Fish_Whisperer
Contributor
- Messages
- 6,317
- Reaction score
- 23
- # of dives
- 50 - 99
My first dive was in Vortex Spring. On a ledge about 40' down, we did all of our skills. When that was done, my instructor motioned for me to follow him. I crossed the rim of boulders ringing the ledge, and looked down into what looked like the Abyss. We descended through the underwater canyon and came to rest at the bottom, at the entrance to the cave. A couple of freshwater eels stopped and hovered in front of my mask, checking me out and then swam off. That was great, but I was too nervous to really enjoy it.
My first OW dive was a bleary frigid descent on Bridge Span 14, in Panama City Beach. The dive was okay, but I froze my cajones off. We hit the thermocline and my DM asked if I was okay. I put my arms around myself and made the "Brrrr!" motion. He thumbed up questioningly and I pointed DOWN DOWN DOWN!! When we got back, he said, "I thought you were cold!" I replied, "I came here to dive, not whine!" I didn't enjoy that dive very much because I'd completely forgotten about getting my buoyancy dialed in, and I was concentrating on not banging into any of the girders or scraping myself up.
The next dive was the Black Bart. This time, it suddenly occured to me to get neutral after I'd descended a ways. I did. I was lying stretched out, face-down like a skydiver, and then bent a little at the waist and let all of the air out of my lungs. I began to descend, utterly motionless, and the bridge of the Bart emerged out of the blue like magic, or like I was flying in a dream... Great schools of jacks were swimming by. From that moment, I was thoroughly hooked! That dive was GREAT!
My first OW dive was a bleary frigid descent on Bridge Span 14, in Panama City Beach. The dive was okay, but I froze my cajones off. We hit the thermocline and my DM asked if I was okay. I put my arms around myself and made the "Brrrr!" motion. He thumbed up questioningly and I pointed DOWN DOWN DOWN!! When we got back, he said, "I thought you were cold!" I replied, "I came here to dive, not whine!" I didn't enjoy that dive very much because I'd completely forgotten about getting my buoyancy dialed in, and I was concentrating on not banging into any of the girders or scraping myself up.
The next dive was the Black Bart. This time, it suddenly occured to me to get neutral after I'd descended a ways. I did. I was lying stretched out, face-down like a skydiver, and then bent a little at the waist and let all of the air out of my lungs. I began to descend, utterly motionless, and the bridge of the Bart emerged out of the blue like magic, or like I was flying in a dream... Great schools of jacks were swimming by. From that moment, I was thoroughly hooked! That dive was GREAT!