My first decade as a diver (2006-2015) I was primarily a Great Lakes wreck diver. I made multiple trips each summer up to dive as many areas of the Great Lakes as I could manage. I did my Deep, Wreck, and Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedure training all on the Great Lakes. I've been able to hit all 5 of the Lakes plus the St. Lawrence.
In 2016 I relocated to South Florida. Over the past 5 years I've build a relationship with many of the folks at Force-E Scuba, a dive shop with 3 locations in South Florida ... Riviera Beach, Boca Raton, and Pompano Beach. They've heard me talk many times about the awesome wreck diving in the Great Lakes.
Fast forward to last month. While planning out their online presentations for Wreck Month (April of each year) they very graciously asked me to present on the wrecks of the Great Lakes and to share some of my experiences diving them. Even though I'm not a natural presenter I jumped at the chance to be able to share the amazing wreck diving on the Great Lakes with the predominantly South Florida audience.
Here is the YouTube recording of the presentation. Regarding the presenter (me) I'd say 'meh'. I did OK. However, I was really happy with the deck itself and did receive feedback from many that they found the presentation interesting and informative. I had a good buddy (Andy Orr, https://www.andrew-orr.com/) graciously allow me to use many of his awesome photos of our dives together. I also got permission to use some great photos I found online from another active GL wreck diver, Vlada Dekina (Trips and Pictures by Vlada) , I'd never met previously. It was very nice of her to allow me to use her photos as well to cover the wrecks I've dived but didn't have decent photos of.
As is common with presentations like this I had far more material than I had time to cover. I hit on probably 50% of my speaker notes. It is what it is. The presentation is not meant to "teach" anything but simply to "inform", to talk about the Great Lakes, the wrecks they contain, the experience of diving them (equipment, conditions, challenges), and then to talk about 6 of my favorite wrecks.
Enjoy!
In 2016 I relocated to South Florida. Over the past 5 years I've build a relationship with many of the folks at Force-E Scuba, a dive shop with 3 locations in South Florida ... Riviera Beach, Boca Raton, and Pompano Beach. They've heard me talk many times about the awesome wreck diving in the Great Lakes.
Fast forward to last month. While planning out their online presentations for Wreck Month (April of each year) they very graciously asked me to present on the wrecks of the Great Lakes and to share some of my experiences diving them. Even though I'm not a natural presenter I jumped at the chance to be able to share the amazing wreck diving on the Great Lakes with the predominantly South Florida audience.
Here is the YouTube recording of the presentation. Regarding the presenter (me) I'd say 'meh'. I did OK. However, I was really happy with the deck itself and did receive feedback from many that they found the presentation interesting and informative. I had a good buddy (Andy Orr, https://www.andrew-orr.com/) graciously allow me to use many of his awesome photos of our dives together. I also got permission to use some great photos I found online from another active GL wreck diver, Vlada Dekina (Trips and Pictures by Vlada) , I'd never met previously. It was very nice of her to allow me to use her photos as well to cover the wrecks I've dived but didn't have decent photos of.
As is common with presentations like this I had far more material than I had time to cover. I hit on probably 50% of my speaker notes. It is what it is. The presentation is not meant to "teach" anything but simply to "inform", to talk about the Great Lakes, the wrecks they contain, the experience of diving them (equipment, conditions, challenges), and then to talk about 6 of my favorite wrecks.
Enjoy!
