Learning To Dive

Mac and I did not have very much in common, the exceptions being the Pizzeria and our children.  I was a total failure in the sailing department, I couldn’t play tennis well, was hopeless on a windsurfer and didn’t know how to dive.  Mac enjoyed all four activities and spent hours pursuing them with his friends. I knew from experience that sailing and windsurfing were out; I could perhaps improve on my tennis but scuba diving was not going to happen!

One of our regular customers at the restaurant was Bob Demmans, a Canadian who ran the dive shop at the Sunny Caribbee Hotel.  After a few years he decided to quit the dive business, and sold his Boston Whaler to an American named Bob Sachs, forever-after referred to as “Diver Bob Two”.

Diver Bob Two was (and still is!) a real character, and quickly became a patron of the Pizzeria.  I could always tell when Bob had arrived, the noise level in the restaurant would rise a few notches! Bob Demmans had been a quiet, soft-spoken fellow and never made much noise. Bob Sachs was the opposite, he always had a lot to say and he never EVER did it quietly.

My father was concerned about the number of Bequians getting the “bends” while diving, many young men were crippled as they dove deeper and deeper in their quest for lobster.  Through the Bequia Mission dad instigated a dive certification program that would be free for locals, giving them the opportunity to learn how to dive following safety procedures.  Bob agreed to have the program available in the off-season, when lobster season was over and the tourists had gone home. This was a great idea, learning the Navy Dive Tables and adhering to them would lessen the risk of the dreaded “bends”.

Meanwhile Bob #2 had been driving me nuts at the Pizzeria, he kept pushing and pushing me to learn how to dive.  He talked about it non-stop and I was stubbornly resistant.  Although a strong swimmer, the very thought of diving to depths over ten feet terrified me.  Bob decided to offer the same program he was doing for the Bequia Mission to ex-pats on the Island, it wouldn’t be free but a lot less than the price he charged tourists.  A few of my friends urged me to take the certification course with them, and come the off-season I finally agreed.

Bob and his girlfriend Ann were wonderful teachers.  The class started in the shallow water in front of the Sunny Caribbee after we had learned how to assemble our diving gear.  They taught us how to breathe properly through the regulators and how to clear our masks in the water. They also taught us never to call our fins “flippers”, that was for amateurs only! Once we were comfortable with how the gear worked (I think there were five of us in the class) we climbed into the Boston Whaler and headed for Devil’s Table.  Later we would study the dangers of diving, that first day was for enjoying what diving had to offer.

From the moment I flipped backwards off the side of the boat and started to descend I realized that simple snorkeling would never be the same for me.  The beauty of the colorful fish and reefs were amazing the deeper I dove, it was a whole new world opening up before me. The anemones and coral were stunning, and everything seemed to sway gently with the current.  Swimming slowly over the reefs was intoxicating, and incredibly quiet and peaceful.  Very peaceful indeed, Diver Bob wasn’t able to speak with a regulator in his mouth!