It's my final day of open water dives and I'm nervous. I start off by having to swim 200 metres without my dive gear and tread water for ten minutes. I find this last bit surprisingly difficult.
Out on the boat I'm dreading the dives and underwater exercises we need to complete to the instructor's satisfaction. For some reason I have a problem with clearing my mask underwater, and I somehow know compass navigation is going to be a problem.
Drats. The first test is to take my mask off underwater, put it back on and clear it of water. I just cannot get the hang of this. Every time I try water floods in underneath while l'm breathing out through my nose, leaving me half drowned and panicked. After the sixth attempt I think life is too short for such trials and consider going up to the surface. Again 'Steven' looks at me as if I'm a hopeless case. I somehow manage to clear it on the seventh try. A relief for all. I manage to control my buoyancy this time and before I know it the ordeal is over and I'm a newly certified open water diver. A cause for celebration but I'm exhausted and need to be up early for some cavern diving tomorrow.
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