We have wanted to dive this wreck since we started diving six years ago, but could not find a good dive boat to take us there. Last month we discovered that Sound Wave Scuba of Vashon Island is making a few trips to the Knot this year, so we signed up.

The Diamond Knot sunk in 1947 after a collision off Tongue Point in the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Washington. The cargo (mostly canned Alaskan salmon) was salvaged and the ship now rests in 135 feet of water. The site is very current intensive, but there was only 1 foot tidal exchange on the day of our trip, promising ideal conditions for the dive.

We drove to Port Angeles the day before, found the dive boat Captain Hook in the marina and spent the night in a local motel. In the morning we loaded our gear on the boat and at nine o'clock embarked on our adventure. The boat crew consisted of two captains - Jeff Rogers, the owner of the boat, and John, a retired long-haul tug boat skipper from Bellingham. The divers were a motley crew: a former NOAA experimental diver with doubles and stages, a dive shop owner with a Dräger rebreather and several guys with conventional recreational setup. And Olga and I. Thirteen divers total, but even though Captain Hook is a relatively small boat, the layout is good enough that we never felt crowded.

When we arrived at the site, the surface current was running strong despite the small tidal exchange. At this site, the current never stops. There was already a descent line with a buoy shackled to the wreck from the previous day's trip. About 50 feet of current line was tied to the buoy.

Jeff and John had the entire operation down pat. John maneuvered the boat upcurrent from the buoy. We giant-strided from the aft platform, drifted to the buoy and descended along the line. When we surfaced, the boat was already positioned downcurrent, so we just let go of the ascent line and drifted to the boat ladder. Very smooth. The boat stayed live the whole time.

As we descended along the line, the current gradually weakened and when we reached the bottom at 130 feet, there was none. Dead calm. It was eerie. If it were not for the holes cut out during the salvage and a couple of beams sticking up, we could not tell we were on a wreck. It was completely covered in plumose anemones, hydroids, clams and other invertebrates. Schools of rockfish and seaperch were hovering around.

We regretted not diving trimix. The dreaded narcosis effects forced us to concentrate too much on the dive itself, rather than enjoying the sights around. The visibility was magnificent, over 60 feet. The temperature was a nippy 45°F. We ascended to the superstructure of the ship at about 90 feet, where our heads cleared enough to actually enjoy the richness of this environment. We saw a couple of huge lingcods, a cabezon and frolicked with a school of striped surfperch. All too soon it was time to find the ascent line. Even though we planned the dive as no-decompression, we ascended very slowly, stopping for a couple of minutes every 10 feet or so. The current picked up again by the time we got to 50 feet, so we had to hold on tight. We took the opportunity to share air while ascending to practice under less than ideal conditions.

Back on the boat we found Jeff fiddling with the oxygen kit. One of the divers committed a buoyant ascent from 90 feet, breaching the surface. He had no malfunction, he was apparently just an inexperienced dry suit diver. It is sad that he came on this trip with his instructor, who should have known better than to take him on a dive like this. Thankfully, the poor devil managed to keep his airway open during the ascent and did not exhibit any embolism or DCS symptoms by the end of the day, so hopefully he survived it unharmed.

After the dive, Jeff had chicken soup and ham sandwiches for everyone, but Olga and I stuck to our vegetarian ways and munched on power bars and soy pudding. On the way back we did another dive on a nice reef off Observatory Point, but it was a bit of an anticlimax after the wreck. We got back to the marina by five o'clock. It was a truly wonderful trip. We are looking forward to coming back soon.