From dives of danger to flights of fright, Mary Peachin is no shrinking violet. “I live each day to the fullest – right to the limit,” says the gray-haired grandmother with the self-proclaimed sobriquet “Adrenaline Junkie.”
“I don’t know where that comes from,” says the 73-year-old, who divides her at-home time between Tucson and British Columbia. “My parents were afraid to cross the street, but I fly my own plane, skydive and bungee jump” –as well as swim with sharks, dive among saltwater crocodiles and salmon fish alongside hungry grizzly bears. “I never told my parents about my shark dives. They read about my escapades in the papers and were horrified.
“There’s something beyond the beauty of nature itself that gets my heart pumping. It’s more than curiosity that encourages me to put myself into frightening situations. Danger is when you feel you’re not in control of a situation, and I try to keep those occurrences to a minimum. I have a healthy respect for the fact that I’m in someone else’s environment … an intruder into their world.” Just as there are at least two sides to every story, there are several sides to Ms. Peachin, who comes from a long family line of Reform Jews. “While we are more secular in our practice, we’re proud of our roots.” Mary and her husband, David, were married in Temple Emanuel-el by a rabbi who later said he was pleased he had presided over “a marriage that took.”
The marriage has lasted 48 years so far, because “David allows me to be a free spirit,” says Mary.
Describing her persona, she says. “In addition to the adventure aspect, I have a strong civic side to better my community.”
Her resume is extensive in that department as is her collection of wall plaques: a Tucson Woman of the Year award hangs alongside a Governor’s Award from the State of Arizona. A member of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame and a graduate of both Tulane University and the University of Arizona, she is a certified commercial/instrument pilot; an award-winning adventure/travel writer and photographer; and a seeker of the next adventure anywhere in the world.
In 1978 she followed her muse into shark-infested waters off the coast of California, and it’s been a total adrenaline rush since then: crocodile diving in the Solomon Islands; whale chasing in the Galapagos; fly-fishing with grizzlies in British Columbia; swimming with sharks in the Caribbean; tackling tarpon in Costa Rica; keeping a watchful eye out for sea snakes in the Philippines and jellyfish in Micronesia; stalking polar bears in Alaska; and probing underwater caves wherever she can find them. Always seeking new adventures anywhere in the world, she says, “Everything I’ve done in my life has sort of fallen in my lap or at least been serendipitous.”
Her shark experiences can fill a book or two and have done so – Sharks: The Sleek and the Savage; Underwater Encounters – What You Should Know About Sharks; Scuba Caribbean; and Sport Fishing in the Caribbean (peachin.com). It really got started in the late 1970s when she went snorkeling in San Carlos, Mexico, and discovered the wonders of a new underwater world. “Two things I crave in life are the opportunity to go tarpon fishing and diving. I can only go so long before I have to put on a wet suit, because there is nothing more serene, quiet and beautiful than being underwater.” Her early day quest in search of something different took her into coastal shark territory in California. “I’d been pleasure diving for awhile and thought it would be neat to view sharks, up close and personal.” But sharks aren’t the only thing that gets her heart beating faster. Asked to provide details on her most harrowing experience, she’s reluctant to pick just one.
“One time diving in an underwater cave in the Solomon Islands, I learned just how fast I could get out of the water when I found myself in the company of saltwater crocodiles. I’d been warned to expect small crocs, but not the 6-foot-long ones I found headed in my direction.”
That encounter stays in her memory bank as does a close call with hundreds of sea snakes in the Philippines and a severe reaction to jellyfish stings in Micronesia. Another time, water currents in the Galapagos Islands were so strong they literally chewed holes in her diving gloves as she was battered on coral reefs while waiting for a whale shark migration. “The current was so strong the dive master said we could easily be swept out to sea, so we were hanging on for dear life as barnacles ripped our fingers. It was thrilling.”
Some of her experiences were not so neat, like a tarpon fishing trip on the muddy Rio Colorado in northeastern Costa Rica. It started out innocently enough as just another day on the water until breakers began crashing over her 16-foot rented skiff. “We rode the swells like a roller coaster, tossed about like a wobbly Frisbee, until a 6-foot breaker finally killed the engine – followed by more waves that tossed our gear into the shark-filled waters. I silently calculated the wisdom of fighting rip currents and the likelihood of reaching the closest beach a mile away. As we were swept powerless into frenzied seas, my shark bravado waned and the ‘stay with the boat’ advice played in my head. We hung onto the submerged skiff in a life-or-death situation, made even worse when we realized that soon there would be no boat.” Mary and her guide were saved by another fisherman who hauled them safely to shore where she announced – “Get another boat and let’s go back out fishing.”
One of her scariest moments came recently in West Papua, New Guinea, where she was dive-bombed by an 8-foot-long grey reef shark with an arched back, indicative of aggressive behavior mode. “He came at me at 100 miles an hour and, at the last minute, still going at lightning pace, veered away. I wasn’t just scared, I was terrified.”
Her life on the edge includes a memorable scuba-diving nirvana, a 23-year search for the spotted King of the Ocean, a whale shark the size of a small submarine. “I waited over two decades for that sighting, but it was worthwhile, like hitting a home run in the World Series. I can’t think of anything neater than being face-to-face with a huge shark with polka dots.”
A world traveler, she has visited many Mideast countries, but not Israel. “I am frequently the only unveiled woman traveling by myself,” she says, smiling.
As to future adrenaline-inducing experiences, Mary says, “As long as I’m healthy, I’ll keep on keeping on. When I return from some of the more harrowing experiences, I exhale and say, ‘Phew, I’ve defied death once again.’ I’d like to continue to utter that expression for years to come.”
Lee Allen is more of an armchair adventurer who would rather write about the frightening escapades of others than experience them himself.
