| Days 4 & 5
DAYS 4 & 5
The last two days were spent doing experience dives putting to use all that we had learned throughout the first three days. Our videographer Mike Taylor was unable to join us and was sorely missed, but we were ready to enjoy ourselves and perhaps a bit relieved at not having to rehash things afterwards beyond what Gideon could remember on his own.
The dives went splendidly. All were drift dives in ripping currents near the lighthouse point and getting the chance to be swept back and forth depending on which way the water took us at our particular depth. There were fan corals, reef outcroppings and ledges where sharks were have said to dwell. It was a nice feeling to be at 45 meters and feeling absolutely clear-headed as we took in our surroundings. It was also the first time for me to have a very real “deco ceiling” above that prevented me from going up to the surface. But when I continued to rack my brains for a reason this might be uncomfortable (e.g., situations I couldn’t handle, etc.) this feeling quickly passed. After a week of over-preparation in our drills where we expected anything and everything to go wrong, it was a very guilty pleasure indeed when NOTHING went wrong and our task was simply to HAVE FUN!
Our classroom sessions were equally grueling over the last two days and it soon became clear that we were short on time. Due to taking more time in our lectures than normal, there was little time left for us to take our test and to pack our things before Paul and I had to fly out for the mainland. We could (and should) have easily taken 4 hours to do the test, but we only had about one and a half.
After we had handed in our tests and were carrying our luggage down to the beach, Gideon pulled us aside individually to go over some last points, to mention some things we should continue to work on once we had returned to our various destinations and had begun diving again. When it was all said and done and with a bit of weariness and emotion Gideon let me know that we had all passed the course. And with that, we said our last goodbyes, put our luggage on the waiting rickshaw boat, cracked open some beers and stepped off into the sea. |