The Fifth Hour
After what felt like a tremendous struggle yesterday, I tossed and turned last night about becoming a rebreather diver. I was committed to doing all I needed to complete the course, that was never a doubt, but as far as it becoming part of my diving life I had serious questions. Mike told me when I voiced my concerns “Wait until tomorrow. Things come together after the first four hours”.
I am indescribably honored to have Mike Fowler, the President of Silent Diving, as my personal CCR teacher. I know most people may not be this fortunate but as you can imagine, after 17 years on a rebreather and no idea when he was last on open circuit, he seriously knows his stuff and I trust him implicitly. If he says it will be better, it had to be.
Being 5 foot tall and not terribly strong is not an excuse, it really does create extra challenges. Add to the fact that right now I am in a rental unit and after years of owning my own open circuit equipment which I have sized and tweaked perfectly for me not only doesn’t help things in general but adds to the feeling of discomfort and being a newbie all over again. I have also never tried any kind of tech diving before and carrying a 40 cubic foot bailout bottle on your side is a whole new experience in itself. Before the dive we worked on adjusting the unit to fit me as best as we could, and while it didn’t feel part of my body the way my personal dive gear does, it was tremendously better.
Today I got to reciprocate a little and be Mike’s guide in Bonaire. We decided to “play” on a different reef today. The small island of Bonaire in the Dutch Caribbean is a mecca for divers because of its unique attributes when it comes to its reef. Being below the hurricane belt and only subjected to an average of 22 inches of rainfall a year, its leeward side is sheltered well enough that coral is able to grow extremely shallow. It is also protected by man, as its waters are also a well-cared-for marine park. With approximately 60 incredibly healthy dive sites, mostly beginning in about 20 feet of water and literally steps from the shoreline, you can see why divers and snorkelers flock here each year. To be able to dive a large selection of wonderful sites not only on your own time and schedule, but your own dive profile, it provides a freedom for divers like no other destination. It truly is ideal for every type and level of diver. Buddy Dive Resort maximizes these unique characteristics by providing a dive package that includes unlimited shore diving 24/7, free nitrox (for nitrox certified divers) and a truck so you can explore the island at your leisure. Its dive shop runs like a well-oiled machine with options from discover diving and snorkel tours to full tech support. Unlimited nitrox and air tanks are staged right by the entrance to their magnificent house reef and can be accessed day and night. Additionally they have a famous “drive-thru” where tanks are also at available at all times for when you decide to jump in the truck and dive one of Bonaire’s other beautiful sites. The dive shop staff at Buddy are all extremely knowledgeable about the island…tell any one of them what animals you are looking for, the type of diving, your desired profile, the ease of entry or even you are planning two or three dives with a picnic in-between and they will tell you without fail which is the best site to visit. To make things nice and easy, after speaking to the shop, we decided to park and begin our dive on a beach across from the airport. This is not an official site but between 18 Palms and Windsock. As rebreather divers with hours available to us, we could in theory actually hit both sites before surfacing. We prepared our units and took off in the truck and Mike was able to see for himself why I love Bonaire so much.
A beautiful setting, one of the islands only natural beaches, the turquoise water called to us, and because we had completed all of our preparations at the resort, after a few small details and a final equipment check we were in the water. I have to tell you Mike Fowler in my opinion is THE rebreather guru. Between the equipment adjustments, following his advice on what I could do to correct things and with the basics out of the way, it was night and day the moment I hit the water. Sure it was still not natural to me the way diving open circuit is, but after that being close to two decades of my life how can it be? I am not going to tell you that I still didn’t make mistakes and didn’t have to concentrate on what I was doing, but for much of my two hour dive today, I was back “home” and diving was beginning to look and feel like it used to. Well, let me rephrase that…like it used to but enhanced. I have spent time up close and personal with animals on open circuit, and almost always get to enjoy the crackling sounds of critters going about their daily lives. But today those experiences and more were, well, vibrant. Without the sound of your own bubbles, ALL you hear are the sounds of the sea, so much louder and a variety of them, like picking out each instrument in an orchestra individually rather than just the song as a whole. The little life system I love to observe that surrounds a typical anemone no longer hides itself and requires patience to wait for each little component to come creeping back out for you to watch…they don’t retreat in the first place! I can go on and on about the little nuances that made the same reef, the same island so different, but I have gone on long enough today. Let’s just say that if I was ever a nay-sayer or in doubt about rebreather diving in general or my desire to join the ranks as a closed-circuit diver, the Fifth Hour made me a believer.
