Damon Lasiter

The morning of the fourth approached with a crackle in the air. It was to be the day of our first dive! Only one boat was available for the morning venture, which meant only four of the twelve students here would be the first to visit the Slobodna. Who would it be? How would they choose? Bribes came out in a flurry in the hopes they would have an effect on Drs. Sheli’s and Annalies’ decision. Others tossed their hands up in the air with no idea of what was to come, and still others (well me only) knew their fate.

Remains of Slobodna's mast.

Alas, the four were Carrie Atkins, Carri Rupp, Christine Yugay, and Max (The John) Johnson. Aside from Max, their token male, it was obvious you needed to be female and have a name that started with C to get on this boat. But such is the life of an underwater archaeologist – a twist at every turn. While they were on their dive, the rest of us finished our report and database for the Adelaide Baker artifacts, and although we did a superbly superlative, we all looked at each other, steely-eyed, knowing full well our time was coming soon.

Adam Kowalski

And it did! After some barbecued ‘diver dogs’ by Chef Lisa, we scrambled most hurriedly to the boat, went through some procedural rules with our Captains Steve and Mike, and proceeqded through the Mangrove canals to the sea side of the keys, and arrived at our destination: the Slobodna! Ewa Silver did a backflip entry into the clear waters, she was so excited to be there, and the rest of us followed in pursuit! The water was beautiful, and after meeting at the bottom to go through a quick check out with our Dive Safety Officer, we were given a tour of the wreck by Dr. Sheli. Dr. Corbin circled from above, snorkel in mouth, ever watchful of our every move.

Seraphya Berrin

After a break for new tanks, our assignment was given: to tag potential artifacts in teams of two. Red tape was given out, and off we went! My partner Ewa and I proceeded northeast from our boat, eventually circling to the south and then back in. On our way we encountered many an artifact, and some beautiful biological species as well. Every team was to search a different area, and we knew our strategy was working out well when we found tape tied on artifacts by our other field school mates.

Underwater photography.

All in all it was an exciting, and exhausting day, just the thing to justify our fabulous spaghetti dinner by our even more fabulous cook, Lisa.