Gman's Adventures

greetings charlynn

and fellow gone divers. it has been a couple weeks since my last communication and since i have spent some time in the caribean; hiking, swimming, snorkling, drinking, and of course diving.

charlynn, i must thank you for your tutelage and all of the energy and attention that you put into your diving, teaching and your gone divers. i did 2 dives out of taganga, colombia with a decent outfit, there were many to choose from in taganga. the first dive was awesome, max depth of 75ft, bottom time 57min, visibility at 40-50ft. since i have never been diving outside of the pacific northwest everything i saw on the dive was new to me, as well as the 3mm shorty wet suit. we saw puffer fish, morray eels, another type of eel that had a goatie, parrot fish, and even an octopus amongst massive amounts of coral. they provided us lunch at a secluded cabana where we did some cliff jumping and then off to dive number 2.

there were 3 divers and an instructor on the trip, a down right dude from canada with a scottish accent and this dude from holland who was my dive buddy. we met in the dive shop before we left and the first thing that he said to me was "be sure and stay close to your buddy", i thought of course and he proceeded to inform me that it is south america and they have different rules and ways of life and the situation can turn in an instant, so i took his advice and stayed close and kept an eye on him as well. so we get to the dive sight and the helpers on the boat had switched out our tanks for us while we were eating lunch, i noticed and thus did some extra checks and adjusting before we entered the water. so, i distinctly recall turning on my air in my checks, got in the water, helper dudes inflated my bcd and dropped it in the water for me, put it on, checked my guage, and submerged with the crew. when we got to depth, 35ft, i took some breaths and attempted to neutralize my bouancy when the air stopped. i immediatly thought to drop my weights and head to the surface but paul was close and i made it to his octopus and had him check my air... it was off, the helper dudes, just trying to help, had turned it off thinking they were turning it on. everything was fine in the end but the experience had put me in a fowl mood for the 45min dive following and every little thing bugged me after that and didnt necessarily ruin the dive but didnt allow me to enjoy it. for most of my dive, though i was reflecting on all of the extra energy and attention that charlynn and her entourage of dive experts and entusaists pay to their fellow students and gone divers. not everyone is there to make sure that you are safe and especially to make sure that when something does happen under water, that you have the knowledge and the confidence to handle whatever may come your way... and you will have that time when not everything goes according to plan or flows perfectly, this was not my first potentially bad dive experience and i dont expect it to be my last which means you will be seeing me in the water again and again and again and again, and i hope to see you all at my next gone diving upon my return to the states in december. so remember, you cant check your equipment too much, especially if it is not your own.

i love you guys, and all hale charlynn, queen of all sea-ciety

johnnnnnnnnnnnn