The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
My partner and I watched three other pairs slip beneath the surface, only to see one or the other come up gasping for air. We kept looking at each other and mouthing slow... real slow. Our turn...
We dropped easily to the bottom. Both of us had integrated weights, so we also had to pull them out and replace them as well. I STILL don't think this was part of the PADI exercise, but we went along. We alternated between each of us... concentrating on one piece of gear at a time, and not continuing to the next until both had donned the other's. Our instructor watched patiently, his octo at the ready. We just plodded along.
Finally we were finished... we shake hands and reach into our BCs... out come the "water wings" (little pink inflatable donuts for kids) we put them on our wrists and inflate. We had REALLY over weighted ourselves before this, so we were still buddy breathing on the floor of the pool. Back into the BC pockets and out come the mardi gras beads. We put them on and look over at our instructor... he is making a circular motion with his hands... we understand... we continue our gear exchange... I get his wings and beads, and he gets mine. We had more stuff in our BCs, but the instructor signals "stop" and so we ascend. We had fun but it was tough.
Our jokes helped to keep us calm. We were confident that we could do it and so we took it a little over the top. I only wish I had smuggled an inflatable gator or other pool toy. Two of the other groups got it on their second try. The last group had to try FOUR times. Of course we didn't help by wearing our beads and constantly asking each other "how many times did you have to do it?" "Just once man, just once" Still, this was the TOUGHEST excercise that I ever had to do.
We dropped easily to the bottom. Both of us had integrated weights, so we also had to pull them out and replace them as well. I STILL don't think this was part of the PADI exercise, but we went along. We alternated between each of us... concentrating on one piece of gear at a time, and not continuing to the next until both had donned the other's. Our instructor watched patiently, his octo at the ready. We just plodded along.
Finally we were finished... we shake hands and reach into our BCs... out come the "water wings" (little pink inflatable donuts for kids) we put them on our wrists and inflate. We had REALLY over weighted ourselves before this, so we were still buddy breathing on the floor of the pool. Back into the BC pockets and out come the mardi gras beads. We put them on and look over at our instructor... he is making a circular motion with his hands... we understand... we continue our gear exchange... I get his wings and beads, and he gets mine. We had more stuff in our BCs, but the instructor signals "stop" and so we ascend. We had fun but it was tough.
Our jokes helped to keep us calm. We were confident that we could do it and so we took it a little over the top. I only wish I had smuggled an inflatable gator or other pool toy. Two of the other groups got it on their second try. The last group had to try FOUR times. Of course we didn't help by wearing our beads and constantly asking each other "how many times did you have to do it?" "Just once man, just once" Still, this was the TOUGHEST excercise that I ever had to do.
