Blue Water Ventures of Key West's Boat Crew and Divers

Hense Robinson, Michael DeMar, Jesse Van Houten, Larry Jones, Captain Dan Porter, Allie Porter, Chris Rackley

Chief of Operations/Captain Dan Porter
Dan Porter signed on with Blue Water Ventures in 2006, bringing vast expertise gained through many years of historic shipwreck search and recovery. Today, not only is he Captain of the Blue Water Rose, he is responsible for a variety of Blue Water Ventures operations, overseeing the Key West Santa Margarita project, the company’s 1715 Fleet search and recovery along the east coast of Florida, and investigating and facilitating new undertakings. Dan literally grew up in the salvage industry - working with treasure hunting legend Mel Fisher and his protégée’s John Brandon, Mo Molinar, and Fay Fields -- and with Porter’s own father, Don Porter. In fact, Dan's daughters, Katie and Allie, are the third generation of Porter’s who search for sunken shipwrecks. Having worked on some of the most famous shipwrecks in the world, Dan has discovered artifacts of significant value and archaeological importance. Read Captain Dan's Blog.

Jesse Van Houten
First Mate and Dive Coordinator
Survey Captain
Jesse Van Houten is First Mate and on-board Dive Coordinator for the Blue Water Rose and Survey Captain for the Southern Rose, the company's survey vessel. Bahamian born Jesse, who has discovered a number of rare and valuable artifacts, is now in his second season with BWVKW and is also a dive instructor with hyperbaric and 02 training.

Chris Rackley
Crew Diver
Chris Rackley has been with Blue Water Ventures Key West since its inception. Chris has made spectacular discoveries of silver and gold artifacts for the last three seasons aboard the Blue Water Rose. A life-long resident of the Florida Keys, Chris now lives on Little Torch Key with his beautiful wife Cheryl and son Christopher.

Mike DeMar
Crew Diver
Michael DeMar is the newest member of the Blue Water Rose dive team. An advanced and experienced wreck diver, Mike recently relocated to Key West from Seattle, Washington to join the crew of BWVKW.

Larry Jones
Crew Diver
Larry Jones has been working behind the scenes with BWVKW for the past three years, and has now come on board as a diver and engineer for the Key West operations.

Chris Tanaka
Crew Diver
Chris Tanaka, who dove with the team in 2006, recently returned to the search for the Santa Margarita. A resident of Marathon, Florida Keys, Chris is an avid free diver and spear fisherman.

Hense Robinson
Alternate Crew Diver
Magnetometer Survey
Hense Robinson was introduced to BWVKW CEO W. Keith Webb by a mutual friend, and immediately became involved in the project, both as an investor and a crewmember. He is an alternate diver on the Blue Water Rose, and a magnetometer operator on the Southern Rose. Acknowledging that few people get the opportunity to do this kind of work, Hense describes the search for lost shipwreck treasures as “a great adventure.”

Katie Porter
Alternate Crew Diver
In her second season as an alternate diver for the Blue Water Rose, Katie is a third generation treasure-finder, and has also worked on projects off the Treasure Coast.