I have now had four scuba dives in as many days. Please don't feel any sympathy. It was not hard work but someone had to do it. I couldn't really let the kids on this Discovery Week trip go out in to the warm oceans off Borneo with only their air-tanks, flippers, breathing apparatus, wet-suits and highly experienced PADI qualified guide for company, could I? Someone had to be there in case of something happening that might need someone there to do something that only someone being there could possibly do with any degree of success. And that person was me, on four occasions. Surely there is something in the strict PADI rule book (I have no idea what this diving related acronym stands for) stating that first dives by secondary school students should be accompanied, wherever possible, by experienced Drama teachers.
Well then, I have been underwater, for an extended period of time and learnt a few skills. I can now accomplish the following : take a regulator (breathy bit) out of my mouth and put it in again, blow water out of a mask without flooding it, find my regulator if it falls out of my mouth and re-pressure my ears when descending and ascending. All vital skills when under water. Lesson one completed. Dive number two involved descending to 12 metres and looking at lots of fish, all rather nice, while dives three and four were repeats of dives one and two.
After these four experiences I am at a bit of a loss what to think though. Normally I have very strong opinions about all things and am more than happy to write or speak about them. While I certainly enjoyed the experience of seeing fish of various different pretty colours swimming around as well as seeing moving plants of pretty colours that was about it. I did feel quite chuffed after my first descent, mainly due to fact that I managed to make all the equipment work and that I found I could do all the necessary beginner skills without dying or drinking the ocean. However in the subsequent three dives I did start to question exactly why I was doing it. I am glad that divers have investigated shipwrecks to learn lessons to improve maritime safety and I am also pleased with the work done by those who monitor the condition of the oceans and translate their findings into useful information about the state of planet Earth, however I am not sure that I need to get involved in this important work by seeking to train myself in the whys and wherefores of further diving. While my credit card provider might be somewhat disappointed to read this news my potential, if somewhat unlikely, further involvement in the investigations of ocean floors may be limited to just this single experience. I like the idea of having a dive down to 30 metres bit I am not sure what else I might experience or learn about if I did have a go at this. So therefore it is staying on dry land and the surface of the oceans for me, having dabbled in the world of lion fish, cuttlefish and those yellow-and-black ones that I would never remember the name of. Fortunately I have never been the sort of person who likes to have all the right gear and the latest equipment for expensive hobbies so I think, overall, I will file diving, along with elephant riding, into the section labelled "Enjoyed it, and now for the next experience, please."
The most fun experience of the day was playing volleyball in the sea with the students. Naturally there was no net, but that didn't stop the game as two year ten lads assumed the position of the net, with one of them also acting as referee, scorer, commentator and, most amusingly, line judge. In order to make sure that he got all the line calls correct he took to insisting that players hold the ball on exactly the spot the ball landed so that he could give his ruling, often with the aid of exuberant arm gestures. As point after point appeared to need his expert judgment the game dragged on and soon entered the wonderful world of the ridiculous. A world that for all the obvious reasons one could not inhabit under the sea but a world that does feel to be filled with fun.