On the Water

14 LAKESIDE

December 2022 Spain to Africa: A scuba dive adventure to remember!

I joined the Navy a week after my graduation from high school. Looking back, this was the best possible thing I could have done. At age 17, I had a lot of growing up to do, and it was nice to do it in an environment where I didn’t have to worry about where I was going to sleep or eat or work. It also taught me how to get along with many different people with different backgrounds. When you’re sleeping in a room with 40 other guys, you must learn how to get along with each other quickly.

I got the opportunity to do things and see things that I never dreamed of. A great stroke of luck was my last duty station: two years shore duty in southern Spain! I was attached to the Explosive Ordinance Disposal/Underwater Demolition Team (EOD/UDT). In war time this included the “Frogmen” (later replaced by Navy SEALS). If a plane crashed or a ship sank, we were the ones who were first on the scene to defuse any explosives that were on board. At that time, scuba diving was just becoming popular. TV shows like “Sea Hunt” and “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau” were viewed weekly by millions. There was also a famous swimmer named Fred Baldesare who had accomplished unprecedented feats such as swimming the English Channel and the Hellespont underwater! He had sponsors who financed these escapades to market their new sports products: swim fins, scuba tanks and regulators, wet suits, etc.

Baldesare decided his next escapade would be to swim the Straits of Gibraltar entirely under water! He had convinced the Commander of our Navy Base to loan him our dive team as support! He had also acquired the use of a private, 65-foot yacht and convinced the Spanish authorities to allow us to take off from the Spanish Naval base at Punta Europa, the southernmost point in the country. You must also note that Spain was a dictatorship, governed by Franco at the time, and this was only a few years after the Moroccans had thrown the French out of their

Vinnie Mendes

On the Water

See Mendes, page 46

Bottom: Our team on the beach in Ceuta, Spanish Morocco, North Africa after successfully traversing the Strait of Gibraltar. Baldesare is second from right in the back row.

Baldesare and team coming ashore in Africa. Mendes relaxing with one of the crew.

Baldesare at press conference showing off his Rolex dive watch, depth gauge and compass.

PHOTOS COURTESY U.S. NAVY Mendes suiting up one of our divers.

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