Dick Long, unforgettable character #6, part 2

(Continued from last week)

Learning how to enter the Pacific Ocean over slippery rocks was not fun, but my diving mentor, Dick Long, a pioneer in the SCUBA arena, was ready for anything to be able to get wet. I preferred sandy beaches.

And I must say that walking on the floor of San Diego Bay was a kicky trip. There is nothing like being underwater for extended lengths of time and being able to view the sea life, including moray eels peering from rock formations. Kind of scary, though. So yes, Dick Long inspired my interest in the Pacific Ocean and its life forms.

We had many fun times including trips to Mexico, Baja California. We dove from a beach between Tijuana and Ensenada. On one outing we bagged some lobsters, and Dick traded a large one for a bottle of good whisky from some RVers we encountered. Good times with good friends stick in my memory.

I will add that he constantly stressed the buddy system, what to do in a dive emergency and overall safety. If, for example, he popped up in front of you and presented the A-OK sign, and you did not respond in kind, you’d find yourself headed toward the surface. Yes, he’d pop your life vest cartridge for you. It was a good lesson for some.

Dick participated in the first dives to more than 1,000 feet and eventually open sea, working dives to 1,400 feet. He lectures and writes extensively for recreational publications and retail shows. He started his equipment business in 1959 and began developing wetsuits which ultimately became dry suits in the early 1980s. In 1965 developed hot water suits, still in use to this day.

He has served major marketplaces including the military, search and rescue and scientific, recreational diver and commercial/industrial markets. And he never forgets his absolute love for the ocean. What has become Diving Unlimited International is considered a leader in drysuit design and manufacturing, all thanks to Dick.

Overall, keeping divers warm at any depth has been his life accomplishment. But there’s a lot more to Long than “just” keeping divers warm. It is noted that if you have the chance to talk with him, you’ll quickly see that he’s not only capable of engineering solutions to any underwater problem that’s been thrown at him during his lengthy career, but he has a much bigger mission in life. He’s an ocean evangelist, and he wants others to become one, too.

Long believes that divers can be “ocean evangelists” who protect the ocean and change the world. He has written and lectured extensively for recreational publications and retail shows.

At 87 he continues as ex officio leader of one of the most innovative companies in diving, developing groundbreaking exposure protection equipment. After more than 60 years in the water, he’s still as excited as ever to explore and deepen his relationship with the ocean. Why? Because, as he says, “It’s up to divers to protect what we love.”

Thus, he made me, despite my dive nicknames of “air hog” and “bubble butt,” a longtime aficionado of ocean diving. He notes, “With diving, there will always be something new to see and something new to learn, so you want to keep your mind open because a lot of the things you think aren’t exactly so.”

I can only agree and will always give my friend, a SCUBA pioneer, the A-OK sign. Or else.