John and Heidi Hickey

The Keys and the Quarries. This is a work in progress as of January 22, 2012. More to come soon.

Through our relationship with the Red Cross, which we developed during our first aid training for the ski patrol, Heidi and I got to know Bill Miller, Director of Safety Services, and his assistant, Fred Crowner. Fred and Bill encouraged us to join one of the scuba classes they taught at Ohio State University. After three weeks in the pool hearing Heidi say she didn't need scuba - mask/fin/snorkel were enough fun for her - we got a tank on her back. And we couldn't get her out of the water at the end of that class.

Ohio diving being cold even at the height of summer, we decided to complete our certification by doing our open water checkout dives in the Florida Keys. I contacted the dive shop at Holiday Isle Resort in Islamorada, just south west of Key Largo. Heidi and I travelled to Naples with our friend, Lou Menduni, and his family. We stayed with them for a week, during which we met Mike Van Blarkum who lived in Naples, but worked as Captain and dive instructor at Holiday Isle.

At our first meeting Mike was understandably concerned when a guy who clearly had serious medical problems presented his paperwork indicating the obvious problems were only the tip of the iceberg. Despite my assurances that I had specific medical clearance to dive he said he really needed to talk with my instructor before proceeding. He placed a call to the Red Cross in Columbus, but both Bill and Fred were out to lunch. We arranged to check back with Mike after he had a chance to talk with them.

Fortunately, the return call came shortly before we were ready to leave. Apparently Mike's questions about my medical suitability to dive, although expected, had Bill and Fred in stitches. They did manage to assure him Heidi and I were properly trained and medically vetted. We arranged to meet Wednesday before noon at Holiday Isle.

So, we were up early for the trip across southern Florida along Alligator Alley, and then down the Keys. Our first dive July 1st on Davis Reef was surprisingly easy; a guided tour of the reef, very relaxed and pleasant. Our second dive on Crocker Reef went a bit deeper, but remained relaxed and pleasant. That was the dive where I discovered the cleansing effect of the hyperbaric environment on chronically congested sinuses. We made two more dives on Friday at Crocker and Davis Reefs before heading back to Ohio.

I vividly recall a few things from these first dives; the clarity of the warm, salty water, the abundant life covering the reef, a small turtle we followed around on Davis Reef our last dive. I remember Mike taking out his regulator and purging it below a coral shelf, then watching the bubbles percolate up through the porous reef into a fine roiling curtain ascending to the surface. I can still see the thousands upon thousands of black spiny sea urchins through small holes and under shelves in the reef, a blanket of life that was almost completely wiped out in 1983 by an epidemic disease.

Our next opportunity to dive came rather quickly, August 1st. I joined Bill in a trip to Sportsman's Lake, a quarry, in Cedarville. I made two dives with Rick Swauger and one with Tip Carpenter. In 35 feet of cold water we saw wrecks of an old rowboat, a cabin cruiser and a catamaran. Heidi didn't go because the water would be too cold? She really likes warm, salty Caribbean water. I'm not a fan of wetsuits, either.

The following spring, May 31st, Heidi and I joined Bill's group headed to Bascom quarry in Tiffin, Ohio to complete open water checkout dives for a number of students. Heidi was eight months pregnant, so she wasn't diving. With students kicking up the muck visibility was often less than a foot. John Carney actually cut his forehead when he swam into the rock side of the quarry.

Maximum depth was 30 feet and I visited a plexiglass dome suspended below the surface; the air in the dome was bitterly cold. My brother Tom was with us on that trip, as well as John Carney, John Chapman and a few others. The highlight of the trip was Tom and I serenading everybody in the motorhome ahead of us over an accidentally keyed radio while we followed in a van.

In September of 1983, a five month pregnant Heidi and I returned to the Keys along with John Carney and Heidi's mother, Ruth. Fourteen month old Heather came along for the ride. We traveled up and down the Keys in Ruth's motorhome, staying in campgrounds like the KOA on Sunshine Key.

The first day, Ruth wanted to complete her certification dives despite the rough water and strong current. As I recall, I was exhausted from the trip and skipped that day of diving, Monday the 13th. During the dive, Ruth's instructor at Captain Slate's warned her to skip the regulator flood and purge exercise. Smoky, a twenty-seven inch long, fat old barracuda, was staring at them, hoping for a handout. The barracuda, was trained to react to a diver pulling out their regulator by swooping in to take a fish from them. Unsuspecting divers were known to lose their snorkels.

The following day, though still tired, I was able to make a dive at Minnow Caves in Pennekamp with John Carney. The caves were indeed full of silver side minnows flashing in the sunlight. I found the strong current to be very tiring.

Wednesday I was pretty much recovered and we moved on to Diver's World and Captain Corky. I made two dives at Molasses Reef with Carney and Ruth. I did shoot pictures of them holding up the shaft of a large, old, coral encrusted anchor as well as the fish and reefs. Skindiving, Heidi watched from the surface when she wasn't chasing schools of moon jellyfish or barracuda.

With sunny skies and calm seas, Corky took us to French Reef on Thursday. Fields of staghorn and elkhorn coral provided a breathtaking vista. We took more pictures and I developed a leg cramp chasing a big old grouper. We are ranging further from the boat on our excursions, these days. The long haul back turned my legs to rubber.

The next day it was back to Atlantis and trips to 'Christ of the Deep' and Little Grecian Rocks with Captain Roger on the Coral Princess. We shot pictures of the statue, an eel and the channel. Carney's 'O'ring trailed a steady stream of tiny bubbles to the surface. At Grecian Rocks the variety of coral was amazing; saw 'Venus Fly Trap', lobster, conch and a few sea urchin.

Friday found us with Key Colony Divers at Coffin's Patch in the middle Keys. We were in a little 20' open boat with an Evinrude 135 hp outboard engine. That engine decided it didn't want to go home and required a bit of coaxing. The three of us enjoyed two dives on that sunny, calm day. The reef was shallow so the light penetrated to the bones of an old shipwreck in a rainbow of vivid color. There were still quite a few sea urchin scattered around and a big old barracuda trolling for an afternoon snack.

The following Tuesday we made a trip out with Kit from Damselfish Divers at Big Pine Key. I made one dive with Ruth on Sombrero Reef. This was a shallow dive revealing brilliant finger reefs with schools of barracuda and moon jellyfish.

Monday, July 16th of 1984 found us again on Key Largo with Captain Corky at Diver's World. Heidi, Ruth and I dove Molasses Reef. We took pictures. Despite changes to the reef from the loss of the sea urchins and other damaging hazards, the reef still seemed familiar and comfortable. It was calm and relaxed until Ruth's regulator failed late in the dive and we dealt with that on the way back to the boat.

On Tuesday we found our old buddy, Mike Van Blarkum at Holiday Isle and Ruth joined Heidi and I on Davis and Crocker Reefs. The seas were calm and the skies overcast. Below, the water was a bit murky with reduced visibility. We fed the fish chicken and took pictures.

Wednesday we found ourselves at Captain Slate's Atlantis Dive Center sharing the boat with Doug and Anne Gordon from Plano, Texas, along with Steven Frink, his model and crew. They were shooting photos for the 25th anniversary of Pennekamp Park. We shot photos of the caves and Smoky, the barracuda. Unfortunately, Frink was there to shoot Smoky with Captain Slate and the models. It was unfortunate because Heidi had a bag of salami to feed the fish while we shot pictures and Smoky ignored the important photo shoot to follow Heidi and her salami. I've always felt bad about that.

We did get some nice pictures of 'Christ of the Deep', and Smoky. Heidi dove with Ruth and I dove with Doug. Heidi's regulator failed on that dive, and Doug's had a steady slow leak. The yellowtail snapper were plentiful.

We drove down to Big Pine Key and made two dives at Looe Key on Thursday. I wasn't wild about Big Pine Key Diveshop. Captain said to be back on the boat within an hour or he'd leave us. Ruth and Heidi paired up and wandered off for the two dives while I stayed with Phil Holloway. He was into close-up photography, so he spent about 2 hours with his head in one hole or another while I watched his back.

We ended the week of diving with Captain Corky back in Key largo. We rented a video recorder unit and dove 'Hole in the Wall' and 'Spanish Anchor' on Molasses Reef. We spent close to two hours between the two sites, with skates, eels, angelfish, trunkfish and barracuda. We had a wonderful time.

In 1985 we returned to the Keys for a couple of days of diving before boarding the Sea Explorer in Miami and our first trip with Blackbeard's Cruises. Thursday, August 22nd, we joined Captain Corky at Diver's World and boarded the Double Time for the trip out to Molasses Reef. A freighter had run aground on the reef the previous year and the damage to this beautiful reef was extensive and heartbreaking. We saw a large school of barracuda cruising around us in the 1-2 knot current.

John Carney, Ruth, Heidi and I headed for Captain Slate's for the afternoon of diving on Friday. We made dives at Minnow Caves and Dry Rocks, Heidi with me and Ruth with John Carney. We saw 2-3 foot seas under an overcast sky. The next day we would embark on a fifteen year journey with the folks at Blackbeard's Cruises.

Bill Miller arranged with chairperson, Jill Robinson, for me to participate in the Symposium on Diving with Disabilities, which was held in Miami in February of 1987. On Sunday, February 15th, following the Symposium I joined him on a little trip out to French Reef in Pennekamp Park with Isabelle and Beth Stombaugh where he completed their certification open-water dives. The skies were overcast and the seas at 1-3 feet. Although the surface air temperature was 84 degrees, it dropped to about 71 degrees in the water. A wetsuit top was adequate thermal protection and a reminder of why I was so fond of swimsuit diving in the Caribbean during August.

It seems 1987 was a busy year for us with diving activity. Heidi and I took Heather and John to Daytona along with skiing buddies, Dennis and Martha Dittiacur and their son, Mike. We visited Disney, Sea World and played on the beach. We also made the trek to Key Largo on Tuesday, June 9th, for two days of diving at Atlantis to complete Denny's open water check-out dives.

With light wind, bright sunlight, 91 degree air temperature and 2-4 foot seas, we slipped into the somewhat cool, 81 degree waters of French Reef. Heidi and I stayed fairly close to Ditt and his instructor. Visibility was around 20 feet in a strong, tiring surge at Minnow Caves. The visibility was a bit better and the surge lighter for our second dive at North Dry Rocks.

Wednesday found us again at North Dry Rocks, a little deeper part of the site. The day was calm and sunny, the water temperature a bit warmer and visibility up to 70 feet. We spent about an hour amid bright schools of fish among the flat rocky coral patches. Our second dive of the day at Fingers Reef in Pennekamp wrapped up Ditt's certification dives with style. A large, green eel resident to the reef came out to play with the divemaster.

I returned to Ohio Diving on July 31, 1990, traveling to George's Canoe Livery near Springfield. John and Heather went along, and we met Bill Miller there. He was completing Rick Zengler's certification open water check-out dives. Heather and John were skin diving, feeding french fries to the fish. The hungry fish also nibbled on Bill's ear. Brian Lucas also joined us and I made a third dive that afternoon with him. The fish bit his ear, as well.

The following Thursday, August 2nd, we returned to finish Ricky's final two certification dives. We practiced a bit of navigation and generally enjoyed the chilly, murky water. In ten days we will be diving off the Sea Explorer in the Caribbean!

Our next sojourn into the cool waters of Ohio came on Saturday, June 22, 1996. While Heather completed her check-out dives in the Bahamas two years earlier, John decided to complete his in Ohio so he could enjoy the warm water dives at his leisure. We trekked to Circleville and the Twin Quarries. Heidi, Heather and I spent about an hour wandering around the quarry while John was skin diving. His scuba class was coming up soon.

The following weekend, Sunday, we returned for a little more cold water fun; Heidi and I roamed the murky waters. The floor of the quarry holds hulks of an old cabin cruiser, a sail boat, and a school bus. My brother, Tom, accompanied us that week and dove with our old friend, Jack Rensch. A week later, Saturday, Heidi and I returned and blew more bubbles while the kids were away on a camping trip. On Saturday, the 20th, we went and I dove with Karen Fries, a little tune-up for the upcoming Blackbeard's trip. The following Sunday Heidi and I returned for a dive while our old friend, Ginnie Mitchell, watched.

John had finished his course work and was ready for his check-out dives by August 3rd. Saturday and Sunday Heidi and I made a dive in Twin Quarries each day while John and his instructor finished his certification. We were ready to head for the Bahamas the next weekend.

We returned to the quarries the following year, July 17th, 1997. Just a quick tune-up before the Blackbeard's trip, I dove with John for an hour. And again, July 26, 1998 Heidi and I dove the quarry with John.

Diving in Ohio and Florida