The actual snorkelling he enjoyed. To try to prove to himself that he wasn’t really scared he deliberately made himself dive down to the bottom and then practice snorting his snorkel clear when he returned to the surface. The only part of that he did not enjoy was the rattling, sucking sound of the water drops which remained in the tube after he had blown most of the water out.
They snorkelled for half an hour, swimming out almost to the end of the pier and then back in again. As they swam slowly back on the other side of the pier Andrew felt his nervousness increase. The next dive was upon him!
CHAPTER 6
TESTED
Even as the group waded into the shallows and then walked up the beach Andrew was tested. Muriel chattered on happily about how enjoyable the snorkelling had been. Beyond her was Shona, who partially unzipped the front of her wet suit. This exposed her cleavage and Andrew had to make himself look away so that he would not stare. The wet suit was squashing Shona’s boobs up so that they bulged quite noticeably.
‘I don’t want Muriel to think I am like that,’ he thought. But he found he could not stop himself glancing frequently towards Shona and that got him annoyed at his own weakness.
Setting up their SCUBA equipment helped him take his mind off that. The gear was laid out on a tarpaulin under a tree at the top of the beach. Andrew swung on his weight belt and did it up, then secured his air tank to his BCD and checked the pressure, very aware that the instructors were watching. Next he hoisted Muriel’s tank and BCD up and held it while she did up her straps. He then checked they were secure. She did the same for him and they then stood facing each other and tested their air sources.
Carmen then insisted they have some photos taken. She got Andrew to take one of her and then she took one of him. That gave Andrew the idea of getting a photo of Muriel and he suggested Carmen take photos of the others as well. Carmen gave him a knowing look but nodded and asked if anyone else wanted a photo. Both Blake and Shona readily agreed and asked for both individual shots and one of them together. By then Andrew was worrying that Muriel might say no. To his relief she finally said yes and then posed shyly while Carmen took the snap.
As soon as Carmen had put her camera back in her bag Sub Lt Sheldon led them down the beach and into the water. He had a polystyrene float about 1m X 2m with lines attached and a blue and white diver’s flag on it. This was towed out by him as the group waded in. Once it was deep enough they sat or crouched and pulled on fins, then spat in face masks and rinsed them.
As Andrew adjusted the fit of his face mask he was aware that he was gulping air from anxiety and he tried to calm himself. ‘It is only for a minute,’ he told himself, trying to push the face mask test to the back of his mind.
Sub Lt Sheldon explained the sequence of tests and the navigation for the dive. PO Walker set off towing the raft while he did this. The dive was simple enough; first a 50m surface swim using the compass; then a free descent to no more than 9 metres; and lastly the mask flood and clear. After surfacing they would be tested at removing equipment in the water.
“We will have a bit of a swim around under water before we do the test,” Sub Lt Sheldon said. “The whole dive will be for about half an hour. OK, snorkels in and start finning!”
There was nothing for it but to do as he said. There was no way Andrew was game enough to admit he was scared! He fitted his snorkel and slid forward beside Muriel. For the next ten minutes he concentrated on swimming along using the underwater compass. The whole group swam out for about 200 metres, this time going well clear of the pier and other groups. By the time they reached the point where the float had been anchored Andrew was both puffed and very anxious. The bottom looked a long way down. Worse still they were now out on the fringe of the reef and the deep water looked to be only another fifty or 100 metres.
To Andrew that dark blue, with its rippling waves and touches of purple and flecks of white, was a terrible place that he did not want to go to. That was where the big fish lived- and the even bigger things with teeth. It was no good the books and instructors telling him that shark attacks on divers were very rare. His rational mind was overridden by his deepest fears and by the memory of Max’s bloody stump.
‘It’s a long way back to the beach,’ he observed unhappily. From that far out the island seemed to have shrunk to only half its size.
None of the others seemed to be worried at all and they floated around the raft with smiles on their faces and chatted happily as they bobbed on the small waves. One by one Sub Lt Sheldon took them to do a navigation swim. The others waited. As he floated there, suspended comfortably by his BCD, Andrew had to continually hold mounting fear at bay. His dominant concern was of just letting his legs dangle down below him. To him they were just bait tempting any shark to rush in and grab. Into his mind kept flashing images of Max’s leg and ghastly thoughts of the ripping of flesh and blood vessels and the grinding of muscle, gristle and bone as the shark’s teeth had torn the lower leg off. The fear was so strong Andrew had to continually fight the urge to curl his legs up, though he frequently did. The other fear was the mask flood test. With every second it got closer and he became more tense.
The navigation was easy. Andrew enjoyed that and was anxious to demonstrate his skill and understanding. It was just the need to swim across several deep gutters in the coral that got him worrying. All the time he was aware of that gloom from the deeper water further out.
Then the real testing began. Once every person had done their navigation Sub Lt Sheldon again briefed them and then signalled to dive. Resisting a panic attack Andrew swapped his snorkel for his regulator, adjusted his facemask and began to let air out of his BCD, all the while watching Muriel as she did the same. Very slowly he sank below the surface of the water and then below the depth which the waves affected. Pressure equalization was no problem and he was able to control his descent.
Looking down he saw a nice area of clear sand between clumps of coral and was able to descend onto it, quite close to where the lead anchor weight of the float lay. Muriel settled beside him and he could see her eyes smiling. He gave her an OK sign and settled to rest on his knees. Above him Shona and Blake were again both having difficulties in descending. Carmen and Luke just settled and joined the line. While they waited Andrew looked around, noting numerous small fish, many of which were brilliantly banded with purple, black and blue.
When Shona and Blake had joined them the two instructors settled, PO Walker behind. Sub Lt Sheldon then swam slowly along, checking that each diver was alright. Despite his fear Andrew gave him a confident OK sign. Sub Lt Sheldon then got them all to do a fin pivot. That involved getting their buoyancy just right so that, when lying face downwards, they would pivot up to 45 degrees on the tips of their fins when they drew in a breath, then sink back to horizontal as they breathed out. Andrew actually enjoyed that but he was still feeling very anxious. He was acutely aware they were 9 metres down- his depth gauge told him that- and he was also still fretting about what might suddenly appear from the gloom.
Just breathing normally became a bit of a test for him. His mouth began to dry out and he was very conscious of the noises of the breathing equipment and of the fact that it was what was stopping him from drowning. Several times he tilted his head back to watch the bubbles he exhaled as they made their way upwards.
‘The surface is just up there,’ he told himself as he looked at the moving pattern of sunlight and shadow from the waves. He again comforted himself by think he could just swim up there if he had to. But even so, in his anxiety, he trouble breathing. Several times he had to resist the urge to hold his breath. Of more concern was the feeling that he might vomit.
‘If I do I must take my regulator out and just float up without trying to breathe in,’ he reminded himself. ‘And keep on emitting bubbles.’
It was all very stressful! And now