Puerto Rico Asset Value--Conociendo Panas

First Blog Post! Getting acquainted with our users in Puerto Rico

Visiting Andy's house

Anna Knapp

This morning we visited the home of one of our users - Andy.

He let us come to his house to see his setup for filling SCUBA tanks. We were immediately struck by his organization and expertise but mostly the giant tortoise (also named Andy) in his backyard. He also had a goose and a smaller turtle named Mia who was the cutest thing until she peed all over me.

We got to see and hear about his compressor, equipment and special certifications regarding filling the SCUBA tanks. He demonstrated how he made special mixtures of enriched oxygen to help with the long dives required by commercial SCUBA fishermen, who dive to depths of up to 110 feet to catch lobster and conch, among other species. We also took the opportunity to take vibration data from his compressor using the piezoelectric sensor from the demo we brought.

Andy explaining us how his compressor system works

Mika collecting vibration data with the piezoelectric sensor 

  

Our team with Andy and Andy the turtle

      

Andy shared some of his stories about dealing with the health effects of scuba diving. He told us about the bends incidents that he has had and how he thinks it is responsible for his progressive vision loss. He also shared more tragic and vivid stories about fellow divers, including his best friend, who experienced air embolisms and collapsed on the boat and died. These stories were echoed by many other SCUBA fishermen including another user who lost his nephew in the same way.

In spite of losing friends and his vision to diving, Andy was very excited to be teaching us about his work and was curious about the work we are doing. He left us with a very special gift - seven lionfish he had caught. The lionfish is an invasive species so it is new to the cuisine of Puerto Rico. We were very lucky to have it prepared for us by a small family restaurant right around the corner from our apartment. The chef, Walter, was very excited to make it for us because it was the first time he had ever cooked it. It was a new experience for all of us and we really enjoyed it! 

A wonderful dinner. Thanks Andy and Walter!