I'm going to Canada this coming weekend. We have three days of diving the wrecks in Nanaimo -- Great big wrecks (one is over 400 feet long) with a lovely reputation for having fascinating structure and being covered with life. I'm going with a wonderful group of people, all of whom are my friends, and almost all of whom I've dived with. I'm excited about the trip.
At the same time, I'm a little apprehensive. The dives are deeper than I typically dive (I'll be hitting my 100 fsw hard deck every day). They're square profile boat dives, and will involve direct ascents on an anchor line (which means we have to FIND the anchor line). Since they are boat dives, by definition they involve getting back ON the boat, which means climbing ladders.
It's not that I haven't done all of those things before, and all of them in combination. It's just that I don't do them often. These dives are outside of my routine, and therefore outside of my easy comfort zone, and at the same time that I'm looking forward to them, I'm apprehensive about them, too.
It reminds me of the days when I was an attending surgeon at the trauma hospital. I'd get called that we needed to do a case, and as I drove in to the hospital, I was both excited (because I love to operate) and worried (because you never knew what you were going to find).
And I wonder if this is me, or whether most people who dive retain a balance between excitement and apprehension that is part of what results in prudence.
At the same time, I'm a little apprehensive. The dives are deeper than I typically dive (I'll be hitting my 100 fsw hard deck every day). They're square profile boat dives, and will involve direct ascents on an anchor line (which means we have to FIND the anchor line). Since they are boat dives, by definition they involve getting back ON the boat, which means climbing ladders.
It's not that I haven't done all of those things before, and all of them in combination. It's just that I don't do them often. These dives are outside of my routine, and therefore outside of my easy comfort zone, and at the same time that I'm looking forward to them, I'm apprehensive about them, too.
It reminds me of the days when I was an attending surgeon at the trauma hospital. I'd get called that we needed to do a case, and as I drove in to the hospital, I was both excited (because I love to operate) and worried (because you never knew what you were going to find).
And I wonder if this is me, or whether most people who dive retain a balance between excitement and apprehension that is part of what results in prudence.