It was a quiet night aboard the 75-foot scuba-diving boat Conception, anchored on Labor Day weekend in 2019 off Platts Cove, Santa Cruz Island, some 21 nautical miles from Santa Barbara, California.
Despite the trademark high winds of Chicago, the afternoon summer sun beat down on my face while out on Lake Michigan. Squinting while wearing sunglasses, I fixed my eyes on the buoys as I navigated a ...