FOREWORD
We ended up engaging a company in Scotland to build a submarine for Bermuda. They built the $2 million vessel and it arrived in Bermuda in 1988. It was called the Enterprise. It was at this point that I was invited to join Evans as a minor partner in the business. In 1989, we began carrying passengers. Initially, we operated off St George in deep water, but it was not as clear as the water was to the west. We ended up operating for the next few years in a place called Western Blue Cut. The submarine was capable of doing up to 10 trips a day, but the most we ever did was about seven. We had the most wonderful time, because it was like having an air-conditioned office in 60 to 80 feet of water.
The submarine weighed 100 tonnes and was 60 feet long. It could carry 40 passengers down to a depth of 250 feet. It had that potential, but we didn’t go that deep with tourists on board. I did take it down to 216 feet, without passengers onboard, just to experience that depth. It had 22 view ports along the sides. It had bulbous domes on the back and front, so it pretty much offered all-round views. In the vicinity of where we operated are three shipwrecks: the Lartington, the Montana and the Constellation.
Generally, we operated anywhere from 30 to 40 feet down to 80 feet with tourists onboard. We operated around the coral reefs during a 45-minute dive. It was totally self-contained and could manoeuvre itself throughout the coral reefs, over the shipwrecks, and dive alongside them, where we could point out intricate details of the ship and the coral.
The Lartington launched in 1875 from England. It is thought to have hit the reefs of Bermuda in 1879. The captain was approaching Bermuda in a bad storm. In the area of Western Blue Cut, you can walk on the reefs, which are six miles offshore at low tide. He hit the reef at full speed. Once he saw the white froth of breakers around them, he panicked and tried to turn the ship. The proof is there. When we went over the wreckage, you could actually see all the propeller blades that had broken off.
The most exciting part for me was that, at the time, it was the most modern and technically advanced tourist submersible in the world, and the largest at the time too.
After I left Looking Glass, I got into the insurance industry as a loss adjustor. I had a specific set of skills with marine, automotive and some building experience. I began studying insurance and within four years, I was the manager of personal insurance at this particular firm. I actually went on to get an insurance diploma. While working in insurance, I joined the board of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI), because of my interest in the sea and
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teaching. I was later offered a job as its executive director, which I accepted. This is when I entered the non-profit sector. The BUEI role led to the position of executive director of the ACE Foundation, where I have worked since 2002.
I studied Celestial Navigation at the Bermuda College and was invited to participate in my first ocean race in 1983, from Marion, Massachusetts to Bermuda in the Marion to Bermuda race. I have now sailed some 20,000 miles across open ocean and I have competed in seven Marion to Bermuda races, the Annapolis to Bermuda Race and several yacht deliveries. These experiences inspired me to write the first Bermuda navigation text book (The Bermuda Boater) with editions in 1992 and 2004.
I didn’t know anything about submarines before getting involved with that, and I knew nothing about philanthropy for this job, and I knew nothing about insurance before getting involved. I think that making decisions as a young person should be about shooting high and dreaming big. The most important thing is to go out and do it. In 2000, I was invited to join the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. I determined then that I would be a nominal member and, in 2008, I became the first black commodore of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. I’ve just finished serving a two-year term and that’s because of my love for the ocean. I’m a relatively new member of the organisation, but I think that was another learning curve. Our entire lives should be about learning. Learning has to be applied and it has to be a part of our lives.
All students, regardless of the grades they have achieved, should set out in search of their passion. Find out what it is that you really like. If you really like it and you’re passionate about it, then you’re going to do well at it regardless of your grades. That’s what the ACE Foundation Career Fair is about. We have now included everything from the arts to science and technical fields. Students have the chance to talk to the various participants there and ask questions about various things, and it’s all about discovery. Find out what your passion is. That’s what we’re hoping to achieve with the Career Fair.
FAST TRACK / Careers module / 2010-2011 9
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