wrecks of south florida

Among all the crazy things I've done to amuse myself over the years (it's not that being an architectural illustrator isn't exciting, but you can get a fat butt sitting at a drawing board all the time), I became a PADI Divemaster just for fun. That doesn't mean I'm qualified to disperse universal wisdom to fellow scuba divers while gathered around a bond fire at the scuba diver high temple, but it is an important job. My wife, Edrianna was a dive instructor and I assisted her while she trained new divers. The divemaster duties include: making sure the students stay together and most importantly, don't drown! Divemasters also work on dive charter boats conducting dives with 5 times more divers to shepherd over.

Edrianna went on to work at a large dive instructor training facility called ProDive in Ft. Lauderdale and I went to work part-time on a charter dive boat called the Seahorse in Pompano Beach, Florida. I worked for tips and free diving.

I also produced artwork for Capt. Mike Halprin, owner/operator of the Seahorse, including a large mural and dive briefing charts. At the time there weren't many detailed images of the many wrecks that are dived off the east coast and Mike and I came up with an idea to draw these artificial reefs (intentionally sunk boats). It was easier said than done.

The Hydro Atlantic: not intentionally sunk but went down in a storm off Boca Raton, Florida in 1987. 320' long and in 172' of water. This is the only wreck I did not dive because it is beyond recreational diving limits. I worked from a video taken by Mike.

It was equally challenging for the divemaster not to mention dangerous (did I mention I was doing this for free and because I thought it was fun). I had to dive into the deep blue on the Captains cue; swim down as fast as I could, to depths up to 130', while dragging several hundred feet of rope attached to a 3 foot diameter surface buoy; my heart ready to explode; clear my ears so my head wouldn't implode, sometimes into dark water with visibility less than a few feet; find the wreck and attach a grappling hook to it without overshooting the wreck or before the surface float or ripping current pulled me away.

RSB-1: cable laying ship, sunk in 118' of water