Florida Sea Base News

Good Sunday morning from the Florida Sea Base.  At 0630 it is 70º, calm winds, clear skies and still a lot of stars out.  Here’s my crystal ball assessment of what’s going on this morning.  There are no conference participants for breakfast so I am pretty sure that 99% of the seasonal staff is sleeping in.  I suspect most of the residents on the dock are doing likewise.  My good friend Captain Dennis Wyatt is up, making coffee and will soon be preparing breakfast for his lovely bride Dr. Ellen.  Another good friend, David Ball, is probably up and alert in New Jersey.  I wonder if Captain Alex Bergstedt is awake in northern Indiana “skyping” with Maya in Slovakia.  I am making a pot of Folger’s Breakfast Blend® coffee.  That’s my lovely bride’s favorite.  Unfortunately I won’t be able to share it with her.  She is 1,500 miles away at our other home in Midlothian, Texas.  Her two cats, Scooter and Salem will be waking her up in about an hour.  Dave and Captain Alex wouldn’t care for the mundane Folgers.  They are coffee aficionados.

I was able to go back to sleep yesterday morning (for about an hour).  I spent a few hours on board Escape working on my PADI Course Director application.  The dredgers were had at work by 0900, scooping muck.

I had an acupuncture appointment at noon yesterday.  With all due respect to the medical profession, I spent 90 minutes and $130 for an hour of acupuncture and 30 minutes of massage.  I left there with 5,000 times more relief than I have gotten from six months of doctor’s visits, 2 MRIs, an EMG, and nearly $3,000 worth of blood tests.  Drug free, no side effects, no prescriptions, but unfortunately, no insurance coverage.

When I got back to the Base, Rich Goldman and Christy Clemenson were teaching several members of the Florida Sea Base seasonal staff the PADI Open Water Diver course.  Christy told me she’s driving to Fort Lauderdale Tuesday to take her US Coast Guard Master written exam.  She’s a smart cookie; she’ll do well.  Passing written tests earns you a certificate.  Successfully driving boats in times of adversities makes you a Captain.  A lot of people are able to pass the tests.  But just like driving a car, the only way to learn to handle a boat is by doing it.  Christy will spend the spring learning to do just that under the supervision of Captain Dennis Wyatt.  Rich had to leave unexpectedly late last night and return home.  I will check in with him later today to make sure all is well with his parents.

Our Scuba Instructor candidates did very well in the classroom and pool testing yesterday, getting the best scores of the 25 candidates registered for the Instructor Exam.  I will drive to Key Largo this morning to observe their rescue and open water teaching presentations.  The water is reportedly 68ºF.  Fortunately, I will be observing from the shore.

I sincerely hope you enjoy your day.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

I hate when this happens, and it happens way too often.  I was asleep by 2200 (10 pm) last night.  Six hours later. I’m awake.  Not wide awake; still drowsy, groggy and wanting to go back to sleep, but after laying there for 30 minutes it’s obvious that sleep is not happening.  So here I am, 0435, writing a post, just for you.  Captain Dennis Wyatt is probably up.  David Ball will be up shortly.  I don’t have any appointments until noon, so MAYBE I will manage to lay back down and take a nap in a while.  And this may (in part) be payback.  Thursday night I fell asleep at a decent hour, sleep like a rock for 6 hours (almost to the minute), woke up, and went right back to sleep.  That doesn’t happen very often.  Okay.  Enough whining.  I’m up.  Here we go.

Friday was about volunteers.  Mr. Richard Goldman drove back down from Pompano Beach, Florida to provide volunteer scuba instruction to Florida Sea Base seasonal staff members.  And the 2012 Volunteer Development Conference concluded with a “luau” celebration.

The IDC candidates wrapped up their training at the Florida Keys Diver Center yesterday under the guidance of PADI Course Director Captain Bert Hubby (with a little help from me).  Friday evening they went to the Instructor Exam (IE) site in Key Largo for orientation.  Today they will take 3 hours of exams, make classroom teaching presentations and confined water teaching presentations.  Tomorrow they will perform rescue scenarios and open water teaching presentations.  I have an acupuncture appointment today but will attend the IE tomorrow to cheer everyone on and congratulate them once the evaluations are completed.  One of our candidates, Selin Harmankaya, is from Turkey.  Her written exams will be available in Turkish but her presentations will have to be made in English.

For the record, I don’t exaggerate, I embellish.  In Texas, it is a misdemeanor to tell a story devoid of embellishment. However, I maintain that Captain Rich Beliveau is, in fact, the Archangel Michael or Saint Michael, whichever you prefer.  The more he denies it the more convinced I am that I’m correct.  (You can refer back to my 29 December 2009 post for more information on the Archangel Michael.)

I’m going to try to get another hour or two of sleep.  I hope  you have a great weekend.  If you are snow skiing, snowboarding, dog sledding, playing outdoor hockey, or ice diving, I am very happy for you.  Florida is over populated.  It’s 71.5ºF in the cockpit of Escape, 74.5ºF inside the cabin, calm wind and clear skies (the stars are overwhelming).

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape 

The end of the world is approaching according to the Mayan calendar. I’m helping it along because I cleaned my desk. A small feat all in itself.
News of the base: Food and Conference Guru Tim Stanfill and lovely wife Melissa found out they are have a little girl in 5 months or so. They are excited to new addition to be.

Captains Joey and Kate had their little girl 2 days ago. They named her Elise Amelia Marullo. Kai has competition now. Mother and baby are doing fine.

I met with the owner of Upper Keys Marine. He was digging more goo out if the harbor. He has assured us they will have everything completed by the beginning of spring. He’s another burning the rope kind of guy. He ended up removing four containers of the muck.
Sea Base has hit YouTube officially. Here’s the link. http://www.youtube.com/BSASeaBase pretty good stuff.
The Volunteer Conference closed today, all had a great time. We were paid on very nice complement that everyone made them feel like they were home. For most of the staff we are at home.
On the last note of things, sometimes I think Captain Steve is breathing too much compressed air. If I’m an angel the only thing that holds my halo up are horns. We all try to make this place better, he over exaggerates a LOT.
Be well and have a safe weekend.
Captain Rich

I have NO idea as to what went on at the Florida Sea base yesterday.  As is typical for me while auditing the PADI Instructor Development Course, I departed before 0700 (7 am) and returned to base at 1930 (7:30 pm).  The place was dark, the only people I saw was Captain Rich Beliveau (for about 30 seconds) and the Galley staff for two minutes.

I appreciate Captain Rich making a post last night.  Otherwise, I would be clueless about what’s happening on base.  I will be on base next week, or at least part of next week.  Saturday I have an acupuncture appointment inKey Largo. Sunday I will be back in Key Largo for the PADI Instructor Exam “graduation”.  Tuesday I go to the fat doctor in Aventura (about 2.25 hour drive each way).  Thursday we have our first monthly Team Meeting of 2012.  So I have Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to get some work done.  After that I will be on a working vacation for two weeks.

We started the IDC in the classroom yesterday and then moved to the pool by 1030.  The pool session lasted until 1600-1630 (4-4:30 pm).  Back to the classroom until 1900 (7 pm).  While at the pool, the forecasted cold front arrived.  The wind remained relatively mild but shifted from east to north.  The temperature dropped about 5º.  Their was no rain; as a matter of fact, I sunburned a little.

Here’s our upcoming weather forecast from the National Weather Service:

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 77. East wind around 10 mph.
Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 67. East wind between 10 and 15 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 79. East wind around 10 mph.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. East wind around 10 mph.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 80.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 71.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 81.
Monday Night: A slight chance of showers. Mostly clear, with a low around 70. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Tuesday: A slight chance of showers. Sunny, with a high near 80. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Tuesday Night: A slight chance of showers. Mostly clear, with a low around 70. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Wednesday: A slight chance of showers. Sunny, with a high near 80. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Wednesday Night: A slight chance of showers. Mostly clear, with a low around 71. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Thursday: A slight chance of showers. Sunny, with a high near 80. Chance of precipitation is 10%.

Eighty degres in January?  I’ll take it.

Today is the final day of what is possibly my final PADI IDC audit.  I have SEVERAL other prerequisites to complete in a very short time.  Pursuing my PADI Course Director certification would be MUCH easier if I had a year leave of absence.

Thanks again for Captain Rich keeping you caught up on the goings on at the Florida Sea Base.  Wise men have said that all things happen for a reason.  Captain Rich’s imprisonment at the Florida Sea Base is so he can be my personal angel.  With all due humility, the FSB scuba programs might struggle without my presence.  But more than 60% of our business is the sailing programs.  Captain Rich is simply not replaceable.  The Florida Sea Base will be shook to its core when he leaves.  He and I work well as a team.  I had the opportunity to run the scuba and sailing programs by myself for 2 or 3 years.  That will never happen again.  I will never be able to say or do anything that adequately expresses my appreciation for Captain Rich and what he does.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape 

I just saw Captain Steve come in tonight and he looked good but was exhausted. I’m not the literary god he is, but I’ll try to help cover things while he’s at the IDC at Flakeys.

I know you’ve heard of burning the rope on both ends. Well Captain Steve caught the entire thing on fire. Between the IDC (Instructor Development Course) and trying to keep up around here he’s about to kill himself.

News of the base, Capt’s Zach and Keith went to Dusky to drop a boat for new engines and pick two others up. We’ve all had the misfortune of Miami/ Lauderdale traffic towing a boat. It is very bad, they drive like nuts up there anyway and seeing a 25′ boat makes them go even crazier.

We had Port Engineers out here yesterday. Carl the mechanic is very talented and has quiet colorful language. Luckily there weren’t any scouts here so he could really let it rip. He puts on quite a show. He got the boat running in short time and we moved her off the docks and put it on the T-Dock so they could dredge.

I completed the sailing schedule for spring, 60 trips for the 40′ boats and 11 for the big boats. There’s still openings for this spring if you’d like to attend.

Other than that things are running smooth. The lottery is in full swing; Nancy is pulling her hair out.

Have a great night and I’ll write more tomorrow.

Capt Rich

The Florida Sea Base has been hosting the 2012 Volunteer Conference this week.  I don’t know what the attendance figure is, but it looks like a capacity crowd to me.  I saw Mark Griffin from the National Office at the meeting yesterday morning.  I met Mark at the Circle 10 Council 2012 University of Scouting a few weeks ago.

I also ran in to Christy Clemenson in the Admin office.  She’s working for Nancy Wells for a couple of weeks with registration and the lottery.  She’s also working on her captain’s license application and will be working as a Dive Boat Mate this spring.

I returned to the Florida Sea Base (from another day the PADI IDC audit) after dark yesterday.  I immediately saw that the dredging barge had been moved.  I was hopeful that they had completed the chapel wall construction so I sent a text message to Captain Rich Beliveau.  I turns out that they are not finished yet, but moved the barge to start some of the dredging while waiting for more concrete panels to cure.  At least they’re making progress.

I realize I may have confused some of you by saying I was in Admin yesterday morning and at the IDC audit.  I did both.  Yesterday was dedicated to First Aid / CPR instructor training at the IDC.  I did not have to be there for the first 2 hours.  So I made use of the time by (briefly) meeting individually with General Manager Captain Paul Beal, Facilities Director Captain Keith Douglass, and Director of Program Rob Kolb.  So I did both; spent time  in Admin and attended the IDC.  (As it says on my iPhone email signature, Off the Base but On the Ball.)

Rich Goldman is making another trip down from Pompano Beach (I believe) to continue teaching the seasonal staff  their PADI Open Water Diver course this weekend.

We have a cold front coming through today.  The high is forecasted to only reach 77º.  By Sunday it should be closer to 80+.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape 

18 January 2012 is Internet Strike Day in opposition of SOPA/PIPA legislation.  Please read the link if you like.  I am going to take a day off.  (I don’t have anything of significance to report anyway.)  Have a great day.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

Hurry up and wait certainly describes my day yesterday.  I had two doctors’ appointments on the mainland so I had to play hooky from the Instructor Development Course.  (The wind was blowing hard out of the east.  I hope they didn’t have too bad of a day.)

I slept in a little (as evidenced by Monday’s post time) and then began working on chores; I filled the fresh water tank on Escape, washed 2 loads of clothes (a lot for me), and tended to a chore for my dear old dad.  I even made time to do some official Florida Sea Base chores; emails, medical reviews, staff applications and phone calls.

I planned to leave the Florida Sea Base before 1100 but didn’t come to a stopping point until 1115.  Then the traffic was unbelievable congested, a busy MLK day I guess.  I took 2.5 hours to drive to my first appointment in Aventura.  It is usually a 2 hour drive so then I was 45 minutes behind schedule.  Fortunately I got in and out, leaving time to drive 24 miles to my next appointment without excessive stress.

The second appointment was with my neurologist.  I was a little early so I stopped about 2 blocks away at McDonald’s (iced tea only) to use their free Wi-Fi.  I called the doctor’s office to see if he was running on time.  Nope, he was 2 hours behind schedule.  The nurse suggested I check in at 1730 (5:30 pm) and that she would call me if I needed to be there any sooner.  The nurse called back at 1700 (5 pm) and said I should arrive at 1800 (6 pm).  (Three hours in the Mickey D parking lot; a wonderful use of my time.)  I arrived at 1800 and the first thing the receptionist wanted was my co-pay.  (I guess she knew I still had a while to wait and might leave.)  I finally saw the doctor around 1840.  What he had to tell me could have been accomplished in 5 minutes on the phone; I’m messed up, he can’t fix it, but he can refer me to another doctor who might be able to help (for more $$$).  While this neurologist came very highly recommended, I think I am done with him.

Since I had so much time waiting on my appointment, I started working on this morning’s post.  The sad part is I didn’t have anything to report.  So I revised this information that was posted about a year ago:

Preparing for Florida Sea Base Scuba Adventure,
Scuba Certification and Scuba Liveaboard Programs

Four scuba programs are currently offered at the Florida Sea Base: Scuba Adventure, Scuba Certification, Scuba Liveaboard and the Divemaster Academy.  This article will include the first three programs.  The Divemaster Academy is only offered in the winter and will be discussed in future blogs.  Click on READ MORE.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

Well, we didn’t really need a bigger boat, but we certainly needed warmer water.  At 0500 yesterday the water temperature was 71; at 0900 it was 69.  During the afternoon IDC dives my computer read 72 and the wind was a good 20 knots.  I was freezing and got sunburned at the same time.

David Mitchell, previously assigned to the Florida Sea Base, has been reassigned to the Brinton Environmental Center and promoted to Galley Manager.  Way to go Dave!!!  Noah Sutter has been with the Florida Sea Base for several seasons.  He pointed out last night that I never mention him in my blog.  That’s mainly because he doesn’t work for me so I rarely know what he’s up to.  He works for the Food and Conference department in the Ships Store, warehouse and snack bar.  He’s good at keeping a low profile.  He works hard, does a great a job and has been a big help to me and the Program department on several occasions.  Thanks for all you do Noah!

I have an appointment with the fat doctor in Fort Lauderdale and an appointment with the neurologist in Miami this afternoon.  So I am going to knock out several chores this morning before departing.  I hope you have a great day.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape 

I was watching/listening to the Weather Channel yesterday morning while preparing for my presentations at the IDC.  The weather is weather; a force beyond the control of mortal man.  A lot of the country is in need of snow for economic reasons.  (They need a way to truck it down from Alaska.)  I wish them the best of luck.  It seems that the more snow they get, the nicer the weather is in the Keys.  Locally, we could use less wind.  I suspect that skiing on fake snow is not near the fun of skiing on real snow.  And diving during these strong easterly winds is not so great either.  Wind = waves.  Waves = soaking wet boat rides, reduced underwater visibility, surge and the dreaded gastroenpukeulitis.  Getting off the boat and underwater frequently helps the queasy bunch.  But the back and forth motion of the surge on the shallow reefs and the rolly-polly motion of the waves on the surface sometimes provides little relief.  Fortunately, the scuba regulators are puke friendly; just hang on to it so you don’t force it out of your mouth and the chunks will pass right through.  Plus, the chum attracts lots of reef fish that you can enjoy right in your face!

Here’s our marine forecast, courtesy of our friend Chip Kasper and his staff:

Synopsis…AN INTENSIFYING RIDGE WILL MOVE INTO THE EASTERN UNITED STATES THROUGH MONDAY…DOMINATING THE WINDS ACROSS THE KEYS BEFORE EXITING OVER THE ATLANTIC BY LATE TUESDAY.

Sunday And Sunday Night…Northeast winds near 20 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Nearshore waters rough.
Monday…East winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Nearshore waters choppy.
Monday Night…East winds 15 to 20 knots…decreasing to near 15 knots late. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Nearshore waters choppy…becoming a moderate chop.
Tuesday…East to southeast winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas around 2 feet. Nearshore waters a light to moderate chop.
Wednesday And Thursday…East winds near 10 knots. Seas around 1 foot. Nearshore waters a light chop. Isolated showers.

I had a more pleasant day than expected yesterday at the IDC.  The best part was getting to work with PADI Master Instructor Joe McQuirk.  Joe works at the Florida Keys Dive Center.  We have passed each other in the hall (so to speak) but never had a conversation.  We got to work together all day yesterday.  He’s a great guy and a great instructor.   (I lifted the photo off of the Florida Keys Dive Center website.)  To top it off, the sun was out and the pool heater was working in the afternoon.  It was pretty chilly sticking your head out of the water, but the water temperature was 85º and that was a very welcomed surprise.

Joe McQuirk

I left the Florida Keys Dive Center at 1800 (6 pm) and was back on base 30 minutes later.  I threw my towel in the dryer and met with Rich Goldman in the scuba area.  He had been in contact with Captain Alex Bergstedt earlier in the day.  Based on their conversation, Rich made great progress on organizing some tanks that had been left half done when everyone departed post New Year’s.

After being briefed on the tank situation, Rich Goldman and I had a late supper and then I went out to S/V Escape while Rich went to the chart room to teach the first session of the PADI Open Water Diver Course to some of the staff.  He has committed to make a four hour drive back and forth for the next few weekends to certify the seasonal staff.  This guy is the definition of a BSA volunteer.

I am headed back to the IDC this morning for classroom, pool and open water training.  It’s 61º, the wind is from the north at 21 knots and the water temperature (at 0500 ET) was 71º.  Brrrr.  Being a Professional Scuba Bum™ is not for wimps.  If you know of a Professional Scuba Bum™ job located closer to the equator please let me know.  ”Have Boat – Will Travel.”

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape