I remember my first pair of solos. I was out on my AOW checkouts, and we did a pair of boat dives Saturday morning. I'd done a dive at the jetties previously, so I figured I'd drop in again and get a dive or two in. I'd picked up a 19cf pony prior to the trip. (Logged dive #10 was my first with a pony.)
The first dive, I stayed on the inside of the jetty, and I enjoyed myself quite well. I went at my own pace, and I ended up with an average depth of 6 feet, IIRC. After that dive, I decided I wanted to do the other side, even though the current was heading out. I'd just ride the current to the end and come back in on the sheltered side.
Well, of course, the current got kicking and became flag-ripping-ly strong. Yes, it actually pulled my flag under and ripped it from the float (note to self: tie a retaining line to the grommet next time). With a stick instead of a flag, I didn't think it wise to swim out away from the jetty to get to the slower-moving water to continue around the jetty, and the shallower water closer to the jetty was not navigable, as a longshore current was spilling around the end of the jetty at the surface, keeping me from making it to the end.
It was at that point that I sighed and called the dive, deciding that my alternate exit was the right choice. I alighted on the large boulders of the jetty and doffed my fins. Carefully, I scrambled and climbed up and over refrigerator- to SUV-sized boulders as I made my way over the jetty and down the other side (all the while with 90 pounds of gear on me -- quite a bit at that point, not so much today). After making it to the water, I made my way to the beach and trekked about 1/3 mile back to the car. All in all, a decent dive.
The only part that had me a little on edge was when I was first approaching the spot where you swim over a dip in the jetty to get to the channel side. I met a divemaster and another guy from my LDS who had also decided to take a quick shore dive. Being rather new at this, I had a little concern in the back of my mind as to what would be said if it were known that I was solo diving on an AOW checkout trip. ("Act naturally... nothing to see here..." hehe.) Needless to say, they didn't care, as long as I was diving safely, although I *did* log those two dives on facing pages in my logbook. When I had the instructor sign off on the AOW dives, I just let those two pages stick together, and he wasn't paying attention to the dive numbering.
(These days I wouldn't care, of course, but I was young and impressionable.)
I also remember the first time for that "other" favorite past time!
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