Our Team

MBT Staff

Fritz Sharar

Owner of the shop since 1996. Dive Safety Officer for the University of West Florida’s Scientific Diving program since 2010
How long have you been diving? I started diving in New Jersey in 1979.
What is your highest dive certification? Professional level – Instructor trainer; Technical level – Prism 2 Rebreather Diver
Why did you start diving? I began diving for work and then it became a passion.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? The Brass wreck because I always see something new when I get the opportunity to dive her.

Steven Hemmert

General Manager
How long have you been diving? Began Diving in 1989.
What is your highest dive certification? Trimix, Prism 2 rebreather, course director, and CPR First Aid/O2 Instructor Trainer
Why did you start diving? My father was a diver and I loved seeing his diving adventures and was fascinated with the underwater world.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? I don’t really have one site that is my favorite, they all offer something new with each dive.

Billy Sullivan

(Billy 1) Sales and paper towel/toilet paper inventory control person
How long have you been diving? Since I was in the 8th grade - after double hose regulators and before power inflators on BC’s
What is your highest dive certification? Stress/Rescue/ Advanced/ 3x80 diver - 80 foot visibility, 80 degree water, and 80cubic foot tank
Why did you start diving? To see what was out in the Gulf of Mexico.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? Belize - Amberqis Caye - nice reeds, friendly people, and good food.

Dave Bumann

Charter Coordinator, 200/500 ton Licensed Captain
How long have you been diving? I got certified in 1997 after moving to Pensacola and buying a dive charter boat.
What is your highest dive certification? I am Open Water and Nitrox Certified.
Why did you start diving? Growing up with boats and water skiing, it seemed like a natural progression when I moved to the area.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? The Brass Wreck is my favorite local wreck because of the sea life, but my all time would be wall diving in the Bahamas.

Micah "Book" Minnocci

Service Technician, Assistant Manager, Instructor
How long have you been diving? I have been diving since July 2015.
What is your highest dive certification? Instructor.
Why did you start diving? I am from a small town on a barrier island over on the east coast, so whether it was the beach or the Indian River, I was always in the water. Several of my neighbors were old-school treasure hunters, and I grew up hearing stories of the lost 1715 Spanish fleet, including Urca de Lima. Fascinated by the history that surrounded me, I pursued my bachelors degree in anthropology and videography. I got my dive certification just in time for the 300th anniversary of the Spanish fleet wreck and immediately began to take interest in preserving Florida's submerged cultural resources digitally. I followed that passion to the University of West Florida’s Historical Archaeology masters program, where I've had the opportunity to dive and work on shipwrecks dating back to the 1500's.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? My favorite spot is the Brass Wreck, a schooner from the late 1800s, which is the topic of my thesis research for graduate school. It was called the 6 Anchor Wreck, but several of them have been looted from the site. It took the name Brass Wreck for all the brass fasteners that remain intact. Visually, it is a cool wreck, with iron ribs jutting out of the sand, and it also has a lot of marine life, including some resident bull sharks

Nolan Swaim

Social Media and Marketing
How long have you been diving? Since 2019!
What is your highest dive certification? I am Advanced and Rescue Diver certified.
Why did you start diving? I began diving because I want to be a Maritime Archaeologist, and I have always loved the water! Being able to breathe underwater is just a huge plus on top of a very cool skill.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? The Russian Freighter, Brass Wreck, and Catharine are absolutely beautiful with the ship remains and the variety of sea life that frequent them! Out of the three, I'd have to pick the Russian Freighter after seeing a turtle, eel, and shark all in one dive! With the University of West Florida's maritime field school, I got to dive on a wreck in the Blackwater River, which was a really cool low-visibility dive.

Angelina DeFelix

Sales Associate
How long have you been diving? Since June of 2022!
What is your highest dive certification? I am an Advanced Diver.
Why did you start diving? My family has been on and in the water my entire life, and I always wanted to explore the depths on a further level. Today I get to do what I and my family love, and I’m even more excited to pursue it as a career!
What is your favorite local dive site and why?. The Russian Freighter is one of my favorite dives with my favorite group of people, and I love to hover between the boilers!

Emma Graumlich

Sales Associate
How long have you been diving? I have been diving since 2018.
What is your highest dive certification? I am Rescue Diver certified and a Scientific Diver.
Why did you start diving? I started diving to study underwater archaeology. I took SCUBA classes through Florida State University’s Underwater Crime Scene Investigation program to learn how to dive scientifically and then learned how to apply those skills to archaeological investigations through FSU’s research projects. I’m currently diving to study graduate-level maritime archaeology through the University of West Florida.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? I really love diving in Blackwater River. Since most of my dives locally have been research dives, I haven’t had a chance to much recreational diving, but all my research dives in Blackwater have been so interesting. Diving in low visibility is a completely different style of diving and it can be really challenging at times, but with the right training it’s a lot of fun. The river has a wealth of history you can (or can’t) see on the bottom that’s wonderful to explore!

Heather Stewart

Sales Associate
How long have you been diving? I have been diving since 2014.
What is your highest dive certification? I am Rescue Diver.
Why did you start diving? I started diving because my dad was an instructor, so I grew up loving the water. I continued my certifications from there to follow my dream of going to school for maritime archaeology and exploring more of the ocean.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? I only recently moved to Pensacola from south Florida so I haven’t gotten to dive many recreational sites yet. However, I was able to dive Pete Tide II last year and had a great time and saw lots of marine life.

Eli GArcia

Sales Associate
How long have you been diving? I have been diving since 2021
What is your highest dive certification? I am Rescue Diver Certified and full face mask certified.
Why did you start diving? I thought it would be a fun opportunity to get certified with my university and use it for my degree in Marine Biology. I want to use diving as a means of conservation, keeping the oceans and everything that lives in them healthy.
What is your favorite dive site, and why? The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary is my favorite dive spot. It is incredibly cool and raw. The reef is so vibrant and least affected by global warming, so it is great to see how lively a reef can be.

Hope Bridgeman

Sales Associate
How long have you been diving? I started diving in 2017
What is your highest dive certification? I am Rescue Diver Certified
Why did you start diving? I started diving because I wanted to become an underwater archaeologist, and I knew I would need to be dive certified to go to field school and advance in my career.
What is your favorite dive site, and why? Culebra, Puerto Rico is probably my favorite dive because it has beautiful reefs and lots of sea life

Instructors

Billy Giese

(William Giese II “Billy”) Dive instructor, sales associate, tank fill and service technician.
How long have you been diving? Been certified since ‘14 - clearwater diving mostly - Hawaii, Costa Rica, Belize, Bahamas, the Key, Honduras was my favorite
What is your highest dive certification? Instructor, EFR instructor, Nitrox instructor, and life coach for many!
Why did you start diving? The personal quiet, relaxation, beauty - and to find buried treasure!
What is your favorite local dive site and why? Don’t really have a favorite - need to see them all - Dives at the Springs and shore diving in the bay and gulf - 20ft for 20 min.

Cathy Haley

Dive Instructor
How long have you been diving? 25 years
What is your highest dive certification? Instructor Trainer
Why did you start diving? I have always participated in water sports so when I moved to the coast learning to dive just seemed like the next thing to do.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? That is a tough question I get asked all the time. I think it is all about the experience. From swimming with turtles at the beach, being eye to eye with a Goliath grouper bigger than me or having a spotted eagle ray circling me as I descend to the Avocet. How can you pick just one!

Gary Urbahn

Scuba Instructor
How long have you been diving? I learned to dive in 1981 at Navy Scuba School Sub Base in Pearl Harbor.
What is your highest dive certification? ERDI Instructor
Why did you start diving? I started diving because of the Marines through the Navy Scuba School. After, I worked as a public safety diver and fire department team leader in the Chicago area.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? So far my favorite places to dive are still the South Pacific, but I had an amazing time diving the Oriskany and it is one of my favorites! If I had to choose, it would be one of the inshore wrecks we dive like at Fort Pickens.

Jeremy Borras

Dive instructor teaching both PADI and SDI courses.
How long have you been diving? I have been a diver for about 16 years and an instructor for 15.
What is your highest dive certification? I am a PADI Master SCUBA Diver Trainer, SDI SCUBA Instructor, and Rebreather Certified.
Why did you start diving? I started diving as a form of rehabilitation while I was in the Army, that choice gave me a love for the ocean.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? In this area there are so many great options it just depends on what type of dive I am in the mood for. I love diving the U.S.S. Oriskany for the history behind it. The local shore dives are great for quick and easy access that still provide great sea life.

Joe Grinnan

Dive instructor teaching everything from Open Water to Divemaster.
How long have you been diving? I caught the diving bug in 2005.
What is your highest dive certification? I am an SDI Open Water SCUBA Instructor and PADI Master SCUBA Diver Trainer.
Why did you start diving? I have always loved being in the water and when the opportunity arose to learn how to breath underwater, I jumped on it.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? My favorite local site is Fort Pickens. Fort Pickens Jetty is one of the most easily accessible spots in town and boasts the most diverse array of sea life of any shore site.

Mike Boitnott

(Mike ‘Mikey B’ Boitnott) I am the Technical Dive Instructor, Technical Diving Consultant, and a rebreather equipment technician.
How long have you been diving? 24 years
What is your highest dive certification? TDI Advanced Trimix diver and TDI Trimix Instructor
Why did you start diving? I first started diving for pleasure and then got hooked on spearfishing.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? My favorite local dive site is the Advocet, which is an old dredging barge. It is always a good place to see large marine animals and the wreck always feels different each time I dive it.

Nicole Bucchino Grinnan

Open Water Instructor
How long have you been diving? 12 years
What is your highest dive certification? Open Water Instructor
Why did you start diving? As an undergraduate, I had decided that I wanted to study history and archaeology. I was walking down the hall in my department at the University of Central Florida one day and saw a poster advertising the underwater archaeology program at the University of West Florida (UWF). That summer, I got my first certification. I started my graduate course at UWF two years later and, after graduating, I now have an amazing career doing underwater archaeology! I loved diving so much, however, that I also wanted to become an instructor and share those opportunities with others.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? Whether you are interested in history or spearfishing, my absolute favorite dive spot is the San Pablo shipwreck (aka, the Russian Freighter)! At 80ft, San Pablo is a great spot for newly certified Advanced Open Water divers. The significant relief from the wreck’s machinery attracts many different kinds of marine life and I’ve seen something new each dive! To learn a little bit about the amazing story of this shipwreck, check out http://www.floridapanhandledivetrail.com/san-pablo.html

Dean Smith

Hi, my name is Dean Smith and I am a SDI Open Water Scuba Diver Instructor (OWSDI) at MBT
How long have you been diving? I have been diving for six short years.
What is your highest dive certification? SDI Open Water Scuba Diving Instructor
Why did you start diving? I was stationed with the Marine Corps on the beautiful tropical island of Okinawa without my family. What a better way to spend my time than diving in the coral rich East China Sea.
What is your favorite local dive site and why? My favorite local shore dive is the Fort Picken’s Jetti. In the right conditions you can see a huge variety of fish and wildlife. My favorite near shore dive is the Joe Patty Memorial Reef, it is a fun relaxing dive with lots of cool stuff to see. My favorite off-shore dive is the Timber Holes located about 20 miles off shore at a max depth of about 110 feet, located between Pensacola and Destin. There is natural rocky bottom with a lot of fun wildlife.

Austin Burkhard

Open Water Instructor

How long have you been diving? Since 2011

What is your highest dive certification? Open Water Instructor and Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures.

Why did you start diving? I thought it would be fun and a good career.

What is your favorite local dive site and why? WWII Aircrafts - Hellcat. bearcat, B-25