“Flying Underwater”

“Flying Underwater”

“Flying in the soup (literally)”

As I mentioned in the intro, we are starting something new this issue. We’d like to know more about you.

What do you enjoy doing now that most of us are either retired or close to it. I’m sure many of you have hobbies or stories that are worth sharing and we’d like to hear about them.

I was introduced to SCUBA diving while on summer vacation shortly after graduating high school. Back in

1964, not a lot was known about recreational diving. You either went to a school that was worse than boot camp or had no training at all. Many divers were injured or died because of lack of training. Things changed very quickly and a number of training agencies began to emerge. Two of the best known were probably NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors) and PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors).

Today there are a lot of agencies that train worldwide and recreational SCUBA diving is reaching

children as young as eight years of age. Our safety record is now one of the best when it comes to sporting activities.

I dove untrained for a number of years and finally “bit the bullet” in 1980. I certified as a PADI Open Water

Diver in Oahu, Hawaii. I thought I’d died and went to heaven!!! When I got home (Eastern PA), I was in for a real shock. Diving on the East Coast is VERY different from HI. I had to learn to dive in cold water and low visibility but the rewards were FANTASTIC. We have a large number of shipwrecks all along the coast and some of them are in the Gulf Stream which is actually warm.

Over the years, I continued my diving education and in 1994 became a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor.

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to teach hundreds of students how to dive safely and enjoy the underwater environment. The skills we learn are actually very similar to the skills of flying. One of the first things we learn is how to streamline ourselves underwater (similar to aerodynamics). We learn how to use reference points in order to move about or hover (Yes, we actually do that). Hovering underwater is similar to hovering a “helo” in that our bodies become the cyclic and our BC (buoyancy control device/jacket) becomes the collective. This allows us to put ourselves in the water column exactly where we want and stay there with minimal effort.

Currently, I am a PADI Master Instructor/ IDC Staff Instructor and

an SDI/TDI (Scuba Diving International/ Technical Diving International)

Instructor Trainer/ Evaluator.

Recently nine of us went to Roatan, Honduras to dive the southern-most section of the Miso-American

Reef. This reef is the second largest barrier reef in the world and is still mostly in pristine condition.

Having had the opportunity to dive all over the world, I can say that this truly was a remarkable diving experience. Here are some pictures of the trip.