Working, well let me explain..........
My friend Chris works for Tow Boat U.S., a water towing company that (you guessed it) tows broken down boats back to KW to be fixed. So Chris called me one morning around 8 o'clock to see if I could help a captain with a tow. I said I would so he told me where and when to meet Capt Glen at the tow boat. I should have been suspicious when he told me I needed to bring a book, change of clothes and food. Capt Glen and I met up and finally left KW around 10:00 am. We made it to the broken down boat at about 2:00 pm (the broken boat had hit a reef and broke it's rudder the day before out at Dry Tortuga which is 60 miles out). We were able to stabilize the rudder and get it hooked up to tow by 3:00 pm to start the tow back to KW. Well for the next 13 hours we towed the behemoth boat back to KW and got it secured to the dock about 3:30 am. The people were very thankful for our help and I made it home by about 4:00. Most of the tows are not that long but of course my first trip was a long one.
Next on to the Vandenberg..............
For those of you that do not know what that is, it is a 520' ship they are going to sink 6 miles south of KW as an artificial reef. This project has been in the works for almost 11 years and has had many ups and downs but the ship finally made it to KW. They towed it from Virginia and it made it here last Wednesday. I was one of 8 people to get on the ship about 3 miles out of KW as a line handler to help dock the ship from the deck. It was pretty cool with all the attention it was getting from boats following it and the helicopters flying around filming it coming into KW. The ship made it in and now they are doing the final prep work to sink it around May 20th. The workers are working 12 hours a day and I am helping out with that work doing what ever is needed. Its great to get to know the ship before it is sunk so I will know the areas to dive. When the crew is not working there has to be a safety fire watch on duty the other 12 hours. There is a company employee on this shift but he needs a safety buddy with him at all times so one of the college dive instructors got students to volunteer for 6 hour shifts from 7:00 pm to 1:00 am and 1:00 am to 7:00 am. My first shift was from 1 to 7 and it was cool being able to walk around the whole ship at night and check it out but it was kind of creepy at times. I do it again in a week but I am doing the 7 to 1 shift. The good thing is that I don't have to work on the days I have the night shift watch, that the nice part of volunteering... working when you want to.
School, I AM FINISHED!!!!!
Yes I am now a certified NAUI scuba instructor so those of you that want to learn how to scuba dive can come down here and I can teach you, or we can just go to Duval and get loaded, your choice. School was fun but intense and I am glad it is over because things are going to get busy with Taryn having Ashlyn any day, the Vandenberg arriving and Mel Fisher division week coming with all that brings (including taking divers out to the site to look for treasure). When that is all over I plan on getting a job at a dive shop as a captain, dive master or an instructor, all three if possible.
So that is the latest on what has been going on and will update you when there is more to add to the Adventure.
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