.... not that I was attempting to be graceful!
Let me give you a short story of my "fin up onto boat" attempt. No smirking please.
4.50am
No sign of buddy and rubber dinghy yet.
5.40am
Buddy finally shows up with major hangover. Not a good sign. :boom:
5.50am
Both of us huffed and puffed, taking turns foot-pumping the dinghy.
6.15am
Finally dinghy is inflated and afloat. Buddy got on dinghy and started paddling to the deeper end. I put fins on, jumped into pool, and noticed two curious swimmers heading towards pool.
6.20am
Holding on to the side of the dinghy, I attempted to lift myself up without finning (just to see if I can do it that way). Should have known that dinghy is one slippery little sucker.... After a few minutes of clawing and pawing, I gave up and decided to try finning up. Buddy looks on with a silly grin.
Tried finning up several times, but slipped back into water. Getting a bit frustrated now. :upset:
7am
I realised that a bunch of kids are now watching us intently, laughing and pointing fingers at us.
I thought to myself, I have to do this quickly, so they won't have the chance to laugh at me again.
Gathering all my strength, I submerged to the bottom of the pool and finned up really hard. I grabbed the side of the dignhy and tried to pull myself up, only to realise that my buddy was not in it!! The dinghy overturned and fell over my head. I could hear howls of laughter just before I submerged.
7.10am
My buddy, grinning like an idiot, said he had to take a leak so he jumped into the water just as I was going to surface. :upset: The kids (and their parents) are still laughing... so I shot them dirty looks.... which were totally ignored.
7.20am
I decided to try again one last time. After telling my buddy to stay put, I once again submerged, and finned myself up really hard. This time I can feel that I had the right momentum, so I was able to scramble up the side of the dinghy!! Yeah!! Not very graceful as I slumped face first into the dinghy, but it was a marginally successful attempt nevertheless. Yes!! I tried again twice after that, and succeeded once more.
THE END
-----------------
Sorry, I'm not much of a storyteller, but I hope you get the picture. Now wish me luck for the real thing! Four more days to go....
exhausted but happy,