I was lucky to spend two days with accomplished diver and former Frank Scalli Intern, Rick Simon. Rick has an incredible amount of dive experience especially in the fields of technical and commercial diving. He passed a number of tips along to me and certainly made me a better diver. I look forward to hopefully working with Rick again later this summer.
During my first day with Rick, I learned a number of things about diving, without even getting in the water! When I arrived at Rick’s workplace in Connecticut, he showed me the ins and outs of rebreathers, as he was disassembling his from a previous dive. It was fascinating to learn about the mechanics of rebreather function, use, and maintenance.
Later, Rick helped me buff up on my dive planning skills, something I rarely employ, as I have done primarily recreational, relaxed dives in tropical waters. Dive plans are paramount to the success of a dive, but especially useful when conditions make it more difficult to communicate underwater, like low visibility or a mission which requires divers to split apart. I plan to implement dive plans more frequently when I am in the water, especially as I gain more certifications and get more thoroughly involved in the dive community.
Lastly, Rick showed me how to assemble products to fill orders for his company, Manta Industries. We built a number of underwater reels together. Rick was very generous and donated a reel for my own use during my internship. I even built it myself! Thank you so much for donating this great tool, Rick!
