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Lucian Lott My first experience with
scuba diving was around age 12 when my brother got certified. I was fascinated
listening to him talk about the classes he went through and some of the reading
material he brought home. I wanted to take classes too, but was told I was not
old enough. So I contented myself with reading everything he brought home and
learned bout “Ditching and Donning” and “J-valves” (this was in the days
before pressure gauges, buoyancy compensators, and octopus regulators, items
that are now considered standard equipment. With his new found scuba skills, my
brother decided that one of the things he could do was to clean my cousin’s
pool to make some extra money. He decided to bring me along with the promise
that I could use the gear if I carried everything for him, and I was so excited
to try it out that I agreed. After all...we would only be in 8 feet of water,
how could anything go wrong? Well,
my cousin’s pool got cleaned, I tried scuba, and got into a fight with my
brother...pretty much a typical day in our childhood. But I always knew I would
try scuba again. Fast forward through high school, college,
a marriage, careers as a medical lab technician and eventually as a registered
nurse working in open heart surgery. My wife and I take a dream vacation of a 2
week cruise through the Eastern and then Western Caribbean. (It didn’t start
out to be that, but that’s another story).
When we stopped on Grand Cayman, one of the shore excursions was SNUBA
diving. My wife was not interested, but encouraged me to try it. I did and I was
hooked! It was incredible---I came back to the cruise ship telling my wife
about everything I had seen---lobsters, coral, and what I was sure at the time
were sharks but in reality were tarpon. She listened with a smile on her face
and said “you are going to learn to scuba dive when we get home—aren’t
you?” My only response was “absolutely”. When we got home from the cruise, I contacted my
brother and asked if he knew where
I could get certified. He introduced me to Susan and the rest is, as they say,
history. I got my advanced open water certification in St. Thomas, went shark
diving in Walkers Cay, and dove every weekend I could at the quarry. I would be
driving and notice a drainage ditch filled with water after a rain and wonder
how deep it was and could I dive in it. If there was a body of water around I
wanted to be in it on scuba! Susan
had opened Blue Meridian by this time and asked if I would be interested in
becoming a Divemaster. The classroom work was pretty easy for me, but the water
skills tests really stressed me out. I made it through the course though and
have had the privilege of assisting in classes ever since. If nothing else, I
hope I show the students I help, how much I love diving.
The only problem is that I don’t get to dive as much as I would
like---if only someone would open an underwater surgery center, then I could
dive at work! |
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