and all I got was a little prick)

 

[rgecy]

I am curious about the sea urchins myself. We have quite a few of them here in Florida. I think they are considered an aphrodesiac in Asia or something. (I tried ingesting a sea urchin before sex once and all I got was a little prick)

I am Laughing my a$$ off at that one! TOM YOU ARE SO FULL OF IT!

 

[SEAHUNTER]

TOO FUNNY !!!!!

 

[Dinkydick]

Tom

You have got it backwards.
You are supposed to eat "Fugu" (blowfish).
You rub "Uni" (sea urchin) on your privates.

It works better this way

Dinkydick

 

[ScubaDude]

That sounds painfull

 

[rgecy]

You have got it backwards.
You are supposed to eat "Fugu" (blowfish).
You rub "Uni" (sea urchin) on your privates.

It works better this way

Oh! That explains allot!

 

[fortunate]

Bucket o guts...
God bless your Mom, bucket. The world could use alot more people like your mom...
Great to have the "bennies" you mention...this life style is definitely not for all....no cradle to grave security for me. gold mining in the fortymile and other places...trolling for salmon in the southeast on my boat and diving when i want are my ' retirement plan'...lol.
fortunate

 

[fortunate]

Rowdy...the fish buyer slits them open and puts one end on a nail..then, they scrape the edible muscle meat out..wash it down and vacuum pack it into approximately 2.2. kilo bags...freeze it and send it off en mass to the buyer in china. the skins are dried and bagged...sent to china also and i heard used in soups as an anti arthritic type deal..but, this i am not certain of. this year the japanese are the buyers and the price is up..$2.35/lb. as the season progresses the price goes up more. we're alllowed to dive mon. and tues. each week..the first day 8 to 3 in the afternoon...tues...8 to noon...allowed a max of 2,000 lbs per week...that's the dive week...every week til christmas.then it is pretty much over. time to head for brasil for a couple o months vacation

 

[fortunate]

Cornelius, Thanks for the come-back about the Islander. The main section of the ship was raised sometime in the 30's...the bow section was ,issing where all the gold was. The most recent attempt to salvage the bow section is being pursued: Continues:

In February 2002, OceanMar and IUC joined forces in order to continue salvaging the SS Islander’s bow section, using IUC 's Aloha - but then a serious mishap occurred:-

Transocean Sedco Forex Reports Rescue of Crew of Survey-and-Recovery Vessel ALOHA

HOUSTON, Feb 8, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Transocean Sedco Forex Inc. (NYSE:RIG) today announced that its drillship, Peregrine III, has safely rescued the nine-member crew of the survey-and-recovery vessel ALOHA, which was lost at sea about 100 nautical miles northeast of Cozumel while under way to a historical and bullion wreck. The ALOHA reported that it had lost power and was taking on water on Thursday, February 7. Also responding were a German container vessel, MV Libra Houston, and a Norwegian cruise ship, Rhapsody At Sea. The ALOHA crewmembers, including four U.S. citizens and five Philipinos, were taken aboard the Peregrine III from an ALOHA life raft. No medical problems were reported among the rescued crewmembers.

The saga continues.........
Fortunate