My Wife and I and our two German Shepherd Dogs went on a month long RV trip from Arizona up thru Virginia and down to Florida and then back to Tucson. I was able to set up some drift diving at Rainbow Springs. Unfortunately, while checking my gear in the parking lot, I discovered a tiny pinhole leak in a fitting on my regulator so I decided to just do the trip on a snorkel instead.
I have to back up a few years here, to 2006. I was an Officer for a large Law Enforcement Agency. At that point, I had twenty years in. I had a runner one night and chased him. Unfortunately for me, I caught him but was alone. He ambushed me, beat me unconscious and then stomped and kicked me for a while. He threw my radio into the ditch but I did not loose my weapon. I was unable to deploy it but I had such a death grip on it to keep him from getting it, that the Paramedics had to give me shot in my arm to make the muscles release it even though I was unconscious. (The Sarge told me about it later) I had several broken fingers, broken ankles, broken ribs, a broken arm and a cracked skull along with a Sub Arachnoid Hematoma. I have some brain damage and am disabled. I used to fall down a lot and not be able to get back up. Elevators were terrifying and escalators are impossible unless I ride them backwards. Physical therapy made it a lot better but I still fall down if I'm not careful.
I was careful getting out of Rainbow Springs at the ramp but I fell hard. I realized then that my days of diving with a tank on my back were over. If I had had a tank on my back, I could have been hurt possibly badly or maybe hurt somebody else. No more SCUBA diving for me. It's time to give it up. I'm almost seventy years old and have been SCUBA diving since I was about ten years old. I'm just to old and broken down to carry a tank around on my back anymore.
So instead, I'm going to start hose diving and leave the tank on the surface. I think it's called SNUBA now but I always called it Hookah diving. I've already got the rig and just have to try it out in the pool. I might even be able to talk my Service Dog into diving tandem with me since he won't have to carry a tank on his back!
