I caught Grady at the Dive Club meeting in October but Deb was a little busy so I told her I’d catch her another time. Sunday, October 20, 2013, while tailgating at the KC Chiefs game, Deb was sitting in a chair next to me and I figured that was as good of a time as any to hit her up with the interview questions. I asked her if she minded and she said absolutely not, she was game.
How did you get started diving?
Grady’s classes were bought at an auction. His instructor kept bugging me and bugging me to come to try it out so I did an intro to prove I could do it. Then I found out I loved it.
How long have you been diving?
Since 1990.
How many dives do you make in a typical year?
100
What led you to become a dive instructor?
I become an assistant instructor to help Justin. I moved on from there.
What other hobbies do you have besides diving?
Riding horses. {Mark chimes in with} aggravating Grady and Deb smiled. And having fun with my grandkids.
What is the best advice you can give to someone considering scuba diving?
Do an intro to scuba.
What advice can you give to a beginning diver?
Make some dives, keep up with your skills. Dive within your skill level. That’s the best advice though is dive within your skill level. That’s where I see people get into trouble is doing dives that aren’t within their skill level.
Where is your favorite place to dive?
What is your most comical dive experience?
In Cozumel, my friend Jan and I were diving. We swam across something that didn’t look right so I looked into it a bit closer and couldn’t decide what it was still so I got Jan’s attention to come over and look at it. She picked it up and moved it out and we saw that it was a box but we weren’t sure what it was. The divemaster came by and we asked him what it was. He did the prayer hands. Jan didn’t see this so when we got to the surface she asked what it was. They told us it was an urn. We laughed and laughed and nicknamed it Uncle Charlie. No one knew that it was there. It was sitting inside a piece of the corral, but don’t worry, we didn’t disturb the corral while moving the box.
Now in Mexico, they have a saying that if you mess with the dead, they’ll pull your legs in your sleep. The Divemasters kept giving her fits asking her how she slept the rest of the week.
Not quite what you expected huh?
Okay, one more and then I’ll quit bugging you with these, What would you recommend for a beginning divers first trip?
Bonaire or Cozumel. The only thing with Bonaire is there is nothing else to do but dive.