While scuba diving in the dark depths of Crowsnest – a blue natural lake in narrow, windswept Crowsnest Pass in Southern Alberta, a scuba dive team, made up of Pincher Creek and Pass divers stumbled upon a mysterious fishing boat (I say ‘mysterious’ because nobody has ever heard a report of the boat being sunk) when they were trying to find derailed train.
The divers who found the boat had just gained their dive certification after completing a course offered by David Hartley, a scuba instructor with ‘Mountain Tide Aquatics’ out of Raymond, Alberta, for whom this was a truly exciting find.
The find was a 14-foot long boat (made in the late 60s, early 70s) featuring yellow and black trim, as well as launches that were still in their shopping bags. The boat was pulled into shore and now the Crowsnest Pass RCMP is working hard on finding the reasons why it sank and the original owners of the boat, who maybe will wish to have it back. Most of the salvage work was done in two stages on October 22. First of all, they flipped the boat, and then they attached lift bags to it, floating to the surface.
Hartley says that though the engines of the boat are highly damaged, he is ready to give it back to its original owner in case he pays a salvage fee. And if the owner is not found, Hartlywill clean and polish it up, making it a dive boat for his own company.
If you are interested in diving, Mountain Tide Aquatics will be offering courses at the Pincher Creek pool in November (and one more in February). Do not miss out the chance to gain the experience!