Well the plan for this weekend was to head up to Dave and Heather Caldwell’s in Massachusetts for a weekend of crewing and boat diving in my brand new drysuit. But because plans don’t always work out and New England weather has been less than desirable lately (the NOAA forecast said something about 5-8 foot…
This past week, from Wednesday the 24th to Saturday the 27th I was working up in Beverly, Massachusets at Undersea Divers, a dive shop owned by Bob Boyle. Upon arrival I was treated to a tour of the shop from Heather, an Undersea employee. I got to see its office and back area which is…
This Sunday, I met Lee Livingston bright and early (5 am) at the Guilford commuter lot for what would be an exciting day. Our destination was Dutch Springs Pennsylvania, playing host for the weekend to the DUI DOG Rally and Demo Days. We arrived just before 8 am and I quickly realized that Dutch Springs…
This past month, on the weekend of March 3-6, I had the pleasure of experiencing the Boston Sea Rovers 52nd annual clinic as the 2006 Frank Scalli intern. It was an experience like no other and has had my head spinning for some time now. The weekend began on Friday March 3rd, bright and early…
We started our day off at the Woods Hole Aquarium , which only has New England species in it. From there we walked over to the Alvin Museum and George told me all about Alvin and many other interesting facts. I can not believe all of the information that George knows about so many topics….
I met up with George in the Orleans Stop and Shop parking lot. I followed him back to his house. We then donned our bathing suit and booties and headed for the beach in search of horseshoe crabs. After collecting a few crabs and searching the beach for other specimens we headed back to his…
Christel sent me to work with the Scallop people from SMAST. They were going to be preparing a scallop boat to be used as a research vessel for a scallop study. We drove over to the boat and to my amazement they had already carried in all of the gear and all we had to…
We woke up early and loaded the boat for the day’s adventure. Today’s crew consisted of Eric Takakjian, Lori Takakjian, Tom Mulloy, Dave Morton, Pat Morton, Heather Knowles and Dave Caldwell. We headed out to the wreck site. This was an unknown wreck site. I was the safety diver for the day. Dave and Pat…
I drove to New Bedford, Mass where I met up with Christel. She is one of the main people in charge of the lobster tagging program at SMAST. We gathered our dive gear First we had a briefing on the days activities. After which we loaded our dive gear into our vehicles and headed to…
I tried to spot Eric Takakjian’s boat in the marina with out any luck. Finally I saw Dave and Pat’s truck. They led me through a maze of side streets to Eric’s boat, Quest. Eric gave me a quick tour of Quest and then we started loading up all the dive gear. Next I met…
I met Lee and Gary at his boat at 5 a.m. sharp to leave for the U-853. Although it was not my first time going there it is a nice wreck and I was looking forward to my dive. It was going to be a 2 hour run time so I settled down in a…
I woke up early to meet Lee and Katy, the runner-up of the internship, to go dive at James Town. Once there we suited up and headed in. The water was nice and refreshing. Lee, Kate and I entered the water with Kate carrying the dive flag so Lee could work with me. He had…
Lee and I met up in Essex to go over my course work for advanced nitrox. After about an hour of that we made our way to Moodis, CT to do our first dive in a lake…or was it a pond? I can’t decide. When we entered the water I sunk knee deep in muck. …
I awoke to storms, not the sound you want to wake up to on your last day of diving. However, in Florida, if you don’t like the weather wait five minutes and it will change. It did not get to the beautiful blue skies however it did clear enough for us to go out. I…
On our way out to the wreck sight I saw a boat grounded on one of the reefs. To the Park Service this is a very big deal. We had to call it in and wait until someone came to the sight and took care of the reef. Today I worked with Brenda trying to…
We loaded up the boat to head back out to Earl King. We stopped at Elliot Key to pick up someone who was joining us for the day. When we got to the sight of the Earl King we could see the wreck thirty feet below us. I spent most of my day drawing a…
The team went to Earl King led by Dave today. We made our assault upon the wreck. My assignment was to draw a new piece of it. When I was finished I was stolen to be a dummy end (I had to hold the end of a tape measure) during my second dive to help…
Team C Mar, Brenda, Dave and I went to the wreck the Earl King, which we will be mapping this week. Brenda gave me a mapping lesson on the way to the site and explained the basics to me. As I slid into the 90 degree surface water I knew it was going to be…
Brenda picked me up and I went to meet Richard at the head diving office in the park. I have to get what they call a blue card so I can dive with the national park service. We did a 1/2 mile swim treading water with 5 lb weights in our hands, over our head. …
Before I knew it Amy and Paul where over cooking brekfast for every one. We were all having a good time then 10 a.m. rolled around and I had to leave. It was sad, I had a lot of fun over the last 2 weeks the Cambrian Foundation gang are great people and I know…
We started off the day finishing up a few final things that need cleaning. When we were done Josh Boz and I went out for lunch. I then sadly started packing up all my cloths and dive gear. I didn’t remember bringing this much stuff. That night Amy’s parents came home and we celebrated her…
We woke up bright and early, 430 a.m., to get down to the Giant Stride captained by Captain Larry. We all drove down with Amy, I fell asleep when we where at a truck stop and Amy thought she left me there. I guess you had to be there, but I thought it was pretty…
We started to clean up Amy’s parents house where we have been staying because they are coming home soon. Our goal is to have the house spotless, not an easy chore to say the least. Next we packed up Terence’s truck with all of our dive gear because he is going to bring it all…
We went to Blue Springs so Terrance could work with Josh, Woody and Boz on their open water certification. After they did two dives Terrence and I did a cave dive on sight. This dive was through a fisher in the bottom of the spring. We descended 120 feet deep and swam about 140 feet…
The team went to Rock Spring to collect samples. Terrence led the way followed by Renee, Carl, and I. Our mission as we dove into the cave was to collect the first set of samples. While they had warned me about the sharp rock and mega flow, no one had mentioned how low and tight…
The team headed to Sanlando Spring to gather more research data. The cave team consisted of Terrence, Renee, and Carl. Since this cave is very low it can not be dove with back mount tanks, instead it is a side mount cave. My job was to sit by the entrance and bring the samples up…
Some places God doesn’t mean for man to go. Today Terrence, Carl, and Rene went into the no mount section of Wikwa Springs to gathers samples. iI you didn’t know, no mount diving is when you don’t wear any tanks because there is not enough room . This means that the diver has to push…
We got an early start to collect samples in DeLeon Springs. Terrence briefed me on the flow and our mission to collect 6 water samples. We suited up to venture into the cave. The entrance into the cave is a tube that has a tremendous amount of flow coming out of it. As we walked…
We went to Terrence’s storage unit to get 40 or so tanks to go get filled and pick up other needed equipment for tomorrow’s big event. Later that night Terrence and I went through my gear. He made suggestions to streamline my setup. The evening ended with Amy making a great dinner and lots of…
We spent the day at Terrence’s wife’s parent’s house so that he could use the pool with the other interns. This was not an easy task since we had to time the pool dives in-between the frequent rain storms. I did some book work for the courses I will be taking when I get back…
Gill and I followed Terrence to the airport to pick up Josh , Woody and Boz. All three are other interns that I will be working with during my time at the Cambrian Foundation. After getting them settled we piled into the car and set off to meet a well known biologist. Of course Gill…
Upon landing in Florida, I attempted to navigate through the airport to find my bags. Not an easy task, I might add. Luckily I met up with Amy and her husband Paul. Amy is the Cambrian Foundation president. Amy and Paul took me out to dinner with their daughter. During dinner I told them about…
Can you guess what I started out the day with again? You got it, food prep. Today, however, I got to do the 10 o’clock dive, and scrub the tank. Sometimes I get side tracked and play with Murtle. She likes to be scrubbed with the scrub brush. After the dive it was off to…
I started off the day, of course, with food prep. It takes a small army to prepare the food. The aquarium depends on many dedicated volunteers to keep the tanks up and running. The ten o’clock feeding time rolled in before I knew it. It was my turn to feed Myrtle and keep her occupied….
I started off this day with food prep again. It is amazing how much food 800 fish can eat in a day. Next Holly and I went to do the last stage of dipping with the new fish. We put the fish in cages and put them in the Giant Ocean Tank. This was done…
The day began with me learning how to prepare the food for the variety of different marine creatures living in the Giant Marine Tank. Then I got to feed Myrtle, a 600 pound sea turtle. I had to keep Myrtle occupied because she likes to harass the divers in the water. After doing some more…
I started off my time at the New England Aquarium working with the penguins. In the morning I learned how to prepare their food. They eat better than most of us, only being served restaurant quality fish. I donned my wet suit and recorded everything that the penguins were fed on a clipboard. I was…
Before I knew it Jim and Pete were throwing me out of the car at the airport. It seems like only yesterday that I had arrived. Although it was only a week, I felt like I had known Jim and Pat a life time. They are wonderful people who open their home and their hearts…
Of course when the wind blows it can’t last for one day it has to last for two. I decided to finish up my editing and assemble my first DVD ever, thanks to Pat’s help. Some of Jim and Pat’s friends arrived including Pete V. a friend from Connecticut. We did our daily tradition of…
We got blown out due to the weather. Since we couldn’t go diving we decided to go explore the Lake Heron Light Ship Museum. This is a light ship put on land and made into a museum. We explored every nook and cranny of the vessel. Next we went back to Jim and Pat’s house…
As the Wildkat pulled up to the mooring on the Sport I was very surprised, I could see the wreck from the surface. It was amazing that while looking up from the bottom I could see Jim and Pat’s boat. I got the overwhelming urge to call my father and joke about the horrible visibility…
As we drove out to the wreck in the hot 90 degree Michigan sun I could hardly contain my excitement, especially afteryesterdays great diving. Before I knew it we arrived atour destination in Jim’s boat, the “WildKat”. We were floating over the wreck of the New York. This ship sits in 120 ft of water,…
We gassed up the boat and took the 6.2 mile ride to the Mary Alice B. a 65.5 foot tug boat that sunk in 92 feet of water. Although I was told that the ship sits upright, fully intact on the bottom, I was not prepared for what I was soon to experience. Before I…
On my way to the airport my mom commented, “Why is it that every other day of the week I can’t get you up, but if your going diving you’re up bright and early.” Hmmm…wonder why? While sitting waiting for my plane I realized that I’m trusting all my diving gear to the airport, scary…
When I met up with Dave and Pat in the parking lot of Stage Forte Park, I knew it was going to be an exciting day. From the first moment that I saw my new dry suit I was in awe. I still cannot believe that it is mine to use for the internship. During…
I woke up with an excitement and a sadness that the weekend was coming to a close. The alarm clock was screaming and I knew if I didn’t get out of bed I would be late for Kate’s presentation. After hearing Kate’s presentation and seeing the high standards she has set I knew I had…
I woke up bright and early to get ready for the 51st Clinic. The presentations that I attended were outstanding. My only disappointment was that I could not be in two rooms at the same time. I took a quick break to go out to lunch with my friends from the Gillmen and Innerspace Explorers….
The ride from Coventry Connecticut to Boston Massachusetts, while only two hours long, seemed to take forever. Navigating the Boston streets was no easy task. After finally locating the hotel, I took a moment to gather my thoughts and prepare for an extraordinary weekend. I had no idea what was in store for me. As…
Whew the hurricane is over. We spent the day cleaning up the damage left behind by Charley. Luckily with all the interns we were able to clean up speedily, we started with our house first. It looks like we were incredibly, incredibly fortunate as no damage was done to the house nor cars, although unfortunately…
After a natural disaster, it’s comforting to see a positive change in public demeanor. Strangers are more than willing to come together and help eachother out. From here on, the only thing we can do is look at the situation with a positive attitude. Meeting new people and sharing stories helped lighten up the atmosphere….