1000 Dives

Today I hit 1000 dives; 1001 actually. It was a beautiful dive at Looe Key. I was hoping that it would be a special dive and it was. I did a conditions check and reported great visibility, no current and no surge. The depth was 31 feet so the computer was going to want me to do a safety stop somewhere along the line. After everyone was in I headed up one of the sand channels by mooring ball 20. About halfway to the shallows I ran into a pair of Trunkfish. I have been hoping to see a Trunkfish again. I saw one at Sombrero Reef years ago and didn’t have my camera. This time I did and I got several pictures. I kept moving up into the shallows, hoping to see some reef sharks. I did find a Nurse Shark lying under a ledge in a dead end.


I turned around and started working my way back toward the boat. I ran into the Trunkfish again but there was also a small gaggle of divers that spooked them. I kept taking pictures as I swam and soon I was back at the boat. It wasn’t long before the divers had also returned to the boat. While they were on the surface a large Reef Shark came along and swam under the divers that were on the surface.

1000 dives is a milestone for me. It’s one of my major ‘bucket list’ items. I’m not going to stop diving or stop keeping track but I can stop chasing that number now. Another ‘bucket list’ item related to diving was to become a SCUBA instructor which I achieved in 2005.

In all of those dives I only had one major incident. I was diving the Eagle with my good friend Alex Bergstedt. I had given Alex my pony bottle because he was ever so slightly nervous about deep dives. The dive started normally but soon after we hit the wreck trouble began. My Poseidon regulator went into first stage lock-up. Regulators never go into first stage lock-up. I have yet to meet someone that knows of someone that has had it happen. Anyway, Alex was watching an Angelfish as I signaled to him low air then out of air. His eyes grew big and then he went into action providing me with is alternate air source. In that short time it is amazing how much goes through your head. I contemplated going up the line with one breath, sure death, but Alex was there. We made a ‘shared air’ ascent and turned a near tragedy into a non-event. Practice, proper ‘buddy diving’ and calm nerves made it so. I now know that when ‘the **it hits the fan’ I can keep my wits about me.

If I never properly thanked you before I’m thanking you now buddy! You saved my life!