KIDS CORNER

THE FIRST OPEN WATER DIVE STORY BY PATRICK VAN HOESERLANDE ILLUSTRATION PETER BOSTEELS

After spending a fun hour in the pool, Nella told the boys that they were ready to dive in open water.

“Why do you say ‘open water’?” Fred asked. “Is there something like closed water?”

“By open water we mean a large area of water that can be a lake or sea. A swimming pool is confined water. A pool is very good for training, but that is not open water.” “So, we are going to dive outside!” Skubba concluded enthusiastically.

It was not that he had not yet dived in a lake, but now he could do this with real diving equipment. And as a real diver. “When? When?” he insisted. “This Saturday,” Nella replied.

And so, it turned into Saturday. Skubba and Fred were not alone. Other young divers were there too, and they were all looking forward to their first dive. They would finally get to do what they had all dreamed of. Some were in a bit of disbelief and some of them a little stressed. A lake is not a swimming pool. The water was not very clear and there were real fish. And it was cold.

As they stood in a semi-circle, the instructor gave them a briefing to tell them what they would do, what they should pay attention to and who they would buddy with to dive. Skubba liked that he was appointed to dive with Nella, because apparently, she was not the only one that was allowed to dive with them.

The other instructors looked friendly, but he knew Nella best.

After the briefing, Skubba collected his diving equipment with Fred’s help: the tank, the regulator and the BCD. Together with Nella they put his equipment together. After a final check, they carried it down to the waterfront including his weight belt, mask and fins. There they laid everything out neatly. Then she toldSkubba that he could put on his wetsuit. She would join him when she was ready.

Exciting!

Skubba was so nervous that Fred had to help him into his wetsuit. He could not even put his gloves on without his friend’s help.

Nella had told them during the training that divers assisted each other and, although Fred did not really dive, he felt like a diver by helping his friend.

Skubba was barely ready when Nella stood fully dressed and equipped next to him. “Ready?” she asked him while she carefully checked everything. “Yes!” “Then we can go over and report to the ‘safety diver’.” Skubba had paid close attention during the briefing so he knew who the safety diver was, and where she stood. He gave her his and Nella’s names. Then he moved towards the water and put his equipment on. Skubba checked Nella’s equipment after which she checked his. Everything was OK. Together, they stepped further into the water. Another quick check. And...

DEBRIEFING STORY BY PATRICK VAN HOESERLANDE ILLUSTRATION PETER BOSTEELS

Nella showed an OK sign to Skubba, by which she asked if he was ready to dive. As a trained diver, he replied with the same OK sign, signalling he was ready for his first dive. Then they released the air from their BCDs and they slowly descended. They broke the water’s surface and Skubba entered the underwater world for the first time as a real diver.

Skubba immediately felt at home. This was his world. Thanks to the many swimming pool exercises, he knew how to use his dive equipment and therefore he could enjoy his visit to the fullest. Luckily Nella was nearby to help him occasionally. She also pointed several things out to him, a fish, various plants... He enjoyed every moment of it.

Fred stood next to the ‘safety diver’ at the edge of the water. Because he could only see bubbles, he asked the lady with her big sheet of paper what she had to do. “Diving is not dangerous, is it?” he asked.

“No, diving is not more dangerous than football, for example, because we ensure that everything can be done safely. My job is to write down everyone who goes into the water and who comes out. If a team has been away for too long, I can send someone to see if there are any problems. I also look to the surface of the water to see if there are divers who come up and need extra help.” “And what’s in those suitcases?” “Oh, that’s the oxygen bottle and the first aid kit. Do you know what that is?”

“Oh yes, we learned about it in the pool session.” “That is good.” she replied. “When will they come up?” “It can take a while, because they just left... let me have a look... about 10 minutes ago.”

Skubba was disappointed when Nella gave him the signal to surface. He wanted to answer with the signal ‘No’, but that would not be fair to his fellow divers waiting for their turn. Slowly he went back up, saying goodbye to this new world. Until next time!

“I see bubbles in front of us. They are getting bigger. There they are.” The friendly security lady stopped Fred, because she thought he would jump in. He was so enthusiastic. She did not know that Fred was afraid of water and would never jump in.

He went to the waterfront and took all the equipment from Skubba and Nella. He brought everything up, and doing that he got soaking wet. It made him feel like a diver. Fred was as wet as Skubba was coming out of the water.

Together they disassembled everything and put it back in its place. Fred helped Skubba to get out of his wetsuit. Nella asked them to go to her when they were done. Skubba told Fred everything he had seen and experienced.

After the dive Nella told them what they had seen. She also gave him Skubba some points to pay attention to the next time he would dive. She called this a debriefing.