From Darth Vern . . .
I think the above picture says it all. We all gathered this past Sunday to pay our repsects to Diver Dan and to reminisce over stories we all have of the time we spent with him. It was an awesome day, weather was incredible, people were fun and we all got to show our support for Dan. Mark and Karen arrived around 1ish with Mark and Dans parents. It was good for them to see how many lives Diver Dan has touched over the years. Just about every regular diver was there. Too many people to name, see the pictures below.

We started the morning with Me, Jim Brown and Kent Hirsch diving down to the step van to assist Huck in hanging a sign for Diver Dan. It was a very emotional time. Justs eeing the sign and reading it, sent a chill thru me and finally cemented the fact that we will not ever see him again. I had to stop and take a few seconds to gather my thoughts and get back to the reality of the dive. If anyone wants to see the sign, just follow the rope that extends from just past the bow of the deep boat out to the step van. The sign is on the north side of the van, you can't miss it.

After we hung the sign and photographed it as best as possible, we made our way back towards the deep boat to pick up the lawn mower that Kent and Mike Nast had found the day before. They had left a liftbag on the handle, so they could find it again easily, but with the viz out past the deep boat at least 30 ft - it is not hard to find. On the way to the step van eariler, I had dropped down into the hole and raised the liftbag and mower up to the shelf at 100 ft from 115ft. It is surprising how easily it is to move something that size in 100 ft of water. I had worked with lift bags before, but never that deep. I found it pretty easy to fill the bag with the exhaust from my 2nd stage and lisft the mower and place it on the 100 ft shelf. After we returned from the step van and silo, Kent saw I moved it and grabbed it and "attempted" to bring it back in closer to the platforms. As we made our way across the bottom, Kent must have risen a little bit and the gas in the bag expanded and the it took for the surface. Me and Kent heaed for the deep platform and ascended the line to do our deco stop at 15 feet. Jim and Huck headed back to shore via the bottom. Once surfaced Kent retrieved the mower and his bag and placed it near the platforms.

The second dive of the day found me and Jim Brown diving with Mark. I was honored that Mark would get back in the water with me after what has happened. It was a very humbling moment for me. I think it took alot of fortitude from Mark to get back in the water so soon. We had a great dive out to the step van so Mark could see the sign. We had nice short dive of 30 minutes, but very enjoyable.



Keep on diving and LIVE THE ADVENTURE!!!