This idea was inspired by recent diving and snorkeling trips members of our team have taken in the Florida Keys and Belize (click here to see pics). My youngest son, Zachary, is too young to dive so I took him snorkeling while the others dove. While on the boat riding out to the reef, I observed a number of the folks getting ready for their first snorkeling experience. There was, surprisingly, a lot of anxiety in the group. Several, obviously poor swimmers, were worrying about staying afloat in the 10-20 foot deep water. During the time in the water this anxiety intensified and you could see that these folks were not enjoying the experience at anywhere near the level they could have if they did not have these fears. There were also some very young, like Zach, and some "older" folks that tired rather quickly and had to retire back to the boat early on.

Now of course the tour company supplied everyone with the standard snorkeling vest that will help keep you afloat. The problem with these vest is that they actually hinder the snorkeler because they are designed to keep the head above water. When snorkeling, you want to keep your face IN the water.

So I thought, why not develop a line of personal flotation devices specifically designed to enhance the experience while reducing fatigue and fear of drowning. They could even be designed to be self propelled thus enabling a broader range of people, even the physically impaired to get out there and enjoy what the rest of us do. Trust me, if you've never snorkeled or dove on a real live and breathing marine reef there is nothing else like it on the planet. A marine aquarium is nice but no substitute.

This one is just in the ideation phase. We have not studied market size or anything else yet. If there are any inventors out there that want to tackle the design of the actual products while we work on the business plan please let us know. Our researchers and designers in the Labs group have their hands full with other projects at the moment. Submit the form below or go to the Contact page to send me an email and I'll get back to you ASAP. I would love to collaborate with someone on this immediately.

Jerry