ruby

Mermaid Ruby

My Key West Adventure!

Working with Ed Papp has definitely been one of those most unique experiences! I LOVED everything... he built most of his place on his own and it is absolutely gorgeous!! I love the passion and drive behind his work - concepts, the dedication.

I told Ed I would leave St. Petersburg about 4 pm and arrive in Key West late. Well, Alex (my traveling companion) and I got a late start and arrived there "very late." More like early morning really. And, the traffic was horrific!! I thought about it, but it didn't really hit me hard until we were sitting behind some Yahoo going about 30 in a 45.... have some decency!! Let us PASS!! It also eventually started raining and I fell asleep about 120 miles away from our destination. Alex ended up pulling over and I woke up to mosquitoes squeezing in to the partially closed sunroof. The cell phone car charger has been missing... I had two, actually. I have no idea where they've gone! On top of everything, as I checked the email messages in the car when we left... I discovered there wasn't a phone number for Mr. Papp! LAME! There wasn't a number on his web site, either. He recently changed it all up and everything and forgot to include it on the site. I figured he'd call around 10 when we didn't arrive yet :( I wanted to let him know when we left. WELL, the phones died... end of THAT story.

We finally woke up, pushed on and arrived at his place... on Stock Island, I think it was... we figured to sleep in the car some more until a more reasonable time to be knocking on someone's door in the morning. Ed's place was all gated and we didn't want to break in - to check in haha. Mr. Papp's boarder, Bob, saw us when he was leaving for work and he excitedly ran inside to tell him! YAY! Finally!... We had arrived!

As Alex and I walked in... you could just tell this place was something special. It was all decked out, themed, condo-like and beachy. I felt so bad that Ed stayed up all night fuming about our apparent no-call/no-show and didn't get any sleep! But he recovered his good humor quickly and showed us around. We talk and talked and then he left us to take a little nap. He needed one too! Soon, we were off to start auditioning!!

Part One of the audition took place in the mermaid watertank that Mr. Papp built. He tested me on how long I can hold my breath; how long I can hold it while moving; and, how comfortable I was underwater with my eyes open. In the end he also recorded me clearing my mask underwater. He told me I did Great! So far, I can hold my breath for over 3 minutes stationary and just under 2 minutes while moving. And he says, with training, he can get me over the 4 minute breath hold mark!

Part two of the audition had us anchoring over a sunken boat 33 feet deep. And I did it! I dived down and swam inside the boat without any gear - no mask or fins or anything!. It was an awesome experience!

We went out to the sunken boat twice, once on Saturday and once again on Sunday. It was so cold in the deepest parts of the dive. The first few times I acclimated myself while going down all the way to the bottom. Even so, I found shivers running through my body every time I hit a freezing spot of ice cold water. Ascending back up to the surface, the HOT surface water was another shocking change to grow accustomed to. After a few dives to the bottom, though, none of that matters. It felt easier and easier and so natural to just dive down and do what I needed to do.

Before Alex and I left on Sunday Ed did a little photo shoot with the two of us, Mermaid Ruby and Tarzan haha. Alex was thrilled and was so excited about being in a photo shoot... he just couldn't contain himself! We had a rough start, though. No matter what Ed and I told him, Alex couldn't stop looking at my butt. We were in the lagoon (that was also built by Mr. Papp) and I swam across over to Alex in the corner... we paused in the process for what could've been a nice shot. Alex then proceeded to prop me up with his arms from under the water, just enough for my butt cheeks to be peaking out of the surface. All we got out of that was Alex staring at my ass in high definition video... EXACTLY what we were looking for! haha, right...

We couldn't stop laughing when we were reviewing it after everything. It was SO GREAT!

Overall, I had an AMAZING trip down to the keys. I am SO happy I auditioned and gave this opportunity a shot! I've learned a lot about myself during this trip... it was so unbelievable to me after it all ended. I hope to do this again, many times over! (The food was oh so delicious, by the way!)

--
Ruby Saint John
rubysaintjohn@gmail.com
Tampa Bay
727.504.2568

Notice to viewers...
the following images are frame captures from video footage and not still photos...

Saturday

Ruby is 5' 2'' of beauty, guts and sensuality

In the mermaid tank Ruby learns how to hold her breath longer

Ruby relaxes after holding her breath for more than 3 minutes underwater!

Learning to model underwater in the mermaid tank... notice the matching the jewelry/swimsuit

In the Ocean Ruby poses while holding onto the anchor line

A Caribbean Island Girl

Ruby inspects the boat several times before taking off her diving mask and swimming into the shipwreck.

Going deeper... Ruby learns and remembers where to touch and hold the boat when her diving mask comes off

Me Ruby! - Where's my Tarzan Alex ?

Ruby personifies the colors of the Caribbean beautifully

Training is over. It's time it's time for the mask to come off and "go for it". Down, down into the dark water.

Ruby reaches the boat and approaches the window.

Ruby has to make her decision soon... will she enter the boat as planned or not. Her heart is racing and her lungs are starting to burn.

Ruby reaches the side window. It's dark and she hits a pocket of very cold water... Go for it Ruby!

She's in!!! Ruby is now almost 30 feet underwater, holding her breath and 'inside' a shipwreck... but she is not done yet!
Behind her, and deeper still is the boat's sleeping quarters. We had agreed, if she made it this far and felt confident enough to enter
the cabin... that she should 'go for it". Will she attempt to go deeper yet and enter this black room
having only a small escape hatchway - to air... and life! Stay tuned for more photos!

The job of a Sea Siren is to seduce and here Ruby seduces the camera and the Mermaid Hunter!

Beware the Siren - for in the Sea, there is no greater Beauty, or greater Horror - than She.... quote, The Mermaid Hunter

Sunday

It's back to exploring the shipwreck with new challenges!

This is an artsy-fartsy shot but the action is all too real. Here Ruby was told to swim to the back of the boat and grab
a handful of sand on the sea floor. It was her longest and deepest dive yet. When Ruby surfaced she learned
she had swam deeper than a 3 story building on one breath hold... with no mask or equipment. Ruby had passed the Audition!
What a girl... or should I say Mermaid!