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Hello all, sorry for wandering late into this thread. I'd like to take this thread back into a positive swing and place the focus back on to Zak's great nature and character. I'm an instructor at Pro Dive and was a co-worker of Zak's. I'd like to share a couple stories of my own.
Zak and I started working at Pro Dive right about the same time, him being hired a week before me. He was brought in as the operation's newest Course Director and myself as an another instructor for the shop. The first thing I noticed about him that really struck me was his ability to just immediately mesh with the people around him. The first time I met him was when he'd walked into the shop to say hello on my first day. He told me how glad he was that i'd been hired, simply because it meant he was no longer the FNG (***kin' New Guy). But right off the bat it amazed me how he just seemed to get along so well with everyone and it seemed like he'd known everyone for years. Over the months of working with him it became obvious that it was just a natural gift he had. He posessed an amzingly good natured spirit that everybody wanted a piece of. We all fed off it and it was apparent that he raised the spirits of every social situation he walked into.....whether it be among the rest of the staff, his students, or whatever group of us would happen to be across the street at the Treasure Trove for some post work hours refreshment.
Being that Zak worked in the Training Department and I was either in the shop of on the boat, I didn't get to work as closely with him as I would have liked. But I can still think of certain memories that stand out in my mind from him. Aside from his obvious social gifts, he had a great penchant for good natured teasing and ribbing. Not too long ago I had been reading a couple of books about sharks, one of them sepcifically about shark attacks on man. For about a week these books had me a little jittery about doing tie-offs from the boat....an duty that a boat crewman does alone. I should've kept my mouth shut about and just gone about my business but I mentioned the effect my imagination was having on me. It got around the shop quickly quickly and when Zak found out he was on me in an instant one day when we were on the boat together. "OH MY GOD! Dave I can't believe this! You're a freakin instructor and you're afraid of sharks!? I tell you what man, you may as well hand in your balls right now! You're unworthy". Throughout the day was on me about it. "Dave I just saw a big Bull shark down there, you better be careful when you go down to untie". He even got his students in on it. They were all talking about what a huge Bull shark they saw patrolling down there.
Another time he was teasing Ian about Skydiving when they were on the boat. Ian was really into skydiving for a while and Zak loved to tease him about it. "C'mon Ian, a chimpanzee could be trained to jump out of an airplane and pull a cord! That's not a man's sport!". Ian just kept quiet and took it. Later on Zak had taken a piece of tape and wrote "And Skydivers" on it and put it beneath the sign on the women's head (bathroom). So later on when Ian was doing his boat cleanups he walked by and noticed the sign on the women's head that now read "Women and skydivers". Ian loved it.
One of the last days on the boat that Zak and I had together we were diving the wreck of the Mercedes (I think). Near the end of the dive I was on my way up the ascent line and saw Zak's class in a big clump of humanity. My first thought was "why the heck aren't these giving the rest of us some room on the line?". Then I saw what was going on. Zak had happened to find an anchor at the bottom that was in pretty good condition and being a diver with a history of search and recovery he naturally wanted to bring it up. He happened to have Garrett's lift bag on him so he started up the line with this big anchor attached to a lift bag. Zak was clearly pleased with himself and it was apparent even underwater, and the class naturally wanted a piece of his enthusiasm......as most people did who spent any time around him. So after the dive we were back onboard and Zak was just going on and on about this anchor. And his class was just congregating around him and this anchor. Everyone was just having a great time
Another thing was completely apparent about Zak......he was a complete carbon copy of his father Dave. Once we all met Dave he also becamse an instant part of the family and was just as much fun to be around as his son. It was easy to see where Zak had gotten it. Alot of times after a dive we'd see Dave and Cathy at the Treasure Trove and Zak was nowhere to be found. So we'd all hang out with Dave, after all he and Zak had pretty much the same personality. Another thing about Zak was his ability to tell a story. He's one of the most animated story tellers i've met and alot of times it wouldn't matter what subject was brought into a discussion, because Zak usually had a really great story to add to the conversation. It was always such a pleasure listening to him tell his stories. And now when the staff will reminisce about him and all the funny stories he'd tell you just can't help smiling because you can just picture Zak telling it. You can picture the way he'd tell it.....which makes it all the better.
There so many funny things he's said and done is his short time here that could easily fill a book. I just wanted to relay a few of my own experiences that stand out in my mind and express my gratitude at having known him and been around him.
Zak and I started working at Pro Dive right about the same time, him being hired a week before me. He was brought in as the operation's newest Course Director and myself as an another instructor for the shop. The first thing I noticed about him that really struck me was his ability to just immediately mesh with the people around him. The first time I met him was when he'd walked into the shop to say hello on my first day. He told me how glad he was that i'd been hired, simply because it meant he was no longer the FNG (***kin' New Guy). But right off the bat it amazed me how he just seemed to get along so well with everyone and it seemed like he'd known everyone for years. Over the months of working with him it became obvious that it was just a natural gift he had. He posessed an amzingly good natured spirit that everybody wanted a piece of. We all fed off it and it was apparent that he raised the spirits of every social situation he walked into.....whether it be among the rest of the staff, his students, or whatever group of us would happen to be across the street at the Treasure Trove for some post work hours refreshment.
Being that Zak worked in the Training Department and I was either in the shop of on the boat, I didn't get to work as closely with him as I would have liked. But I can still think of certain memories that stand out in my mind from him. Aside from his obvious social gifts, he had a great penchant for good natured teasing and ribbing. Not too long ago I had been reading a couple of books about sharks, one of them sepcifically about shark attacks on man. For about a week these books had me a little jittery about doing tie-offs from the boat....an duty that a boat crewman does alone. I should've kept my mouth shut about and just gone about my business but I mentioned the effect my imagination was having on me. It got around the shop quickly quickly and when Zak found out he was on me in an instant one day when we were on the boat together. "OH MY GOD! Dave I can't believe this! You're a freakin instructor and you're afraid of sharks!? I tell you what man, you may as well hand in your balls right now! You're unworthy". Throughout the day was on me about it. "Dave I just saw a big Bull shark down there, you better be careful when you go down to untie". He even got his students in on it. They were all talking about what a huge Bull shark they saw patrolling down there.
Another time he was teasing Ian about Skydiving when they were on the boat. Ian was really into skydiving for a while and Zak loved to tease him about it. "C'mon Ian, a chimpanzee could be trained to jump out of an airplane and pull a cord! That's not a man's sport!". Ian just kept quiet and took it. Later on Zak had taken a piece of tape and wrote "And Skydivers" on it and put it beneath the sign on the women's head (bathroom). So later on when Ian was doing his boat cleanups he walked by and noticed the sign on the women's head that now read "Women and skydivers". Ian loved it.
One of the last days on the boat that Zak and I had together we were diving the wreck of the Mercedes (I think). Near the end of the dive I was on my way up the ascent line and saw Zak's class in a big clump of humanity. My first thought was "why the heck aren't these giving the rest of us some room on the line?". Then I saw what was going on. Zak had happened to find an anchor at the bottom that was in pretty good condition and being a diver with a history of search and recovery he naturally wanted to bring it up. He happened to have Garrett's lift bag on him so he started up the line with this big anchor attached to a lift bag. Zak was clearly pleased with himself and it was apparent even underwater, and the class naturally wanted a piece of his enthusiasm......as most people did who spent any time around him. So after the dive we were back onboard and Zak was just going on and on about this anchor. And his class was just congregating around him and this anchor. Everyone was just having a great time
Another thing was completely apparent about Zak......he was a complete carbon copy of his father Dave. Once we all met Dave he also becamse an instant part of the family and was just as much fun to be around as his son. It was easy to see where Zak had gotten it. Alot of times after a dive we'd see Dave and Cathy at the Treasure Trove and Zak was nowhere to be found. So we'd all hang out with Dave, after all he and Zak had pretty much the same personality. Another thing about Zak was his ability to tell a story. He's one of the most animated story tellers i've met and alot of times it wouldn't matter what subject was brought into a discussion, because Zak usually had a really great story to add to the conversation. It was always such a pleasure listening to him tell his stories. And now when the staff will reminisce about him and all the funny stories he'd tell you just can't help smiling because you can just picture Zak telling it. You can picture the way he'd tell it.....which makes it all the better.
There so many funny things he's said and done is his short time here that could easily fill a book. I just wanted to relay a few of my own experiences that stand out in my mind and express my gratitude at having known him and been around him.
