Wait...what boat?

Hi everyone,  it has been a busy start to the week.  Actually it ended last week with a cool celebration.  I mentioned it before but this past weekend was Honduran Independence day and the street here was filled with revelers and families enjoying cheap beers and lots of local barbeque.  At the end of the celebration on Sunday there was a very cool fireworks show.

This is the last few minutes of the show from my deck.  It was sprinkling during the evening and Mother Nature added her part of the sights and sounds by throwing in a terrific thunder and lightning display.  Then, when all the man made spectacle was over, the sky opened up and a torrential rain tried, unsuccessfully, to quiet the crowded streets.  It didn't happen.   I think the noise from the street below my window finally subsided around 3 in the morning.  At 5 the crews came in and started tearing down the booths that had lined the main drag.

Monday was the start of some of the practical portion of my training.  I assisted one of my instructors as she taught a student getting her Open Water certification.  Many of the skills that my instructor was demonstrating to the student, were to be included in my skills tests later in my training program.  I would have to repeat these skills with demonstration quality expertise soon.  The skills portion was done in the bay near our shop and then we would do the same things out in the open water during an afternoon dive.

At the end of the dive, after being down for about 25 minutes, at 35-40 feet, winding our way around the reef and away from the boat, my instructor asked(via an underwater writing tablet) if I wanted to lead us back.  I was completely unprepared and declined the offer.  I did have an inkling as to the approximate direction but was not confidant about my natural navigation skills.

Today was much like yesterday.  We started out in the bay doing the second set of underwater skills with my instructor and her student and me observing.  Then in the afternoon we dove with the rest of the divers in a very pretty open water site.  Again, the instructor lead us out and away from the boat where we saw a turtle,  an eel, and quite a number of very cool creatures.  I was much more prepared for this dive and started out being very aware of where we put in and the direction we went.  I memorized the sun location and the area immediately around the mooring.  Then I starting counting the fingers of the reef that we passed over as we continued south down the edge of the reef.  I also made mental notes from my computer of the depth of our dive and the time we were taking.  A dive master needs to do this while also searching for the little beasties that make the dive so cool for the divers that they lead.

When we reached the halfway point of our dive I was much more prepared for the instructor when she turned and asked if I wanted to lead.  This time I was enthusiastic about this task and agreed.  As I lead our way back I had to calm myself and continue to look for creatures and slowly weave our way back.  I didn't want to directly follow our path so I edged up the reef slightly so as we completed the dive we would be near our safety stop depth of 15 feet.  I counted the fingers again and studied the sun and the topography until I was sure we were at the correct channel that we dove through to start the dive.  But I couldn't see the boat.  We were still at about 25-30 feet deep, so I realized we needed to head toward shore, or East away from the sun.  I turned to look at my instructor and smiled and shrugged but gestured in the direction I felt we needed to go.  And she motioned that it was up to me and that they were following me.  So I swam in the direction that I felt was right and there it was.  It was right where we left it.  The other divers were above us and had just completed their dive too and were boarding the boat as we did our 3 minute safety stop.

This was a huge confidence builder for me.  I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the studying and skills.  Being out of my comfort zone, so far from home and the people & things that I know.  This was the first real indication that I can do this.  Here is today's sunset.  It was a great day.