PB4Y Privateer

One of my favorite local tech dives is the PB4Y Privateer in Lake Washington, which I affectionately call just “the bomber”. It sits in roughly 150′ and is only about a 15-17 minute scooter ride from Warren G Magnuson Park.

This is NOT a tech-reational dive, nor one I’d do on deep air. The lake is dark, not like a night dive… like I put a bag over your head. This tends to increase narcosis greatly

Additionally the “bottom” of the lake is very fine grained silt. If you manage to kick it up (or lawn dart into it from a boat), plan on the silt cloud obscuring visibility for quite some time (easily an hour +).

The entrance is just North of the boat ramp (the next turn in the road).

There is a ton of great info and videos available from local wreck divers on the PB4Y:

• Puget Sound Divers Side Scan Sonar Images and Video

• DCS Films Pics and Video (Maritime Documentation Society, MDS)

• Great Info and Pics from Emerald Sea Photography

• Other Videos: Seainggreen, Laura James

As always with any dives: be safe, be prepared and don’t dive beyond your limits.

In case you’re wondering, and have a boat, the GPS coordinates for this wreck are:

47°40’34.4″N 122°14’28.4″W