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 A few weeks ago we had a phone call from NBC 2 News, looking
for underwater photographers to help with a special on changes in the Gulf
since Hurricane Charley. Gary and I do underwater video but we didn’t feel
our experience was enough for the type of footage they would need and it
took only a second to come up with the right man for the job, Rusty Farst.
The NBC 2 representative said they knew Rusty and had worked with him
before and the fact is that almost anyone who dives in this area knows
something about Rusty. Not so long ago, we were asked to appear on the
WGCU radio program, Gulf Coast Live and to recommend other people we
thought would be good for the program. Once again, Rusty’s name came to
mind.
If you were trying to find a personality that represents everything our
southwest Florida diving lifestyle offers, you only have to look as far as
Sanibel to discover a diver who embodies the soul of diving in our local
Gulf waters. Diversified is a word he used to describe his experience as a
diver but as you look at what he has experienced, it seems too mild a
description.
 It’s hard to imagine that a boy
from the Midwest, who as a young teenager was afraid to put his face in
the water has managed to log over 2,000 dives in the Gulf of Mexico in
addition to traveling to exotic tropical locations like Hawaii and Cuba,
and more recently joined an expedition with National Geographic for a
memorable trip to the Yucatan. He has wrangled 12 foot octopi in Puget
Sound, braved the cool waters of Lake Superior, ventured into the Indian
Ocean off Kenya and even explored a volcano in Utah. Two years ago, while
with a National Geographic team in Yucatan, they discovered very old Mayan
skeletons in the jungle. The discovery was published in the October 2003
issue. By the time this article is published, Rusty will be on an 8-day
excursion back to the jungles of the Yucatan with Advanced Diver Magazine
(www.AdvancedDiverMagazine.com).
At the tender age of 22, just a short 24 years ago, Rusty says he donned
his first snorkel and mask in the Florida Keys and that’s when he was
bitten in the heart with love for the underwater mysteries of mother
earth. A few years later, in 1987, he got his Open Water Certification and
just dove, dove, dove. Frustrated by the inability to get to the dive
sites, he bought a 13-foot inflatable boat and just wore it out.
Rusty discovered underwater photography in 1994 and a new underwater video
camera and housing joined his speargun as constant companions on every
dive. A fear of public speaking was soon overcome when his dive buddy
asked him to show some local video of wrecks and reefs to the Sanibel
Fishing Club. The oohs and aahs from the fishermen, followed by requests
for Loran and GPS numbers to his favorite spots, sparked an idea to
combine video footage of underwater reefs with site locations to help
other underwater enthusiasts. That was the beginning of Jaws Productions
(Just Add Water) which expanded the opportunity to enjoy filming and
photographing the underwater environment. Rusty has created five local
films ranging from Lee County’s Artificial Reef Program to the shipwrecks
and offshore ledges of the Gulf of Mexico.
Rusty has been fortunate enough to assist the Lee County Natural Resources
Division for almost 10 years by filming and documenting the artificial
reefs placed in local waters. He is often the first diver to visit still
bubbling ships and barges as they hit the Gulf floor and believes that his
photos have provided assistance to help the marine biologists make
educated decisions concerning reef placement and materials. Reef building
is a mix of wonder and the satisfaction of watching a structure first
attract nearby sea life, and in as little as a year’s time, produce a full
blown self supporting system. This year’s grant money will fund analysis
on the economical impact the artificial reef program has on Lee County and
the next project will deal with the material from the Sanibel Causeway at
an already selected site.
 Although, in the early years, Rusty made over a
1,000 dives without even owning a dive computer, times have changed and
along with more sophisticated computers such as a VR3 made by Delta
Technologies, he has invested time in getting the training to augment his
experience. A scare while filming the inside of the large freighter, Bay
Ronto, and losing his way, had him reevaluating his diving future and sent
him looking for more specialized training, particularly in the area of
cave diving. He has taken courses in overhead training, Nitrox, Trimix,
gas blending, sidemount, rebreather and recently repelling instruction to
prepare him for accessing caves in jungle environments. He states that he
was absolutely horrified of diving in caves, until he did it. He now loves
the challenge although it requires ten times the gear and training as open
water Scuba. He spends plenty of time at Deans Dive Center (www.deansdivecenter.com)
in Fort Myers filling his tanks and keeping his dive gear up to date.
In 1998 Rusty met his beautiful wife Patti and a year later they enjoyed a
Hawaiian wedding and scuba diving the waters of Kuaii together. You wonder
if she had any idea that he was hooked on adventure. Surely, her first
glimpse might have been when she was just one month from delivering their
son, Zachary. Rusty received an invitation to travel to Cuba to write a
dive article – the catch, he had to leave the next day. The reward,
unforgettable diving and the thrill of sharing authentic Cuban cigars when
Zachary arrived.
Rusty feels that the word “diversification” aptly describes local diving.
He has explored the underwater environs of the Cape Coral Bridge, the
Sanibel Causeway (for fun and also for an NBC News Exclusive), the
Philadelphia wreck just off Sonesta Resort, an archeological site off
Fisherman’s Key, the docks at Boca Grande, with manatees in the
Caloosahatchee River and almost all of the passes between our barrier
islands. His favorite pass is Boca Grande where he has made at least 15
night dives and has assisted the VSR and Lee County Sea Grant teams in
removal of fishing tackle from the bottom. Offshore, within 10 miles of
the coast, the reefs, ledges and wrecks are only available to scuba divers
around 50 percent of the year due to visibility from rough seas and summer
rainfall. Further offshore, there are endless locations to enjoy. Many of
the ledges and hard bottom areas are great for photography, lobstering,
spearfishing, shelling, exploration and training. Sunken treasures from
shrimp boats to large freighters litter the Gulf bottom. Wrecks like the
torpedoed Baja California, the freighter Fantastico, which claimed 7
crewmen, the freighter Roatan Express sitting upright in 190 feet still
holding her captain and a passenger are just a few. Just last summer,
Rusty was the second diver to enter a cave system that starts in 125 feet,
single files through a 60 foot deep chimney, and opens into a room with a
domed ceiling, under the Gulf floor that is 90 feet across, and where
fresh water begins at 240 feet. The bottom has yet to be found even at a
depth of 365 feet.
Rusty’s diving career is more goal oriented than it has been in the past.
He says that his ideal dive is somewhere where no one else has ever been
and his desire is to document and photograph new discoveries. If someone
has been there before, he is in no hurry to get there.
He still dives with a one chip Sony digital video camera and an Ocean
Images (www.oceanimagesinc.com)
housing that he loves, although it is time to upgrade. His camera
equipment is very simple and easy to use; it’s the dive locations and
logistics that are the most challenging. After donning 4 large scuba
tanks, a camera housing with lights and battery, squeezing through a tiny
crevice in a cave wall, it’s all he can do to point and shoot – but he
seldom misses the shot. His biggest investment is in his lights. When you
are deep inside pitch-black wrecks or caves, reliable bright light is a
wonderful thing, and it makes for good pictures.
Rusty says that his diving mentors are his team of instructors. Sharing
their knowledge with him, sometimes learning the hard way, has taught him
valuable lessons to not only stay safe while participating in a
potentially dangerous sport, but how to enjoy himself while out of his
comfort zone. That is where he believes the real reward of diving is
found. If he can bring back pictures for everyone to enjoy afterwards,
that’s the icing on the cake! Just Add Water.
If you are looking for underwater photography services, contact Rusty
Farst at JAWS Productions, 239-472-2576 or via email at
jawsproductions@comcast.net.
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