Nicky
Nicky is 6 years old. He has been in training for 3 seasons. He quickly out grew the tub, & moved up to the pool. He currently dives to 9 Ft.(fresh water) He prefers night dives (with the pool lights out) His favorite dive buddy is Captain Zero, but he sometimes dives with his cousin Jesse. He holds the prestigious ZERO certification (Junior pool level), with a specialty certification in lobstering, and underwater photography. This season Nicky will begin his wreck diving career on the wreck of the Lightburne in 25 Ft. of water off of Block Island. He will also be part of the support team on Nantucket this July, when we dive the Doria & the Republic. We will keep you updated on his progress as the season continues.

PS. While at Beneath The Sea, Captain Dan Berg, from Wreck Valley attempted to steal Nicky away from the John Jack. Nicky remains loyal to Captain Zero.



Update 4/02
Nicky is now 7 years old with one 22Ft. ocean dive under his weight belt. Nicky managed to help his dad bag one bug during his dive. He is currently training for several more ocean dives, including the wrecks off of B.I. He has his own 40 Cu.Ft. tank setup with an MR12 regulator. Nicky will be part of this years support crew in Point Judith R.I., when the New John Jack sails to the Doria. & B.I.

Nicky has also endeavors to become a captain. He likes to refer to himself as "captain in training" At the present time he sails only in Great Kills harbor and the slip. He is particularly adept at starting , stopping, and shifting a cranky Detroit Diesel. He is hankering to get his hands on the wheel of the new John Jack this spring. 1,600 horsies in the hands of a 7 year old !! what was I thinking ???

Update 3/03
Nicky has just returned from a family trip to Bonaire. Because of his age, he was not allowed to make boat dives. I took him on several beach dives. Nicky did manage to complete 2, 30 Ft. beach dives, but not before being tumbled in the surf, and getting sand “every where” His new dive saying is “ beach diving sucks!!! Spoken like the true son of a dive boat Captain. Nicky also completed a week of “aqua kids” training while on vacation. The training terminates with a “SNUBA” dive. Nicky was unimpressed with Snuba because he already does dives in the ocean ( have I created a monster??) Nicky returned home eager to start training to do “real” dives.

Update 7/03
Nicky was in Pt Judith as part of the advance Doria team with his mother Susan. Unfortunately scheduling and weather made it impossible for him to get to any of the B.I. wrecks. Nicky is bummed out but willing to accept a rain check, provided I can get some one to give him further dive training, so he can at least go to the quarry. Nicky also hit me up for his own scuba-pro BC and a 100 Cu.Ft. scuba tank, so he could do the deeper dives at the quarry. Nicky continues his Captain’s training, making fuel runs with his father.

Update 9/03
Nicky has recently completed (unofficially) open water training. He has made three trips to Dutch springs quarry, completing 6 dives to a maximum depth of 65 ‘ ( see photos) His favorite attraction at the quarry is the helicopter. He has the tee-shirt, and done the dive. He still thinks that “beach diving sucks” but really enjoys the dives. His last dive was with his father (Zero) and was a 57 Min dive with a max depth of 60 Ft. He was also diving with Tim & Fiona Barrows, who were nice enough to meet us at the quarry for a few dives. Nicky is now ready for some ocean wreck dives on the John Jack. If you see the big red boat anchored over the Black Warrior, or the mistletoe this fall, you can bet Nicky is on the bottom with his dad, terrorizing the fish life, and bagging bugs. Nicky also wants to do a night dive this season. I stalled him by telling him he might need a special certification for that.

Update 2/04
Nicky is now 9 years old. he traveled to Bonaire on vacation with his family, to go diving with his dad. Unfortunately, his dad was sick all week and couldn’t dive. Nicky did make three boat dives under the supervision of a dive master, while his father sat on the boat and chewed his nails. Not to worry, Nicky did great. Nick is hooked now and eager to go diving again soon.

Update 3/04
At the Beneath the Sea show, Nicky & his dad went shopping for a new BC for Nick. After trying on all the BCs that looked good, he chose a Zeagle Ranger. He likes that one because it is comfortable, and looks cool. Nicky is now the proud owner of his own Zeagle Ranger BC. Nicky would like to thank Doug , from OMS, for spending so much time showing us the cool OMS gear. As well as Pete Newrocky from Dive rite for his time and patience.

Update 6/04
My Fathers day gift to myself, was a dive with Nick off our own boat. I scheduled it months in advance. The day was perfect, flat calm, warm, & sunny. We loaded on some crew, and headed to the Fran S. , an intact tug in 60' of water. Tex set the hook, clearing the way for us to suit up & jump in. It was a typical inshore, Northeast day, 50 Deg. And 20 Ft. Of vis. We toured the whole wreck several times over. Nicky had his first lift bag lesson, we recovered a nice stainless grapple, and sent it to the surface. After about 35 Min. We ended the dive, and returned to the surface.

Once back onboard, Nicky kept himself busy by jumping off the veranda, into the water. Nicky got a chance to do his first, surface lift bag recovery, when Terry sent a bag to the surface. The day ended much too quickly when we had to pull the hook, and return home. I would like to thank my son Nick for the best father’s day present ever !!!

Update 2/05
Nick Traveled to the Dominican Republic (DR) with Sue & I for a vacation. Nick came with a plan. He had seen photos of me diving from an inflatable. He wanted to jump off while it was moving fast, holding my hand, make a 130' decompression dive, then swim to the beach to surprise his mother. All timed to coincide with lunch, at the resort ( a boys’ gotta eat) What a plan !! Unfortunately for him, I was unable to dive that week, so he had to settle for some 100' wreck dives, under the watchful eye of Francisco, the local dive guide, and friend. Nick managed to get in 4 dives that week.

Update 7/05
The John Jack was in Hatteras N.C. for 3 weeks. During this time, nick got in 2 dives on the Dixie Arrow. A prolific ship wreck in 90' of water. The first dive was a short warm up dive, on his second trip the current was ripping, but by playing the current, we managed a nice long dive, During which we took turns taking pictures with Capt Theresa’s new digital camera. As always we reluctantly headed up when our deco meters were in the red. We could see marine life all the way to the surface. N.C. diving never fails to impress me.

Update 7/06
Nicky has made several trips to the Dominican Republic to dive with Pirates Cove dive center. His favorite wreck there is the Tanya - 5 sunk intact, in 115 Ft. Of water. Nicky has started his decompression diving training with 40 Min. Dives to this depth.
Nicky also made a North East dive with his Dad on fathers day. They made a short cold dive to the Masadonia in 50 Ft. Of water.

Update 1/07
Nicky took a birthday trip to go diving in the DR. It was a short trip, so he only got in three dives. One of them was to a shallow cave in 55 Ft. of water, after traversubg a really cool spiral staur case to reach the water. After an exciting, but uneventfull dive he surfaced with Dive master / instructor Francisco. A Quick lunch of hot dogs in an ajacent cave, and it was off to another adventure.