Captains complete many duties by ship’s radio. Capt. Kostas Andreou of M/Y Global used his to help a couple tie the knot about 3,000 feet under the yacht early this year. He oversaw the wedding of Alexandra Gottschall and Mat Jordan from on board while they were under the sea near Lyford Cay, New Providence, Nassau, in the Bahamas.
The couple work on Triton submarines in Vero Beach, Fla., where Gottschall is a mechanical engineer and project manager and Jordan is an electrical engineer. The couple were working on the yacht testing the twin 3300/3 submersibles for delivery to the owner.
“After the build, subs go through testing for class and to make sure everything goes like it should,” Gottschall said.
The couple had dreamed of an underwater ceremony, but faced the technical improbability of factors aligning, so they reluctantly had prepared an alternate traditional ceremony.
“We’re both pretty geeky,” Gottschall said. “An underwater wedding was something we couldn’t plan, but I brought my dress to work that day just in case.”
On Jan. 19, two subs were on location, the owner offered their use and the weather was great.
“From Global we transferred into the tender, then to the submersible with Troy Engen, the pilot, for the all clear,” Gottschall said. “It takes 45 minutes to get down. It’s typically down quick, then about two and a half hours looking along the reef on the way up.”
A pilot, a guest and the wedding photographer served as witnesses in a second submersible. The couple already had been legally married by a notary in Vero Beach, but as far as Gottschall can determine, they are the only couple to be ceremonially married at such a depth. The paperwork has been submitted to earn them a place in the Guinness World Records.
Dorie Cox is editor of The Triton. Comments on this story are welcome at [email protected].
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