Wes Skiles was given a great send off last night at Ginnie springs. Around five hundred people came from all corners of the earth to pay their respects to a great adventurer. There were cavers, divers, conservationists, famous film makers, geologists, hydrologists, and other eminent scientists, National Geographic Society bigwigs, lunatic adventurers, and throngs of adoring women. Wes’ best bud Pete Butt was there with tequila bottle in hand. His mouth was still wired shut, but he was otherwise miraculously healed from the gator attack only five weeks ago. Try to imagine a guy so tough that when the 12 foot gator had his head completely inside its mouth the gator’s tooth broke off and stuck in his skull! There were tooth marks all over his head, jaw and throat yet he fought it off, swam back to shore, and lived to dive again! No word yet on how or why Wes died. He was only in 70 feet of water, a puddle by his standards. It might have been a massive heart attack or stroke, but many suspect it was his rebreather. If so he would not be the first. It was explained to me that rebreathers scrub CO2, without a buildup of which one’s body fails to notice the lack of Oxygen. One moment you are fine, the next moment dreamy, then dead, a painless and anxiety free way to go. There was enough food to feed an army, and so many coolers that it was a real problem to find my own. Huge explosions and pyrotechnics rocked the night. A Viking funeral boat was filled high with wood and set alight in the middle of the run. Along about midnight the buzz was right so a small group of us went the Devil’s eye for a dip. It was beautifully illuminated with floodlamps. I swam out into the middle of the river far beyond the lights and hauled up on a log for some quality time with the eelgrass and gators. I’m sure Wes would have approved! Sleaze
