By Abigail Haddock and Alex Rickert
Marathon-based Better Than Most Scuba went out on April 27 for what seemed like a normal morning spearfishing dive off Duck Key. Their team included the owners, Jason and Jeanie Schwenke. The location was one they hadn’t visited in a week, but going there on that day “was meant to be.”
Jeanie was the first one in the water, and less than 50 feet away from the boat she noticed a tackle box.
“Then I saw a couple Top Spot maps, some fishing rods, a bucket, even an anchor,” she said. “That’s when I signaled my guide to say ‘Hey, there’s a lot of stuff here!’ I remember thinking to myself, are we going to find a boat? We started collecting the stuff, and we bundled it into one area.”
That’s when Jason swam by and saw Jeanie’s discovery. “I swam by and saw her carrying a bunch of loot,” he said. “She pointed me in the direction, and we went all across the area looking for anybody, or a boat.”
With no sign of the boat, they started bringing the salvaged cargo up. In addition to more fishing rods and tackle boxes, the team recovered everything from prescription sunglasses to a fire extinguisher – and most importantly, an old prescription bottle, since used to store sinkers, with a name on it.
Switching from dive guides to detectives, the team recalled a report from the U.S. Coast Guard about a capsized boat seven miles off of Duck Key, not too far from their recovered gear, just three days earlier.
The boat had capsized on April 24 due to a presumed cracked transom, prompting a search and rescue effort by Coast Guard Station Marathon that Monday. The two passengers were safely rescued from their life raft, but an incoming front prevented tow boats from recovering the sinking boat until the day after.
Armed only with the name she found in the tackle box, Jeanie continued her investigation with local tow boats until she found the owner of the missing gear, Doug McComb. She reached out just in time – McComb and his girlfriend Dawn Austin were leaving his condo in Marathon the very next day – and made arrangements to return everything they had found in person.
Speaking with the Weekly on July 11, Austin recalled a harrowing experience that left her and McComb with only minutes to unpack, deploy and board their life raft as the boat flipped. But more than anything, they sang the praises of the Schwenkes.
“They had everything in a nice container for us, and it was wonderful,” said Austin, who added that she and McComb are now considering pursuing their scuba certifications with Better Than Most. “Just that they took the time to call us, because they really didn’t have to do that at all. Just honesty, and good people. They were even getting ready to go out for a dive (when we went to pick up the gear) and they took the time to get off the boat and come and shake our hands.”
“That was a lot of expensive fishing gear,” said Jeanie. “It was nice getting it back to them.”
“He was really shocked, and really thankful,” said Jason. “Also he was generous and wanted to take care of the crew, (so) he gave the crew on the boat that day a tip. It was good karma points.
“We’re a small operation, she’s mom and I’m pop. We started this business after Hurricane Irma, but I’ve been teaching diving for 30 years. We’ve also had our share of boat struggles, (so) we’re empathetic to a bad day on a boat, and glad we could make someone’s day a little better.”
“It was meant to be; we’re the only dive boat that goes out there,” said Jeanie. “The timing just happened to be perfect.”
For more about Better Than Most, call 305-432-1214, visit www.btmscuba.com or email btmscuba@gmail.com.
