KIDS CORNER

1-3-2-4 STORY BY PATRICK VAN HOESERLANDE ILLUSTRATION PETER BOSTEELS

“Every diver is responsible for his or her own material. That also goes for youth divers,” Nella had said. “Your buddy will check your scuba equipment, but you as the diver have to make sure everything is working properly and put it together yourself.”

The other youth divers had never heard of this strange ‘SCUBA’ word before, but Skubba had. It was very similar to his own name.

Fred had looked it up a while ago and had told Skubba what it meant, and he could now explain what the word meant to everyone else.

Of course Nella had already taught them how to assemble their equipment. She had showed them how to do it first, and then they had to do it together. Now, they had to do it alone.

The hardest part was getting the BCD jacket on the tank. For that you had to stand the tank up and then slip the jacket straps over it. Not too low though because your head would bump against the tank during the dive. But not too high either, because the jacket may come loose from the tank. But Skubba couldn’t remember what to do after that. First, he had to lie the jacket down on the ground with the tank on top of it and undo the straps to tighten them properly.

Nella had a trick with a number, but he had forgotten it. As always, Fred had neatly noted everything down. It was 1-3-4-2. Start through the first hole, then through the third, then the fourth and finally through number two. Pull and… No matter how he tried, he was always a hole short. How did she do it? Skubba and Fred had a problem. The trick with the number did not seem to work anymore.

They went to ask Nella. When she saw the number, she immediately knew what the problem was. “It must be 1-3-2-4”, she said, and showed them how to do it. “Then why did it work before?”, Skubba asked. “Because this time, you did it with 2 and 4 in the wrong order.”

Weird, Fred thought. He had noted the correct number: 1-3-2-4 in his booklet but he had scratched the wrong one out.

Skubba did it again: first through hole 1, then through number 3, then the 2, and finally, 4. Pull... and success.

The jacket was firmly attached to the tank. Now he had to put the first stage on the tank. Which direction did he have to turn? Left, or right? Fred tried to help, but he too did not know if it was left or right.

Nella saw they were confused and came closer. “Guys, no problem. Many divers don’t know it either. But there is a trick to it.”

“What trick?”

“Tick-tock, close.”

“Tick-tock, close?” they asked in surprise.

“Yes, if you turn in the direction of the arms of a clock, ‘tick-tock’ then you will screw it in place, or ‘close’ a valve,” she explained.

“Ah,” Skubba answered and he tried it.

It worked, he could attach the first stage to the tank.

“Now connect the hose and then I will open the valve,” Nella said. “How should I turn the valve to open it?” she asked.

“Turning counterclockwise and it will open the valve,” Fred said.

“Right! Well done guys.”

Skubba and Fred were proud. They could now assemble scuba equipment all by themselves.

DOL-FUN STORY BY PATRICK VAN HOESERLANDE ILLUSTRATION PETER BOSTEELS

As the summer progressed, Skubba’s number of dives increased. He didn’t dive with Nella anymore, at least not every dive. He now dived with other instructors and divemasters.

All his buddies had something special to offer: one always managed to find large fish, the other knew where to find freshwater crayfish, one buddy was able to explain how divers found their way around underwater. Skubba was always learning something new.

Today however, Skubba got to do a dive with Nella. The water had been nice and warm, and clear. They had seen so much. Just like his first dive, Skubba filled out his logbook with Nella. What had they seen?

Fred was happy to look up the fish Skubba had seen in his own book. Pike, carp... all of them were in his book. They were enthusiastic about everything Skubba got to see underwater, as it was something they could share and look over together.

Skubba made a note of everything in his log book that Nella had told him to do underwater, and he also wrote about what he had learned. He also made sure to tell Fred what he had learned during the dive so his friend could be a part of everything.

The icing on the cake was when Nella stuck a nice sticker on his log book page and put a stamp on his card.

He was proud of his book and the dives he had logged.

Suddenly, Skubba’s eye caught something Nella had written down in his logbook. “What is that?” he asked. “Look over here,” he pointed for Fred to see. “Do you see it?”

It took a while before his friend saw it, but then he said, “What does that mean 2*I?” Nella had to smile, “That means I’m a two-star Instructor and we write it as 2*I or 2* Instructor”. “Wow!”, they shouted together. “What is a 2* Instructor?” “In our diving federation, we work with stars. The more stars you have, the more you have learned about diving and the more dives you have done. You start with one star, and then two, and you go on to four”. “Ah, and you have two stars?”, asked Skubba. “Yes, I’m a two-star instructor. Instructors are very good divers who have learned how to train other divers.”

“I want a star too,” said Skubba. “That is possible, but it will take time.” “Why?” they asked in unison. “Youth divers don’t get stars, they get dolphins,” Nella said.

“I like that...” said Fred, looking for a nice picture of dolphins in his book.

“We use dolphins for youth divers, like we use stars for adults.” “Do I first get one dolphin, then two, then three, and then finally four?” “You would think so Skubba, but it does not work exactly like that,” Nella went on. ”You will start with a bronze dolphin, then a silver one, followed by a gold one. A bit like the medals in the Olympic games.”

“Do you have to get gold as quickly as possible?”, asked Skubba. “No, it is not a contest. Scuba diving is not a competitive sport. The colour of the dolphin shows how good you are as a youth diver and how much you have learned”.

“Ah”, Skubba looked doubtful, “but haven’t we learned a lot already?”