Chapter 13 #2
“Hello and welcome to the Dive the Santa Teresa Excursion!” he told them.
“I’m Percy Williams, your guide today. We’ll also have Sammy Beck with us.
I’ll be leading and he’ll be following up behind us, making sure no one gets lost. Now!
I know for many of you, the shipwreck is the prime piece of this dive.
Yes, she is amazing and how she came to be here, so close to our reef, is equally amazing.
So! The ship left a port that you cruisers might know, the Port of Lisbon, Portugal.
Portugal was a major seafaring nation with Henry the Navigator starting a determined effort sailing around Africa, circa 1419, and making their way by voyages to India.
Then, of course, came the discovery that the world wasn’t at all flat, that there was a New World to be discovered.
And it was in 1500 that a Portuguese nobleman, Pedro álvares Cabral found Brazil!
Fast forward to the year 1545 and Santa Teresa left the Port of Lisbon.
A beautiful ship, just a decade old and she’d been at sea several years.
As usual, she crossed the Atlantic easily, heading for several ports in the Caribbean when behold!
Something happened, something known to explorers, pirates and anyone who traveled to these parts.
A storm arose, a massive storm, the kind we know of today with the power to almost level cities!
And so, she tossed, she turned . . . she sank!
Neither she nor any of her crew or cargo made it to any port.
Not even she, brave valiant ship that she was, could survive the onslaught of that storm.
And so, she went down. Down, down, down to the bottom of the sea. ”
“Was she a treasure ship! Did they find gold years later?” a man, waving his hand wildly, asked.
“Divers went down in the late 1800s. A difficult feat! Remember, scuba tanks were invented in 1943 by Jacques Yves Cousteau and a colleague, émile Gagnan. But in 1823, a man named John Deane patented a device he called the Smoke Helmet. This allowed for surface air to run through a hose to a diver. This type of device was used by many salvagers and, of course, there were others, but diving was not made easy until the scuba tank came along. But when divers did reach the ship, there wasn’t much truly classified as treasure to be found.
Historic pottery, silverware and a few such items were discovered, but she hadn’t been carrying any New World gold—she hadn’t reached the ports she was to visit.
And that deep and that long in the water .
. . Well, belts, buckles, some jewelry was discovered, but nothing of the kind of value that salvage divers dream about.
She was deep, even by modern standards, but some divers could reach her and explore her, and they did.
For most people, for recreational divers, she wasn’t easy and wasn’t happening.
But! Years later, just about a decade and half ago now, there was another storm.
A storm, one of our massive hurricanes, lifted her from the deep seabed and smashed her against our reefs here just beyond the isle!
She was thrown into the rocks, and went down and now she is there, a magnificent piece of history that can be enjoyed by even those divers who are not certified to study those wrecks down a hundred feet or so.
She rests just twenty-five to thirty feet down and we are going to explore her today! ”
A round of applause greeted his words.
“Next!” he told them all. “It’s most unlikely that we’ll run into any great white sharks, but we have lemons, makos, Caribbean
reef sharks and hammerheads out there, to name a few. We’ve never had an attack, but I’m assuming that you are all aware not
to thrash and attract such creatures, should we see any. Jellies—yeah, they can be out there, too. Avoid them—if you’re stung,
or if you wind up in distress in any way, signal your partner or one of us and we’ll see that you get up safely and onto the
boat. Now, what you will see are beautiful tangs, all kinds of angelfish, rock beauties in all colors . . . don’t disturb
the wildlife, look and enjoy! Got it?”
“Got it!” his audience echoed.
“And at the ship! Be careful. Rotting timber, ancient metal . . . Don’t catch any body parts on broken wood or the like, right?”
“Right!” someone echoed.
“Now, then! Safety!” He nodded very solemnly. “Safety is always our priority. Our equipment is checked and double-checked,
but you’re responsible for making sure that your flippers, buoyancy control vests and mask and snorkel gear fit and aren’t
going to fail you along the way. So! Enough of me talking. We’ll head to the equipment barn!
Chloe loved diving and still headed down to the Keys and out on a dive boat when she had the time. She doubted that she was
as experienced as Wes—even though he didn’t really run a dive boat or act as a dive master off that boat.
That she knew of, anyway!
But at the equipment barn, she knew that he was studying the snorkels, flippers and everything else that they were handed by a friendly young woman working behind the counter, taking foot sizes and making judgments on the proper BCVs to hand out.
Whether people owned their own equipment or not, on this dive, they were required to use that provided by the island dive
shop, all part of the excursion. The equipment, guide and dive boat were all part of the package.
“Seems to be top-notch stuff,” Wes noted quietly.
“Always good. And the oxygen tanks—”
“They’ll be set for everyone on the dive boat itself. I believe we’re a group of twelve, if my counting skills are still applicable.
And it sounds about right for a decent-sized dive boat. I mean, they come in small and much larger . . .”
“But this is an excursion and that sounds good to me,” Chloe told him. “Easier to watch those I’m worried about.”
“You’re a good diver?” Wes asked her.
“Well, hm, over time? I’ve been out at least thirty or forty times.”
“Maybe we should split,” he told her.
“Okay?” she murmured.
“Darlene. I know you’re worried about Darlene. Let me go with her, you go with her dad.”
“All right, but—”
“We trail each other.”
When everyone had been outfitted with equipment, it was time to head to the boat. Chloe managed to sit next to Darlene with
Wes on her right side.
It was a well-fitted motorboat, and Chloe saw that it was planned for the exact number of people on the tour. Air cylinders
were provided at the seats that ran along the starboard and port sides, ready to be attached for each diver.
Their guide, Percy, introduced them all to Captain Ken Larkin and his mate, a young man who grinned when he was introduced as ‘Buddy.’ The four islanders—Percy, his fellow guide, Sammy Beck, and Captain Larkin and Buddy—would help everyone prepare to get into the water.
The number of people on the dive was always even—everyone had a dive buddy, as well.
“I can’t wait!” Darlene told Chloe. “A wreck! I have my basic certificate, but I haven’t ever trained for a hundred feet or
anything like that and one of the main wrecks down in the Keys that I’ve seen from a distance is down nearly a hundred or
so. I mean, I got my license because my dad has always loved diving—and ships and boats, as you might have noticed—but I’ve
had other interests, too, of course, and now college . . . Anyway! I’m very excited.”
“So, your dad is a really experienced diver,” Chloe said.
She smiled. It was easy to do so. The wind was blowing beautifully around them. The sky was clear, an exquisite shade of blue.
It was truly an amazing day for such an activity.
“Dad has spent years diving. He’s good. But I’ll bet he’s not as good as your husband! I mean, he runs a dive boat! He’s a
dive captain,” Darlene said.
“Well, since this is your first wreck, you should buddy up with Wes and I’ll buddy up with your dad. How’s that sound?” Chloe
asked her.
“Really? But isn’t this like a second honeymoon for you guys? I don’t want to split you up,” Darlene told her.
Chloe smiled. “It is like a second honeymoon, but you won’t be splitting us up. We’re still all on the same dive, just switching
partners for a few minutes. I mean, if your dad won’t mind.”
“What about Wes?”
“Wes loves showing newer divers the ropes. And it’s a wreck. I’m sure we go right along the side and through something like a main highway, but still, I’ve had friends get lost in wrecks and panic for a minute or two, so . . .”
“So, if anyone wants me to go off in a different direction—”
“Wes will deck them,” Chloe said, grinning.
“Can you deck someone in the water?” Darlene asked, laughing. “Deck him on a deck. I guess that works. That’s sweet.”
“Make sure your dad doesn’t mind.”
Darlene turned to talk to her father. Bryan leaned forward and looked around his daughter and grinned at Chloe. “A lovely
new lady for a partner—even if she is married. Sure. Seriously, it will be great for Darlene to have someone as incredibly
experienced as Wes!”
Eventually, the motor stopped. The anchor was tossed, and everyone was assigned and fit into their air tanks and only when
he saw that all twelve of his people were ready did Percy head to the little rear platform. “One by one, when you’re all in
the water, we go down! Down, down, down!”
Percy was good at what he did. He had a sense of humor and could tell a good story, but he was also deadly serious when checking
his divers out before heading to the platform himself. He was, in fact, far more determined to check on each individual, each
piece of equipment than Chloe had seen a dive master manage to do before. Of course, this was all part of the luxury yacht
experience, and she had no doubt that while she believed with her whole heart that the company did think of their passengers’
enjoyment and safety above all, they might have been smart enough to be aware of liability, as well.