During her second open water dive, she panicked during a mask clearing exercise, snorted water, spit out her regulator and tried to bolt to the surface from 40' down. The instructor grabbed her, cleared her reg, stuck it in her mouth and held her until she calmed down and stopped struggling. Which took about three minutes. Let me tell you, watching someone you love be that frightened is a horrible feeling.
Anyway, that was the end of her diving for the day. After a sleepless night, she got in the water the next day for her third open water dive. On a sandy bottom, she removed and cleared her mask five times in a row, then did it another five times at the end of the dive. One tough chick...
She completed her certification and enjoyed the rest of our dive trip. But ever since that second dive, she has about half the enthusiasm for diving that I do, and I'm having a hard time getting her to go on another trip with me. I think it's because despite the fun she had diving, her #1 memory of her first diving experience was the terrible moment she thought she was going to die.
Only bonus: she started out the trip very afraid of the prospect of seeing sharks. This doesn't bother her anymore. Water in her mask, however...
Anyway, that was the end of her diving for the day. After a sleepless night, she got in the water the next day for her third open water dive. On a sandy bottom, she removed and cleared her mask five times in a row, then did it another five times at the end of the dive. One tough chick...
She completed her certification and enjoyed the rest of our dive trip. But ever since that second dive, she has about half the enthusiasm for diving that I do, and I'm having a hard time getting her to go on another trip with me. I think it's because despite the fun she had diving, her #1 memory of her first diving experience was the terrible moment she thought she was going to die.
Only bonus: she started out the trip very afraid of the prospect of seeing sharks. This doesn't bother her anymore. Water in her mask, however...
). This is one tough lady, she doesn't stop till she can do something even it requires baby steps to get there. She's my buddy and always will be.
