Those old photo's bring back memories of some good old times. I remember some of the crazy things my friends and I built to get our heads underwater. My very first underwater breathing experience was also almost my last. I was sitting on the bottom in a very shallow bayou off of Tampa Bay in about 1967. Back then, the bayous were still really clear. I had a Kmart mask on, had the end of a garden hose clamped between my teeth and I was breathing underwater just like my heroes, the UDT Frogmen!
At least, I was breathing underwater until my little brother got tired of jumping up and down on the air pump connected to my garden hose air line. My head was only about three feet underwater but my great idea for weights was turning out to be not so great after all. Cinder blocks. Hey, they were free. My scrawny little legs fit thru them perfectly before I threw myself off the dock but now that I was sitting on the bottom, the angles were wrong and I was stuck.
I learned a few hard but good lessons that day. Make sure the quick release on your weights actually works. Road rash doesn't have to be the result of roads. It can come from cinder blocks too. Road rash bleeds. Big patches of it bleed a lot. Saltwater burns in road rash really bad. It burns in fresh road rash even more bad. Don't use garden hose for air line. It leaves a bad taste that last a long time. Never rely on somebody else for your air. Carry enough of your own. And most importantly: Yes, your Mom can be mad and horrified sick at the same time when she sees you standing there crying, soaking wet, your shorts torn halfway off with blood pooling around both feet.
