PugetSounder
Registered
Here is a post I made on our local forum the night Jake passed:
Jake was about the most enthusiastic new-diver I’d ever met. He asked every question he could have and he thirsted for more knowledge. The tragedy of not being able to say "he should have known better" is compounded by the fact that I haven't seen someone THIS excited about diving in a very long time. I saw a lot of me, in him.
Jake wanted to know everything about diving. He loved hearing stories, he loved reading maps and site descriptions. Jake loved diving – quickly it became his passion.
Just this morning I was talking to him about his up-coming REEF critter ID class. He was making FLASH CARDS to study in preparation for Janna's critter ID class!! Nobody does that!! I emailed her to tell her about him, and his flash cards (and his devotion to it), this morning. He took and passed his nitrox class from Scott Christopher with flying colors because he missed the opportunity to do it with the dive shop he certified with. He did the class when he couldn't dive (due to a foot injury) because he wanted to do SOMETHING related to diving and had a thirst for knowledge. He did countless rock-bottom and gas planning questions/problems that Eric (sockmonkey) and I gave to him. He could calculate ENDs and put together full-blown deco plans for any dive and with any gasses you gave him. Just for fun, Jake put together a dive plan, with full gas plan and deco, with contingency plans, for an OC penetration of the Britannic... and it was correct.
Jake knew his stuff better than many technical divers, and he was only 3 dives post-OW certification. He just had a thirst for knowledge and a passion for diving like I've never seen in anyone else... yet he was VERY conservative and took the angle of "I can learn anything and everything now, but I’ll get to experience it 'in time' when I'm ready and when those I look-up to think I'm ready."
Recently, Jake was at the Mukilteo City Council meeting to support the effort to get a dive site re-opened - a site he'd never dove. He told Janna that he was happy to get “thrown out” if it meant we got the pictures we needed (in the case that pictures were, for some reason, not allowed). Jake offered to run the boat for us whenever we needed it. Jake attended UTD Tech 1 lectures and Intro-to-Tech lectures to help with any heavy lifting, all just for the opportunity to listen and learn.
It's tragic, and unfortunately for me, I knew first-hand how passionate he was - I knew how happy diving made him. I talked with him on a daily basis via email answering what seemed like millions of questions (good questions too!) and in the evenings on the phone helping him adjust things, make his plans, and take him through site maps. The dude had Redondo and Cove 2 memorized, including the parts he "wouldn't see for quite a while until he's ready."
Jake was the kind of guy you could count on. If you needed help with something he was there to help, and he showed up with tools and beer. You needed a pick me up, he had a funny story for you. He’d challenge me with questions – HARD questions!! He challenged technical instructors like Brian Wiederspan and Scott Christopher with questions WAY beyond his certification level. Jake was a neat guy, and well liked.
Jake was a diver, and a damn fine diver. He was inexperienced, sure, but he was focused on gaining skill and experience. He was a damn fine 9-dive diver. He was anything but ignorant – he knew more about dive “stuff” than ANY OW certified diver I’ve ever met. I saw a lot of myself in Jake – passionate, involved, and interested.
I initially met Jake at 30fsw or so at the Honey Bear on his final certification dive for OW. I was diving with Claudette Dorsey and Scott Lundy at the time. There were two huge GPOs preparing to mate which I showed to him when his OW class showed up at the same site. Their instructor, Gerry, is also a friend of mine and it was cool to show his students something spectacular during their final certification dive. When we were done looking at the octopus, I directed him back to his OW class and his instructor Gerry who was right there with us (everyone looks the same in black drysuits and canister lights). We met later on the surface and the mentor/mentee friendship bloomed.
Jake, we’re really going to miss you. We won’t forget you. You came into our community in a big way and you made MANY friends, even if only online. You are loved, and you will be used as an example of how a new diver should approach their new passion. I will miss you, bud. I’ll miss our phone calls, our IMs, and our emails. I’m going to miss seeing your face when you see new and exciting places and critters. I’m going to miss your questions and your jokes. I will miss you, my good friend.
So here’s a toast to you, BigFame. Cheers buddy – you earned it. You’ve inspired divers young and old, and you’ve got friends here who are going to miss you. You’re a neat guy, you “brought your own fun,” and we won’t soon forget you.
I won’t forget you and I will miss you terribly… I already do as I cry writing this. I’ve cried all afternoon and evening, and I’m sure I’ll be sad for some time to come. I really miss you, big guy. I was excited to hear you tell me about your dive and was looking forward to teasing you about missing your exit. I didn’t want to say goodbye like this. Please watch over the divers of the world, and please watch over me. I’ll be thinking of you when I’m blowing bubbles and you’ll be my buddy on all the dives I do.
Rest well, good friend. I know you’ll be on my wing for every dive I do.
Jake was about the most enthusiastic new-diver I’d ever met. He asked every question he could have and he thirsted for more knowledge. The tragedy of not being able to say "he should have known better" is compounded by the fact that I haven't seen someone THIS excited about diving in a very long time. I saw a lot of me, in him.
Jake wanted to know everything about diving. He loved hearing stories, he loved reading maps and site descriptions. Jake loved diving – quickly it became his passion.
Just this morning I was talking to him about his up-coming REEF critter ID class. He was making FLASH CARDS to study in preparation for Janna's critter ID class!! Nobody does that!! I emailed her to tell her about him, and his flash cards (and his devotion to it), this morning. He took and passed his nitrox class from Scott Christopher with flying colors because he missed the opportunity to do it with the dive shop he certified with. He did the class when he couldn't dive (due to a foot injury) because he wanted to do SOMETHING related to diving and had a thirst for knowledge. He did countless rock-bottom and gas planning questions/problems that Eric (sockmonkey) and I gave to him. He could calculate ENDs and put together full-blown deco plans for any dive and with any gasses you gave him. Just for fun, Jake put together a dive plan, with full gas plan and deco, with contingency plans, for an OC penetration of the Britannic... and it was correct.
Jake knew his stuff better than many technical divers, and he was only 3 dives post-OW certification. He just had a thirst for knowledge and a passion for diving like I've never seen in anyone else... yet he was VERY conservative and took the angle of "I can learn anything and everything now, but I’ll get to experience it 'in time' when I'm ready and when those I look-up to think I'm ready."
Recently, Jake was at the Mukilteo City Council meeting to support the effort to get a dive site re-opened - a site he'd never dove. He told Janna that he was happy to get “thrown out” if it meant we got the pictures we needed (in the case that pictures were, for some reason, not allowed). Jake offered to run the boat for us whenever we needed it. Jake attended UTD Tech 1 lectures and Intro-to-Tech lectures to help with any heavy lifting, all just for the opportunity to listen and learn.
It's tragic, and unfortunately for me, I knew first-hand how passionate he was - I knew how happy diving made him. I talked with him on a daily basis via email answering what seemed like millions of questions (good questions too!) and in the evenings on the phone helping him adjust things, make his plans, and take him through site maps. The dude had Redondo and Cove 2 memorized, including the parts he "wouldn't see for quite a while until he's ready."
Jake was the kind of guy you could count on. If you needed help with something he was there to help, and he showed up with tools and beer. You needed a pick me up, he had a funny story for you. He’d challenge me with questions – HARD questions!! He challenged technical instructors like Brian Wiederspan and Scott Christopher with questions WAY beyond his certification level. Jake was a neat guy, and well liked.
Jake was a diver, and a damn fine diver. He was inexperienced, sure, but he was focused on gaining skill and experience. He was a damn fine 9-dive diver. He was anything but ignorant – he knew more about dive “stuff” than ANY OW certified diver I’ve ever met. I saw a lot of myself in Jake – passionate, involved, and interested.
I initially met Jake at 30fsw or so at the Honey Bear on his final certification dive for OW. I was diving with Claudette Dorsey and Scott Lundy at the time. There were two huge GPOs preparing to mate which I showed to him when his OW class showed up at the same site. Their instructor, Gerry, is also a friend of mine and it was cool to show his students something spectacular during their final certification dive. When we were done looking at the octopus, I directed him back to his OW class and his instructor Gerry who was right there with us (everyone looks the same in black drysuits and canister lights). We met later on the surface and the mentor/mentee friendship bloomed.
Jake, we’re really going to miss you. We won’t forget you. You came into our community in a big way and you made MANY friends, even if only online. You are loved, and you will be used as an example of how a new diver should approach their new passion. I will miss you, bud. I’ll miss our phone calls, our IMs, and our emails. I’m going to miss seeing your face when you see new and exciting places and critters. I’m going to miss your questions and your jokes. I will miss you, my good friend.
So here’s a toast to you, BigFame. Cheers buddy – you earned it. You’ve inspired divers young and old, and you’ve got friends here who are going to miss you. You’re a neat guy, you “brought your own fun,” and we won’t soon forget you.
I won’t forget you and I will miss you terribly… I already do as I cry writing this. I’ve cried all afternoon and evening, and I’m sure I’ll be sad for some time to come. I really miss you, big guy. I was excited to hear you tell me about your dive and was looking forward to teasing you about missing your exit. I didn’t want to say goodbye like this. Please watch over the divers of the world, and please watch over me. I’ll be thinking of you when I’m blowing bubbles and you’ll be my buddy on all the dives I do.
Rest well, good friend. I know you’ll be on my wing for every dive I do.
