may 3. 2002 » Ju s t s u t 3 g
SPORTS
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Lost in space
Continued from Page 1
PHOTO BY ANITA FLOYD
wrong. And after a certain age you
realize that you’re not invulnerable. It
was a real push for me to learn how to
dive. My first day actually getting in
the water in Puget Sound was a little
scary. But I like a good challenge, so I
stuck with it ”
Floyd spent several years in the
Army Reserve as a drill sergeant and
says that experience also gave her the
confidence to persevere in diving.
“Doing things like rappelling...and
obstacle courses where you learn to
have confidence in yourself and your
abilities, I think transferred a lot to
scuba diving. It’s basically the same
thing in learning to trust yourself.”
She also emphasizes the importance
of learning to trust and to use diving
gear properly, likening it to jumping
out of an airplane. You’d want to have
“a damn good parachute,” she smiles,
and you’d want to be sure you knew
how to use it.
In the six years since her fateful
jump into Puget Sound, Floyd has
Floyd and crew happen upon a World War I I Japanese freighter
become a master diver, traveling
miles off the coast o f Venezuela, Floyd was
from Alaska to the South Pacific and from
Diving for Life raises money through diver
hooked.
Micronesia to the Bahamas. She has floated
fees and two auctions. Donated items come
over the black abyss of a 9,000-foot canyon,
She met participants from Seattle, with
from diving clubs, she
has taught many others to dive and has
whom she continues to dive, and found a
ers as well as
celebrities like
diver’s paradise she hopes to retire to someday.
become active in Diving for Life, a nonprofit
Drew Barrymore,
Bonaire is in a marine preserve that Floyd says
that raises money for gay and lesbian health
is akin to diving in a giant fishbowl.
Jennifer Aniston,
charities.
“You can’t even wear gloves in the water
the Muppets and
Martha Stewart.
because they figure if you’re wearing gloves
ince 1992 Diving for Life has organized
that
means
you’re
trying
to
touch
something,”
Floyd is hoping
an annual jamboree o f gay and lesbian
to get a club
she remarks. “And they don’t want you touch
scuba divers from around the world. O n
together from Port
ing anything.”
her first one in Bonaire, an island about 50
land not
only to start
diving regu
larly but
also to
attend this
fall’s Diving
for Life jam-
Floyd emphasizes her
point with a favorite saying
in the diving world: “There
are old divers and there are
macho divers, but there are
no old, macho divers.”
She notes the cost of
diving is sometimes pro
hibitive, particularly the
initial gear expenses,
which can run upward of
$2,500. Because your life is
depending on the gear, she
adds, the last thing you
want to do is skimp.
Then there are travel
expenses to get to warm-
water destinations such as
Bonaire or Hawaii or the
Bahamas. But Puget Sound
and Canada offer plenty of
diving opportunities for
those of us here in the
Northwest.
“If you can dive in the
Pacific Northwest then you
can dive anywhere in the
world comfortably,” she
asserts, “because it’s harder
to dive here than anywhere
else. It’s colder, and you
have to wear bigger suits
and more equipment."
O f course, the payoff is knowing what it
S
Freeport,
Grand Bahama.
“It’s a group of responsible gay and
lesbian individuals,” she notes. “Thar is,
to me, one of the greatest aspects of that
whole event—people who go there are*
not the party hounds. They’re respon
sible divers. You don’t find people doing
stupid stuff.”
Floyd wants to take a Portland crew to Diving for Life
MAN
RAY
Swimming with the turtles off the coast of Venezuela
VOLUME
II
M I X E D BY: B R U N O E V I N , D J A M E L
H A M M A D I A N D JULIO BLACK
Wlith the success of its first compilation. Man
Ray— the ultra hip and chic club of both Paris and
N ew York City— has compiled a second mix by
three of Electrónica s most cutting edge DJs
Man Ray Volume II delivers an even stronger and
sexier down-tempo sound, mixing acid jazz,
ambient and dance Also includes a bonus track,
“Fuse B o x ' from Canadian-born com poser
Mychael Danna's soundtrack to the Indian film
Monsoon Wedding, remixed by Julio Black.
CALIFORNIA
If you want to join A nita F l o y d ’ s diving club
or learn more about it, call 503-421 -4788 or
e-mail acfloyd@qwest net. The Diving for Life
Jamboree is Sept 21 to 25
MELISSA SAYLER, who prefers diving into a hot
cup of coffee to the ocean, is the Production
Assistant at Just Out.
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