The focus of this trip was to engage in science related to shipwrecks in the Great Lakes (specifically Lake Huron). The water was extremely cold, but the shipwrecks underwater were worth the freezing temperatures.

These shipwrecks varied in size and shape, background, location, etc. Each one had a story to tell about where it came from or why it sank. It was so incredible to experience the cold-water diving, which is something most Nauts are not used to, since most SCUBAnauts opportunities to dive are located in the warmer waters.

After the pool training day, FSU-PC took us to a dock by the City Marina and taught us about underwater navigation and communications in the full face mask. I am still, even after a day, so amazed by all the work they do with the full face masks, and how sonars are used to navigate things underwater. I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with and gain so much knowledge from amazing leaders.

“If I was given the opportunity to go on this trip all over again, I would pick up the opportunity in a heart beat.”

Heavy hits are the worst of the worst. They turn of your air rip your regulator out and tangle them take your mask off, undo the BCD buckles, and other issues.

At first the idea of diving with full face masks terrified me. I was comfortable diving with a normal regulator and mask, as I'd been doing so for 3 years. So many problems came into my head. What if water started leaking into the mask and I couldn't get air? What if...