The Neptune Warrior

Looking at a beer bottle from the 1900’s at the bottom of the Rancocas River. I can’t believe what I have in my hands. Diving a section that only I had access to. People don’t get me and I know they won’t. Im finally comfortable with it

I used to love bow hunting. This is before I was baptized as a scuba diver into a whole new life.

But Saxton Pope’s  book on The Art of the Bow and Arrow and how they trained to get ready for the hunt was a huge influence on my diving.  They worked to get fit for the hunt and used the same mentality to get in shape for my diving.

When I’m healthy and in better shape, the smaller the dive site is and easier to work.

I can’t help it, I’m drawn to the water and all it offers.

There is an often unspoken risk. Whether its the ocean or a lake, a river, or backwoods pond, water is as much a monster as it is majestic. If you disrespect her, she will kill you. But acknowledge her power, her beauty, and train to be a part of her, she will treat you like a faithful lover and surprise you with little gifts in the form of trinkets and treasures. 

There are lots of risks. The higher the risk the better the reward. Are you afraid of hard work?

Can you battle the ups and downs? I was on a weekend trip with a friend of mine who had a gold mining claim in the remote area of the Boise National Forest. He asked me to help him recover a dredge he lost in the current. Looking at how the river flowed I had a pretty good idea where it had settled. I slipped on my gear and slid into the frigid water, all recent snow melt from one of the heaviest snowfall winters in the past few years. My fingers we numb. I was rightfully scared. Just beyond the deep hole I was diving the water was swift.

You have to find your edge. Most people won’t go on these dives with me. Too far or too difficult to dive, don’t have time, don’t have the skills, or just not interested. Drive and dives are easy.  Hop in your truck to dive the same place everyone dives or take a plane ride to a resort is too easy. Sure I do resort diving and I hit the local Thursday night local meetup dive, but its not where I’m going to see something no one else ever has. 

What are you willing to sacrifice to find cool stuff? I located the dredging tool and hooked the line to it that was secured to the winch on my Jeep. Before exiting, I looked down and wedged in the rocks was a metal rectangle. Out of curiosity I pulled it out. There close the headwaters I found a license plate from 1918. I was blown away. Here in the middle of the woods in Idaho, I found a license plate from Oregon that at the time was nearly 100 years old. 

I don’t have more money than the next guy, I work a pretty humble job. I don’t have more resources. But underwater all things are equal so being a better diver and training for that edge

Hone in on being in shape to dive. 

I wont  get out worked as a diver. I put in daily work. I try to eat right, get better sleep, and work out in the pool. Study maps and journals of exploration of the areas I want to hunt for artifacts. Talk to the old timers and build relationships to get exclusive or limited access to places that hide treasures. Most people don’t want to put in the work.

Some people want money or a life full of material bullshit. I just want to travel and dive and find cool stuff.  I want to be in amazing dive sites. I want to camp on the beach, travel to cool places with friends, eat a simple meal looking out over the water. I’ve tried to talk people into going diving with me in these obscure places but no one wants to go.

So the choice is to go by myself or don’t go. So I go alone

I wound up on river dives and backwoods ponds that no one wants to explore. Now people look at the cool things I pull out of the water and say ,” Wow I wish I could find something like that.”

I want to dive the undisturbed areas. Places most people won’t even consider. Its dark, its murky, the water often smells like SWAC. The more remote you go the fewer will follow. 

I hate the words “must be nice”. 

I could never figure out why someone wouldn’t want to get out of work on friday, hit the road, drive 10-hours, dive all day Saturday, maybe dive Sunday morning, drive 10-hours back and have enough time for a few hours of sleep or go straight to work. Living on PB and Js,, power naps at the rest stops, and grind through on Monday thinking about the amazing sites you saw or the treasures you floated in your lift bag.

I have always been an average guy but finding cool artifacts or capturing amazing dive memories made me feel like I was amazing. 

I will never forget the first bottle I found in Strathmere New Jersey in the Little Egg Inlet. Spider Crabs all over the place, the tide rushing out of the inlet made visibility like chocolate milk. Fumbling through the mud imagining those crabs sucking my face as they scrambled out of the way. Four hour drive, sleeping in the cab of my little Suzuki Samurai waiting for the sun to come up was worth it holding that first find. A “Blob Top” bottle from the mid 1800’s. Fighting the current, over weighted with led to keep me from getting blown out to sea, pushing back the fear of dark water, all paid off. I spent hours in the pool, days in the gym, and weeks researching the history of the area. Sure others had done a ton of dives in this area. It was semi-known for bottles at the time, but the obsession made it all worth it.

No excuses. I’ve heard them all. “I got work”, yeah so do I. “I got kids and a wife”, well lets teach them how to dive or figure out a way they can be included”. “Diving is to expensive”, so is cable TV, that $800 a month car payment, the alcohol and nightclubs you hit. “Must be nice Rob”. It’s not nice, its sacrifice.

Its all about passion. Its where you’re committed. It’s identifying your priorities. Eating out at $10 a meal is $300 a month. In most places that’s dive lessons, a new dive computer, a down payment on a wetsuit, one quarter of a trip to someplace nice. 

Looking at that bottle in the cedar waters of the Rancocas I get it, I’m different. But this is what I do. I’m just an ordinary guy trying to live an extraordinary life. I am working on perfecting my skills, stay healthy, feed my brain, and get in the water every chance I get.

Who wants to go diving? You only get one life. Pedal to the Metal

Quick plug for my new book:

Dive Journal – A great way to explore yourself while diving

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