The Dragon of the Abyss

I looked up just in time to see a big brilliantly-green tail disappear under a rock. Curious as to what this creature could be, I moved closer. I could see a gaping mouth peaking out the opposite side of the overhang. It was the biggest moray eel I have ever seen. With a body longer than my own and a width to match, it was a very imposing creature. I kept my distance and had a fixed eye on that open mouth.

My family has a running joke about me and eels because when I was about eight I had an encounter with one that, for some reason, they find quite amusing. We were in Maui snorkeling over black lava at Ahihi Keanau Reserve. It was a shallow site with a lava rock sea floor, so we were only maybe a few feet off the bottom as we were snorkeling. This was great because it allowed a close view of all the critters living in the crevices of the rocks. I considered myself an old snorkeling pro at this age and had no interest in staying near my parents. I swam off ahead to do my own exploring. I was busy playing with fish when I came across the most terrifying thing I had ever seen; all I saw was the giant mouth and the sharp pointed teeth and I was gone. My mom and my younger brother, who had almost caught up to me, heard a muffled shriek from my snorkel and looked up to see nothing but the contrail of bubbles I had left as I bolted as far away from that thing as I could. Looking back in the water to try to find what scared me they saw a good-sized white eel with black polka dots swimming away. I did not hear the end of the teasing for that one for quite awhile, especially from my brother who apparently did not find it scary at all (I attribute this to him snorkeling by my mom). For a good chunk of my life every time we came across an eel I was made fun of for propelling from that eel. Just to be clear, I am no longer afraid of eels. 

I encountered the giant green eel while diving in Key Largo, Florida and did not flee, but kept a respectful distance. After a few minutes of peering out from under the rock the big green eel emerged, revealing its prehistoric-looking glittery green body. As it undulated as it swam, I felt as though I was as close to a dragon as I ever would get the chance to be. This eel could have been a majestic dragon flying through the air. It was an amazing creature and I was thrilled to have encountered it.

Look at SCUBAPRO

       I walked in the glass doors of the Hilton Resort, Key Largo on Monday evening with a great respect and appreciation for SCUBAPRO products. I walked out of those doors Thursday morning with an impressive look at how this company creates such stunning gear. SCUBAPRO is a brilliant, dynamic, and extremely dedicated team of interesting and friendly people. Every member is committed to maintaining SCUBAPRO’s excellence. I had the pleasure of being able to speak with most of them, and I found them all to be eager to meet with everyone attending the meeting. It was obvious the partnership between the SCUBAPRO team the SCUBAPRO dealers is an important facet of the SCUBAPRO jewel. A significant amount of time during the two-day conference was spent in a discussion format between SCUBAPRO platinum dealers, sales representatives, global diving product director, Brad Lally, SCUBAPRO Ambassador and Marketing representative, Julie Andersen, Group Vice President, Joe Stella, and National Sales Manager, Harry Ward. Dealers were welcome and encouraged to share their opinions of and needs from SCUBAPRO gear, based on interactions with customers. This exercise was not just a courtesy. The dealers’ input was taken seriously. Every issue was noted and discussed in order to find a solution. Members of the SCUBAPRO team were able to point to changes in SCUBAPRO gear that were made based on last year’s input from the dealers.         Dedication to the customers’ wants and needs in combination with the efforts of an expert and creative production team results in amazing dive gear. As a customer of SCUBAPRO you should look forward to some incredible new gear. We were shown an interesting display of the confidential pictures and prototypes of over 20 new items that will be introduced in 2015. A BC like no other is in the prototype phase of production. It is the most portable and comfortable BC I have ever seen. SCUBAPRO is also looking at a new inflate/deflate system that will make buoyancy a non-issue. A computer is in release with all the well-loved features from the Galileo, along with some new innovations. SCUBAPRO is starting to do more with apnea equipment that is aimed at professional apnea divers as well as recreational freedivers.
       Updates on the release of this new gear can now be found easily because Julie Anderson, an integral member of SCUBAPRO’s marketing team (and also the gorgeous model who can be seen in SCUBAPRO catalogs), is increasing SCUBAPRO’s presence online. The SCUBAPRO website has recently been overhauled to include more information and programs for SCUBAPRO customers. SCUBAPRO is also very active on Facebook and is starting to post some beautiful photography on Instagram. The dedication and innovation of SCUBAPRO means we can always look forward to something fresh and new.

SCUBAPRO Platinum Event

In the summer between sixth and seventh grade my family went on a Windjammer Barefoot Cruise to the Bahamas. It was a “barefoot cruise” because the ship was a sail boat with wooden decks and all passengers had to remove their shoes before coming on board to avoid slipping and falling. The ship was significantly smaller than the monstrous cruise ships that hold tens of thousands of people, which meant it could lay anchor at smaller islands. It was on this trip that I was able to sit in the warm shallows of a small cay and have giant stingrays swim over my lap, acting like friendly black labs. At the end of the week, as we were leaving the boat, one of the women we met on the trip was saying how ecstatic she was to be going home to sleep in her own bed. She lived a few miles up the coast and had only been gone from home a week. My family was in the middle of a month-long trip and had no great desire to ever go home. Whether it’s out of the country, out of the state, or just up the road, I never pass up an opportunity to travel somewhere new and exciting. I am lucky to have been to eight countries and eighteen states, but nothing gets me more fired up than thinking about all the places I still have to explore.  

Monday evening marks the beginning of the SCUBAPRO annual Platinum Event, being held in Key Largo, Florida. Pro Scuba was one of only fifty facilities invited to attend this event out of over 2000 scuba shops in the United States. Even more incredible, there was an extra spot and I was invited to this amazing opportunity. The Florida Keys is one of the top scuba diving destinations in the world, with stunning reefs and wreck diving locations. It is a relatively unusual trip for a dive shop in the Western United States, so not many divers from here have had the chance to dive the Keys. For facilities in the Eastern United States, it is as standard as Monterey is for Pro Scuba. A dive shop in Wisconsin might make the trip to the Florida Keys 30 weeks of every year. 

In addition to being able to dive in Key Largo, this trip is an amazing opportunity because I will meet and interact with professionals who have proven themselves successful in the scuba diving industry. I will be diving with accomplished business people and outdoor recreation experts who have years of diving experience. SCUBAPRO will be holding daily meetings and discussions, which is an opportunity to get a better understanding of the company. As a senior graduating from college in May, hoping to eventually be successful in the scuba diving industry, these divers have a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Being that my time at school is almost done, this could be last trip I have to come home from.

The GoPro Tragedy

The summer was in full swing and he was leaving in less than a week for the much- anticipated Cozumel adventure. Everything was set. The trip was paid for; the plane tickets were purchased. The packing list was together and everything on it had been assembled. The ride to the airport had been arranged, and now all that needed to be done was to wrestle the dive gear into a suitcase and throw some clothes in a carry-on. It was a beautiful sunny day and so he decided to get in some 55 degree ocean time for a good comparison to the 80 degree water he would soon be swimming in. He headed down to the ocean with his fiancée, she, paddling around on a surfboard, and he doing some free diving with his GoPro mounted on his head.

GoPros have been sweeping the nation since first sold in 2004. These cameras have been increasingly popular in the last couple of years due to their versatility, durability, and affordability. GoPros have become synonymous with adventure sports. Jake, the friend I mentioned earlier, has been Sky’s best friend and partner in crime since middle school. Between the two of them they always seem to have at least three GoPros and more ways to mount them than an octopus has arms. They have mounted GoPros on surfboards, skateboards, jet skis, cars, and their own bodies. Most recently they attached one to a quadcopter. Both their imaginations seem bound only by what they can do with these powerful little cameras, and that is why this story is aptly titled, “The GoPro Tragedy.”  

The water was cold but refreshing, the visibility murky and encasing, but it was just enough to dive down and scope out Santa Cruz’s sprawling kelp beds. Jake came up with a big exhale, having wriggled up through the giant kelp fronds and, slightly disoriented, turned to check in with his fiancée, Kelly. She had a quizzical expression on her face. He returned her gaze with his own questioning look. “Where’s the GoPro?” Kelly asked. The remaining color in his face, the ocean hadn’t stolen, was flushed away. He reached an arm up to his head and found the camera was missing. He spent the rest of the afternoon scouring the bottom of the ocean until the approaching marine layer occluded the last few moments of summer sun. The darker the water got, the more apparent it became that the camera was now the property of Davy Jones locker. Now, days before his very first dive trip, he was GoPro-less.

But as all tragedies end, it became the perfect justification to get the newest model of GoPro, with its IMAX-quality picture and mystical slo-mo. Jake, Sky, and I all left for Cozumel a few days later, Sky and Jake with their GoPros close at hand (or chest, head or stick). They both documented an incredible trip with amazing video and photos. And everyone learned a profound lesson, which one often hears repeated in the dive shop: “If you're going to wear your GoPro on your head, strap it on UNDER A HOOD!"