First, I had the wonderful experience of having my photos displayed in Centro Leon in Santiago, a major gallery and museum in the Caribbean. The turnout was fantastic and I want to say a HUGE thank-you to everyone especially the people from Centro Leon, Adolfo Faringthon from Casa de Arte Sosua, and Andres Pastoriza from ADSS.
In early June a suffered a torn and detached retina. From the start of the symptoms to being completely blind in my left eye was less then 24 hours. Pretty wild. Fortunately, thanks to great friends and an amazing doctor, I was able to be operated on quickly and although the healing process was close to 11 weeks (no flying, no diving) my vision has been restored and all is back to normal. A huge thank-you to all who offed support and help through the process. Muchly appreciated.
Late August gave our group (The Sosua Bay Rejuvenation Project", the opportunity to dive and film a documentary with Jeff Corwin. Jeff is a noted environmentalist and TV personality who has hosted shows on Animal Planet and other networks. Jeff and his film crew joined us in Sosua Bay to document the coral regeneration project we have operating. Watch for the TV show coming later this fall.
Early September gave me the chance to dive with my favorite cousin I had never met - Bill Kaltenbach! Bill, his family and friends were on a cruise that stopped in Amber Cove for the day and we took the opportunity to meet and enjoy two dives in our warm waters. GREAT to meet him, dive with him and looking forward to having him come back for more underwater fun!
September also had us doing presentations to the children of the grade two class at The International School of Sosua. AMAZING! They are studying corals and were VERY attentive and asked GREAT questions! Super to see the ocean will be in great hands in the future.
Sitting in Canada right now as I type this. A quick trip to the Great White North for a wedding and also had the chance to stop in at Northwest Scuba in Edmonton and visit with Ken Holliday. WOW - the shop looks great and the staff are super friendly and knowledgeable. Be sue and stop by if you are in Edmonton and Ken and his staff will take care of all your needs.
Looking forward to getting back to the warmth in the Dominican Republic and back into the water to get busy on coral domes for our sponsors.
Have a great day, appreciate each and every day, and please help save our reefs.
Bill