Scuba Trip - Day 54

There was a time in my life, long ago, that I was introduced to scuba diving. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world and I went and got my license right away. Even my open water certification dives that were held in a glacier feed lake didn't turn me off. I went diving with my parents on the British Columbia coast, and had dreams of maybe becoming a commercial diver.

For many years I had intentions to continue diving and to dive often. Somehow I never actually went diving all the time. Weeks and months went by; eventually years went by. Yet somehow those first dives feel like yesterday. I love diving and my parents for introducing it to me. So when Tara's friends asked me if I wanted to go diving with them, I jumped at the opportunity. Its weird but I felt as giddy as if it were my first dive. It's strange how the passage of time seems to affect some things like metal, memories, and our view on the world. Somehow the passage of time has never affected my view about scuba diving.

 

Maybe it was my childhood love of going diving rushing back, the weather, all the sights. I don't know, but what ever it was, it was definitely the best day I've had in a long time. 

 

Tara's friends work for a scuba diving charter company that is basically just a boat that goes out to meet other boats. Instead of having to carry all the equipment on board the charter boat, this high speed power boat meets you at a pre-defined destination and time. They have all the gear and dive instructors, so you don't even need to be licensed. Its a great set up. 

Because the dive boat is on a pre defined schedule, it will often get to the next dive long before the charter arrives. So they get a chance to have some lunch, play with the fish, and go for fun dives. This is where Tara and I got our chance to go out, on a fun dive before the work started. We tagged along with the boat, staying away most of the time, just watching as the dive instructors did their thing. 

 

It was a really nice day. After a quick ride on the boat we arrived at our destination. Right after getting there we were surrounded by fish. Here you can see one of the instructors, and Tara's friend Ebony (I hope I spelled it right) feeding the fish. They seem to like crackers. On a really funny note, you need a license to feed fish here. Not exactly sure how you'd enforce that one?

Here is Tara taking a nap before lunch. We had just gone for a quick snorkel around the boat to check out the fish. Mmmmm, burger! yum yum yum.... This was the other instructor on the trip, just catchin' some rays. I forgot his name. Sorry "nameless dive instructor." Below is one one of the "MAXI" yatchs that sail around the Whitsundays. These are basically converted racing vessels; not much more than sailing bunk house. This one, British Defender, is also one of the boats Tara has worked on.  It was a great day and I took nearly 200 photos. These are but a few choice picks. I could have put more up, but you would have all gotten tired by now. Also I would have used up all my space for posting images.

 

It was a wonderful day, and I look forward to another dive trip.