Hey everyone!
I’m out in the Bahamas with the amazing Cristina Zenato right now. Which, as many of you know, means I’m insanely lucky and loving life. I’ve finally returned from the cold waters of Canada and Alaska to start thawing (and working on sharing the many fantastic experiences I’ve had so far)- so today, we’re starting from the very beginning!
As always, a huge thank you to the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society®, Rolex, and our many sponsors for making everything possible! It’s been a blast and I can’t wait to share so much more in the coming weeks.
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
-Mark Twain
I began my year in a moving truck filled with my worldly possessions, heading towards the storage unit that would soon become my home base. Moving out after New York was a challenge- how do you decide what clothes to bring on a year-long adventure that might span San Diego and Antarctica in the same month? No matter how stingy your packing gets, you’ll never insulate those flip-flops enough to make them worthwhile on a glacier.
Once I had locked away my past life, there was no turning back- it was time to hit the road. Lucky for me, I live in Southern California- a hub of diving industry that I could visit in my own backyard. My first stop was a visit to Ocean Technology Systems, the wonderful people behind the Guardian full-face mask, as well as many mask and communication systems used worldwide.
Renee Pelissier Nelson was kind enough to give me a tour of the facilities, and seeing the research, precision, and organization that goes into making underwater communications possible is a really special experience.
Even better, I got some very special training on the Guardian mask:
Yes, that’s the Pelissier family pool- and I got to learn how to operate, maintain, and clean my mask under the direction of no less than four OTS staff/family members all in one afternoon! They really made me feel like family, and it’s clear how passionate each and every one of them was about providing the best product possible. Thanks Renee, Andy, Mike, and Cindy for being so kind and opening up your family home just to help me out!
Now I wasn’t done with San Diego yet- I got a very special invite from someone I’d met at Beneath the Sea in New Jersey, who had helped me enter the world of diving dry: Faith Ortins of DUI.
Diving Unlimited International is kind enough to not only provide a beautiful new drysuit, but also two sets of undergarments, a harness, a hood, integrated boots, booties, and more stickers than I know what do with. Yet all of that wasn’t enough, because I also got to see my drysuit get made!
The factory floor is something spectacular to watch- each drysuit is hand-made on location with the kind of precision you’d expect from NASA. Every seal, stitch, and seam is done by hand, and done by someone whose hands are a lot more steady than mine. It’s hard to show in pictures just how much a piece of art each drysuit really is, and how much care each team member placed in their respective detail.
Suits are pressurized, immersed, and inspected multiple times to catch even the tiniest of tiny leaks that might exist on each and every suit.
Overall, it was a pleasure being able to see the lengths one company will go to in delivering a finished product, and I’m very proud to be diving my suit today- it’s already kept me warm and dry in all sorts of conditions! Thank you Faith, Susan, Dick, and the entire DUI team for the fantastic tour!
The last opportunity I had in Southern California was something very close to my own dive upbringing- Karl Huggins, director of the USC-Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber was kind enough to invite me out to help with Chamber Day 2016.
Being a Los Angeles diver, the Catalina chamber is a landmark of dive safety and a luxury that many of us take for granted. Their ability to provide 24-hour emergency response comes from an orchestra of emergency management training, police and firefighter coordination, volunteer staff sacrifice, and extensive medical expertise- all of which is provided to the diving public of California without hesitation.
Chamber Day is an annual community outreach event where groups such as the L.A. County Sheriff’s office, Port Police, and Fire Department come out along with the Coast Guard come out to answer questions and provide first-hand looks at the amazing tools they use on the job to respond to diving accidents. Of course none of this would be complete without a tour of the chamber itself, as well as an exciting chamber ride and educational presentation.
A great part of Chamber day is that you never know who you’ll get to see- for example I got to meet and learn from Tom Carr, USC Scientific Diving instructor and reserve deputy of the Riverside Sheriff’s department; something that happened minutes before running into the wonderful Andrea Stockert- videographer extraordinaire. Thanks Andrea for the unexpected minute in the limelight!
A world-class medical facility can’t run on good karma alone, unfortunately- but luckily the generous donations of the Los Angeles diving network help keep operations funded year-round. To aid in this goal, Chamber Day turns to Chamber Eve- a who’s-who banquet of the L.A. diving community, boat operators, and industry professionals that all takes place in the beautiful Aquarium of the Pacific.
Now, you might be saying- Chris, this is all wonderful! But these people seem to really know what they’re doing- what could you possibly give back to such a well-run event?
The answer: Shirts! Lots and lots of shirts. (And sweatshirts, jackets, hats, and so much other cool stuff.)
Chamber staff and resident artist Jewely Koh has for years designed stunningly unique logos that make their way to all of the merchandise that help supplement the fundraising and commemorate each Chamber Day and Eve event.
But before participants can get their merchandise, shirts need to be folded, posters need to be bundled, and jackets need to be counted- a task Karl, Jewely, and I completed to music and a lively discussion on dive accident reporting. It was way more fun than organizing clothing is supposed to be.
As expected, the day and night went off without a hitch and everyone I spoke to had a simply fantastic time. I even got to tour the aquarium with some USC scientific diving students (*cough* GO BRUINS *cough*) while the banquet took place- an eerily serene experience with the lights turned low and the hallways devoid of crowds.
A huge thank you to Karl Huggins, the USC-Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber team, and all of the emergency responders that keep us safe for having me out for a fun-filled and educational visit. It was an absolute honor to be a part of such a unique event- and I hope I’ll see you all next year for Chamber Day 2017!
