Annalies Corbin Executive Director, the PAST Foundation

Farewell to the Keys -- For Now

Today was our last day here in Key Largo.  We had a wonderful and joyous time.  These past two weeks were full of excitement, discovery, and a little bit of adventure for both students and staff.  Today the crew diligently worked to tie up loose ends, to clean house (both literally and figuratively), and to close a very special chapter in all of our lives. 

From our friends and neighbors at NOAA and Quiescence we learned to be thankful.  It is rare that a community loves its cultural resources as much as those who live in the Florida Keys.  Many grew up here; they've spent their lives in and around the water.  They not only care about their shipwrecks; they actively fight to protect them. NOAA continues to develop and explore the wonderful Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the local dive shops and operators actively support protecting the area’s numerous shipwrecks.  Without these efforts there would be no shipwreck for us to explore. 

From Slobodna we all learned a bit of patience.  The essence of calmly waiting for a story to unfold was a skill that each student came to appreciate on the wreck site.  We also swam away from Slobodna with a deep respect for her long silence and her constant air of mystery.   She showed us how to be underwater detectives in the purest sense and she taught us to be ruthless in our pursuit of her secrets.  On Wednesday we pulled our datums and gathered our tools.  But be sure, we will be back next year to see what else we can convince this mighty shipwreck to share with us. 

From each other we learned what it means to be a team.  We learned how to work in hostile environments, we learned to keep our tempers in the sweltering heat of southern Florida in August, we learned how to laugh at ourselves, and we learned that sixteen is always better than one when you take on an adventure as grand as Slobodna.  We learned an awful lot along the way – shipbuilding, material culture, site mapping and excavation – as important we learned Pictionary, poker, the limbo and swing.  We may never come together again, but for 12 days we were an invincible team.