I met Bart through my passion, diving and I don't even remember our first initial meeting but, when he was on the dive boat we all knew it. Bart was not what you call an neat or organized diver and his gear was always sort of everywhere. It left me often wondering, does he know what he is doing underwater? I became better friends with him through our mutual connection at the NJ Maritime Museum. I would volunteer there along with my son, Matt when he was young and he always took the time to share some of his wisdom with Matt. Matt is an avid surfer and therefore, Bart started calling me Surfer Mom. It was Bart whom convinced me to set up a rotating display of artifacts and photos at the museum. He always praised my photography really encouraged me to display my photos of marine life on wrecks. I was his go to person for marine life identification and he would email me these cryptic photos from all over the place and ask me to identify the species. This was difficult at times because sometimes he would tell me they were from NJ when in fact they were from the Bering Sea or England. He would share his presentations with me long before he presented at shows such as BTS and Boston Sea Rovers and ask for critiques. If you have ever been to one of Bart's presentations you would not realize how much work and effort he really put into them because he always seemed disheveled, just like he did when he went diving. Truth be told, Bart dove more than anyone I know and dove the Andrea Doria more than most people including just last year at age 70.
The Bart that I really enjoyed was the caring and kind side of him. He was a gentle soul and would not intentionally hurt anyone. After my dive accident a few years back, he would call me to check up on me on subsequent dives to see how I was doing and feeling getting back in the water. He did't have to call me, he did because that is who he was. IT was of great comfort to me and it helped me to get through a tough year. He also knew that I have wanted to become a rebreather diver and he was not silent about him not wanting me to pursue it. As you all know, I did become a certified Meg diver and Bart was not happy with me about that. He was trying to keep me safe but, I knew that rebreathers are here to stay and they would allow me so much more for deeper dives.
I too know that I left a mark on him and I mean that literally. Bart invited me to dive on the RV Explorer a few years back and I was very grateful because at the time, I really missed diving wrecks off of Cape May. At some time during the trip Bart fell and cut his leg and was bleeding everywhere. He blamed me and said he was looking at my "ass" and that caused him to lose his balance and fall. He then went into detail of why my "ass" was so perfect. Most girls would get quite upset hearing such things from a guy but, this is a perfect example of who Bart is, take it or leave it. Turns out he needed stitches and would complain about his Boo Boo on his leg that was all because of my "ass" for years after. This was the same trip that I found an ornate artifact and he knew exactly what it was and said he had the 2nd one and would give it to me if I cleaned my artifact up and made it shine. I was so happy that not only would he give me his artifact to pair with mine but, that he knew what it was, and also gave me a photo of it from a book about the wreck.
In the end, there are so many Bart stories that will live on for a very long time. I miss him already. He often shared his secret to diving to the old age of 71...hang with younger divers, it will keep you young. Cheers to you Bart for living such a full life, the dive community lost a great person and I lost a friend I will never forget...
