Florida Sea Base News

I grew up with Andy Griffith as Sheriff Andy Taylor.  Mr. Griffith passed away Tuesday.  I never thought about it, but I wonder if those childhood impressions of a quiet man, helping people, protecting the weak, befriending the less fortunate, I wonder if those images had anything to do with my 26 year career in law enforcement.  I know that watching Lloyd Bridges playing the role Mike Nelson on “Sea Hunt” and the National Geographic series by Captain Jaques Cousteau drew me to a life long enjoyment of scuba diving.  I have never found a CD, but Andy Griffith did some hysterical stand-up comedy routines before getting his own TV show.  They play some of those on XM Radio from time to time.

AND – I hope you had an enjoyable Independence Day.  There were a lot of heroes who gave their lives for our independence from “the empire that never sleeps”.  I have not been to every country on Earth, but I am proud of my heritage as a citizen of the United States of America.  And I am forever thankful to those who made it happen and have kept us independent for 236 years.

The tropics are still quiet with one system in the East Pacific moving away from Mexico.

Hopefully we will enjoy these conditions for a while.

As promised, Captain Ed Miller came in on his day off and took 14 seasonal staff members and myself diving on the Eagle.  The current was a little strong but not overwhelming.  The water temperature was 82-84ºF; visibility was around 70-80′.

Yesterday was yet another day of overbooking by the reservations system.  Our daily maximum of Coral Reef Sailing crews is five.  Yesterday six crews checked in.  Captain Rich Beliveau, Sailing Director, Sailing Commissioner Stephanie Mansburger and the Coral Reef Sailing staff made it work – as always.  But we seem to be ineffective in communicating to the reservations department how difficult these mistakes make our day.  I was personally fortunate to miss the week of scuba overbooking while I was at the PADI CDTC in the Dominican Republic.  On top of being overbooked,  Tropical Storm Debby delivered a week of snotty weather and the crews missed several scheduled dives.  Scuba Commissioner Laura Kuras and the scuba staff took up the slack and salvaged the week as best they could.  Mother Nature rules.

Here we go again.  Since programs run different lengths, we have about 57 days left this summer.  We will have to start working on the 2013 budget soon (no one of my favorite tasks).

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
PADI Course Director 39713
Aboard S/V Escape