Richard O’Barry Instagram – Meet my first mentor and best friend, the late Captain Arthur McKee. We had some great adventures together. Art was like a father to me, kinda like the dad I never really had. When I was discharged from the Navy, Art helped me win a scholarship to Divers Training Academy where I got to use some new toys. I graduated with diplomas as a First Class Deep Sea Diver, Shallow Water Commercial Diver, SCUBA Instructor, and an International Red Cross Water Safety Instructor rating. We trained in Mark V, U.S.Navy helmets, Japanese mixed gas helmets, and Miller Dunn shallow water helmets.
A few years later, when I was burned out from treasure diving, and broke from not finding enough treasure to pay the rent, Art took me to Miami Seaquarium, introduced me to his old friend Captain William B. Gray, the big boss, who hired me on the spot. I was seriously over qualified to be diving in Seaquarium’s shallow concrete tanks, and aboard the Seaquarium capture boat. Art is mentioned in my first book: “Behind the Dolphin Smile.” Happy belated Birthday Art, you are the reason I still wear Converse sneakers, both topside and underwater.
*Published by History of Diving Museum: “Today we celebrate the birthday of Art “Silver Bar” McKee, born November 2, 1910.
One of the most well-known treasure divers of his time, Art McKee was famous among Floridians for his salvage work, particularly that of the Spanish Treasure Fleet of 1733. He gained his nickname for the feat of hauling up three 70-pound silver bars from a wreck near Gorda Cay, Bahamas.
Using a US Navy Mark V and later an open-bottom Miller-Dunn diving helmet, he was able to salvage scores of treasures and artifacts. He displayed his treasures in his own museum and started a legacy of showing salvaged treasures as cultural artifacts available for viewing by the public, rather than selling them for profit. He taught locals in south Florida the art of helmet-diving, and was well-known for diving in his signature Converse sneakers.
Art’s old museum has since been converted into a school, but many of his recovered items now reside here at the History of Diving Museum. Happy birthday Art!”
#diving #history #FLKeys #FloridaKeys | Posted on 14/Jan/2024 20:29:21
