Location: Port St Charles, Barbados
Darien made a call for Gophers at 7:25 this morning. This was critical because today was our first dive day, and everything had to be on schedule. Her lemon poppy seed cake and aai smoothie were the perfect way to fill tummies for these aquatic adventures. My dive group was made of Benny, Eli, Sylve,r, and Talia, and I would help them take their first breaths underwater. This was a huge moment for me as this was the very spot where I took my first breath underwater 5 years ago. We began by setting up our kits and having a good chat about how the dives would proceed, detailing the skills to be mastered. Bens group of Cecily, Nini and Olympus were in the same boat kitting up. All set, we lined up at midships for pre-dive safety checks before our students got ready to take their first giant stride deep water entry. Ben demoed a Masterclass giant stride, indeed one giant stride for man, one giant leap for divers kind. Dave was close close with a camera, making sure to document the excitement.
Our students followed with only one dropped mask, not mentioning any (Olympus) names! A short swim over to the swim zone before the big moment, deflate BCDs, sink 2ft below, and breathe. No,w how about that?
Youre breathing underwater! I said with my eyes to my students as their wide eyes beamed back at me.
The rest of our morning was a blur of skills in the newly unlocked watery realm, and the afternoon was a continuation while our already certified divers Kara, Zac, Darien, Kiki, and Maddy took a trip to training town with Meg for Boat dive followed by Fish ID to progress their Advanced certification.
The evening came upon us with Dariens dinner of homemade gnocchi hitting the spot made open by a busy day of diving. As Shane and Nicole retrieved the dinghies and Kackie tied up her engine room cleaning project, the students all joined Meg in the salon for a class on RDP tables, learning how to stay within their recreational dive limits of nitrogen absorption. In a nutshell, dont let your blood turn into a hemoglobin smoothie. Armed with this new knowledge, our divers will be ready for the open ocean and untold adventures in the blue, wobbly stuff. Sonneblom knows the thrill, too!