Hesper entry

[suddha]

A buddy and I are planning to dive the Madeira and maybe the Hesper this weekend. I've never done the latter. How is the entry on the breakwater and is there a buoy marking the wreck site? Thanks for any help.

[Shooter]

there was a bouy, entry is easy

[popolarbear]

in the round about road at breakwall(silver bay) there is concrete giant siting stone. if you look close in the cracks you might see a blue weight that is just out of reach(mine). the walk way is almost invisible it is so well concelled. once you get up to the top of the boulders you can see poured concreate walkway. you can unload right there. and grunt the stuff 20ft or so down. I saw freshwater shrimp on the bottom. if you see them on your dive let me know. they are transparent and about 3/4 inch or smaller. from the concrete landing if you swim down to bottom and follow break wall out farther from shore it is roughly were the buoy is near the smaller island...so something like afew  hundred feet out farther(at most).

[DetectorGuy]

The Hesper wreck is interesting, but I think the real treasure is what lies in the cracks of the boulders near the entry/exit point. I lost the yoke knob off my pony there one time while I was kitting up on the big flat rock. While I was loosening the yoke knob, I was looking in the cracks for a dive computer that a guy lost in one of the cracks a week before. I was so distracted by looking for the guys computer, I backed the knob all the way out and it was gone forever in the gear swallowing cracks. I free dove there into some of the cracks that were wide enough, and plucked a few weights a few years ago.

[DetectorGuy]

Some photos of the Hesper from 2008. I think the wreck basically runs at a 45 degree diagonal away from shore and away from the jetty from the entry point (if the buoys are gone).

[jasondbaker]

It's been several years since I've dived the Hesper.  The entry is much easier now than back in the day.  That breakwall is loaded with dive gear.  I was there one year when my buddy lost one of his fins in the break wall.  Make sure you are totally geared up before entering the water.  Secure your gear. You don't want to be screwing around with fins, mask, weights, etc while the waves are pushing you against the rocks. 

[popolarbear]

ha ha ha... im glad im not the only one who has spaced it and lost stuff..

[arcFlash]

Be sure to go see the rudder.

Look at the site map well before you go in. It's a long wide wreck and easy to cross over and get on a different track. You can't really get lost, it's not hard to navigate. Only it's not easy to know what side your on as they look almost the same and if you get busy looking you cross over and miss stuff.

The more you know about how wood ships are built the more you'll enjoy this wreck. If you don't know much, it's all wood 'flooring'.

All that stuff about gear eating rocks is true. If you're going to set anything down, you may as well throw it into the sea.