jim johnston RETIRED 2019

PADI assistant Instructor #45412

In 1988 I worked for Harry.  Almost every Monday he’d talk about his weekend of diving.  Winter or summer, he went diving and always had a story to tell.  I often mentioned I was going to try SCUBA some day. One day he hands me a flyer and tells me to call the Dive Shop and get my name on the list, and here I am.

Tuesday/Thursday for 3 weeks then the trip to Pearl Lake for certification.  A week or 2 later it was Advanced, then a couple of weeks later Patti Koranda put on a Rescue class.  I was hooked.  Any weekend I could I was at Pearl Lake.  

I made 2 trips to Truk Lagoon with Harry and he glowed when we talked about it.  SCUBA has taken me as far west as Singapore, as far east as the Sinai and Red Sea and those limits will be pushed this year.

We’ve trained so many people, some stay with it, some fade away only to return years later after raising a family.  I’ve met hundreds of great people through SCUBA.  Flew over that big Equator line across the Pacific a few times. Slept in airports, the Van, great and not so great rooms while others have lived through Hurricanes, monsoons, lost luggage and we can all laugh about it when the stories are told.

My passport is ready with a couple of trips on the schedule; I just can’t do them all.  Hope to take that giant stride just before you... Why do divers roll backwards off a boat? 

Diving Timeline

• 1988 - Open Water certification

• 1988 - Advanced Open Water certification

• 1988 - Rescue Diver certification

• 1989 - PADI Divemaster

• 1990 - PADI Assistant Instructor

• 2018 - Retired living in Florida but continues to go on all the Dive trips and assist

Fun Facts

• Ask Jim about:

  • Cavern Diving in Florida

  • Ocean diving in North Carolina and everywhere

  • Lake diving off Chicago & Racine

  • Ice Diving

  • Drift diving on Florida’s Gold coast

• Travelled to Guam 12 times with MDS