Earning My Fins

When I was a kid I remember watching "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau" with my dad. I always wanted to be on the Calypso along side of this before-his-time pioneer of the deep. I longed to don the breathing apparatus and fins, and swim with the whales, sharks, and other beautiful marine creatures. Although I will never be a passenger on the Calypso, the rest of that fantasy is coming true... soon!

My husband Tim and I went to the local dive shop, BCXtreme Sports, and finally signed up for SCUBA classes. We plan on completing our certification on July 17th following the at-home studying of the PADI Diver's Manual, passing a series of PADI tests, confined water dive instruction in a pool, then finally four open water dives at the James M. Robertson Quarry in Blanch, NC. I am really excited about actually getting in the water, but before all that can happen we have to learn how to stay alive and healthy by learning all the physiological, mathematical, theoretical, and all that other "ical" stuff that goes along with it. Here is an example of what we have to learn and what we will be tested on:

Im kidding :P

The book is well written, easy to understand, and is interesting. Most is pretty much common sense. I don't forsee any trouble passing the tests.


Back to the dive shop...


We filled out a mountain of release forms and applications, almost as many as I signed when I went skydiving, and then began the fun part... shopping :) After the cost of certification, you have to have a few basic pieces of equipment. My husband and I each got a set of fins, boots, a mask, and a snorkle. The other equipment can be rented for very reasonable rates until we are ready to purchase our own. J.D. Emerson, the owner of BCXtreme Sports took good care of us by making sure all of our equipment was sized correctly and fit well. This is my bounty that I returned home with:

I will be testing sometime next week. Wish me luck on the dive table questions!!! (EEEeeeekkk)

The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed.- Jacques Cousteau

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