A great week of diving

     We were spoiled. That's right, the weather was perfect, sea conditions were fantastic and diving, spectacular!

Pictures of North Beach, the name of one of the two beaches in the campground we stayed at, the other is of course,  South Beach.

About 70 people were on this trip, 50 of whom were students. The students were assigned an instructor,  here is Day's group. What a fantastic week they had, conditions were, dare I say, perfect.

So our day starts at Ocean Divers, and, on the Santana.

On the boat, and head out to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

A little pre dive brief from Day before jumping in.

And, the pool is open...

The seas were flat, water was warm, the visibility was good, what more could we ask for?

Day says these are Pork Fish, not sure if she knows what she is talking about, but the pictures are pretty good. To be honest, Day knows her fish.

Hey look, we found a boat, a shipwreck.

Above is the bow of the Benwood.

SCUBA Steve 

Day

Back to the surface, on the boat, and off to our next dive site.

If any of Day's group is reading this, you should know, I think you guys did great, and it was fun diving with you guys.

Diving with turtles, also pretty freakin good.

All these pictures, are taken with a Nikon Coolpix 120 AW.

The camera is waterproof to 59 ft.
as is, with no underwater housing.

What a beautiful animal.

And as quickly as the turtle showed up, it leaves. Don't bother trying to chase it, you will lose.

We saw a lot of cool stuff underwater. The diving was fantastic,  but the real highlight of these trips, are the people. It is always good to see old friends, but equally as good to meet new ones.

Seventy people,  one common interest, multiple friendships renewed and made, some lives changed forever, welcome to Project Deep. 

"No reason to be sad, no reason to cry, we can always come back, for Key Lime Pie."
SPK

Interstate 95...forever

    Two vans, each pulling a trailer, 13 people and Interstate 95 south, for the next 26 hrs, can only mean one thing, Spring Break in Key Largo, Florida with Project Deep.

     The 13 of us will be arriving Saturday, and the rest of the seventy plus people (mostly college students hoping to become certified SCUBA divers) will be arriving Sunday. It's been more than 10 years since I have been on this trip, but I am sure not much has changed. We will make our way to the Key Largo Kampground  (did I forget to mention we are camping ) set up a few tents so we have a place to sleep on Saturday night (some are lucky enough to get a trailer) and then head out to Hobo's for happy hour and their chicken wings. The next day, Sunday, we will finish setting up the 15-20 tents, and as the students meander in, they will be given their sleeping assignments, SCUBA gear, and find out who their instructors will be for the week. For some, Spring Break in Key Largo will be a week during their nonage that will change their lives forever, and they don't even know it.

     Dramatic? Absolutely not! I went on my first Spring Break in 1998, I did not know it then, but I met my future wife. I did not know then, that many of those people, would be my friends 17 years later. On a whim, I took a SCUBA class at UMass. Project Deep, SCUBA and those people I met on Spring break 98 have shaped my life, changed me in ways I couldn't have imagined 17 years ago, it will do the same for some these kids, exciting!

     A broken van? I was right, not much has changed from my days of Project Deep. My wife takes the second leg of the drive, after stopping for fuel, and five minutes in, the van dies. After being kicked out of the driver's seat (because it must have been her fault) we teased her about driving the shit out of her 5 minute leg, and, the van dies again. We are hoping it is bad gas, and some fuel conditioner will solve the problem, for now, we continue on, and hope for the best.

     Happily, we made it to the end of our second leg (about a 4 hour drive) with no more issues, so was it my wife's fault? She is behind the wheel again, determined to redeem herself. There is however a new storm brewing, a lollygagger. Two vans, with 12 people ready to get back on the road, while the 13th person,  is screwing around in the bathroom, getting food, or shopping for whichever stupid refrigerator magnet reflects the state we are now in. Whatever they are doing, it's always the same one, it won't last long though, there are a few that won't put up with this disregard for our punctilious family. Anyhow, back on the road, my wife and I up front, our five companions, asleep. My wife listens to an audio book downloaded free to my phone, with my electronic library card, while I write my post, using the same phone, not sure how we survived without these before, anyhow, this is how the next 4 or 5 hours will go, hopefully,  painfully boring.

     Yes, the van is broken.

     After Mine and my wife's leg of the trip, we retired to the back of the van for some sleep,  and someone (Shawn was driving, just saying) busted the van. We pulled into a Ford dealership about 4 am, and slept there until they opened at 7:30, and here we wait.

      Back on the road, after ten hours at the dealership. The first diagnosis was an injector module, $800.00, then possibly the wiring harness. Either way, we left without the van, and rented two mini vans, to replace it. No freakin Hobo's tonight, how do I know this? My van won't stop talking about missing Hobo's and chicken wings. Making it to the Florida state line seems like it should be exciting, however, that only means we have another seven hours to go, and I, have another seven hours of hearing about the chicken wings we are not going to get tonight.

     This is a good time to publish this post. With now only four hours to go, how much more can happen? We will get to the campground about 2 am, probably the longest trip down, that I can remember. We left Friday at 1, and are getting here Sunday at 2 am, 37 hrs on 95 south.

Spring break in Key Largo, Florida

Spring break in Key Largo, Florida with Project Deep

     In about a week, my wife and I will be going to Key Largo with Project Deep. Why am I writing a post a week before the trip, and, what is Project Deep? I am writing a post a week before the trip because, spring break with Project Deep in Key Largo, needs some background information, it is not your normal vacation. 

     Project Deep is a nonprofit organization providing SCUBA instruction to students in the five college area of Western Mass. Every semester Project Deep teaches students from Hampshire, Amherst, Smith and Umass. how to dive, and brings them  to Rockport, Ma. to do their check-out dives, and they earn credit for this! For extra credit, you can go to sunny Key Largo on your winter or spring break, and, earn extra credit! I tease, but truth be told, it is a fantastic organization that works tirelessly to introduce and teach many, the joy of SCUBA diving, and for some, it changes their lives (plenty of stories on that subject). This undertaking can only be done with many committed people, multiple instructors and TA's, but in charge of it all, Dave, and I think in charge of  Dave, there is his wife Mary. Dave and Mary are also owners of  Cape Ann Divers, a dive shop in Gloucester, Ma. 

     Now I don't know how long Dave has been doing this, but he is wicked old, so I think for a long time. Dave's students, some of his students, become TA's, some TA's, become instructors, and they just don't go away, so over the years, a family, one big dis-functional family has formed. I think they call themselves "DEEPies."

     I say "they," but I think I am one also. I took SCUBA class at Umass in the fall of 97, I was a 30 year old under graduate (which is the only way to do it). During class, my instructor Steve, and I became friends, and I had my eye on a hot little red-head, so I became a TA, determined to date her, and later, we married. She became an instructor, and is still teaching for Project Deep 17 years later. So if I am not a "DEEPie," I married one and Steve and I are still friends, along with many others.

     My first trip to Key Largo was winter break 98, not sure when the last time was that I went, has to be at least 10 years ago. I don't know what happened, graduated, bought a home and thought I needed to grow up? Did I think there was no place for Project Deep in a grown up life? What I do know, is some of my fondest memories are when I was in college, and many of those are the years I spent diving with Project Deep. I met many great people, many of whom I have traveled with, and many who are still my friends. Why am I going on Spring Break, maybe I just miss my family.

     So, Dave and Mary, My wife and I, who will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary this year, Steve and many other instructors, plus TA's will be bringing 50 college students, with raging hormones down to Key Largo on Spring Break. Sleeping in tents, in a campground, diving in the morning, and nothing to do but get into trouble at night. So I thought a blog post might be fun! Keep a look-out for some interesting posts from Key Largo, Florida.

Read the blog, don't be a puss!