Then I put on my mask, got in the water, and suddenly wasn't able to breathe. I got back on the steps, and went in more gradually, reaching for the savior ring. I made it, but I was actually getting panicky. It felt almost like the panic attack I had trying to learn to dive! I fought the panic and kept my face in the water, but I had my arm around that ring and was clinging to it for dear life! Poor Nathan! I couldn't kick to help him propel me through the water. I couldn't do anything other than watch the scenery (which was beautiful and amazing) and concentrate on trying to breathe! I'm sure he was exhausted by the time that 45 minute session was over and we got back!
When we got back, he asked me if I had PTSD. He was so understanding! Said my response to putting my face in the water with a mask on (or anything that would tend to restrict breathing), is a classic symptom they see frequently with PTSD, and he gave me some tips for getting past it - if I wanted to. I definitely wanted to. I wasn't going to let a little thing like incapacitating panic stop me from spending as much time as possible on this reef system! When I got my fins off and was able to breathe properly again, we went back up on the boat and talked to Oscar, who said he would let me down on the platform with my stuff as soon as the watch was posted, so I could start trying to acclimate myself to the water and mask before actually going in, and he gave me a few more tips, too.
After that, I stowed my gear in my bin, took the action camera off the mask, and sat up top to dry off some before going inside. I apparently didn't learn how to turn the action camera on. It didn't record a single thing. And I was too frozen and clutching the savior ring so hard, I wasn't able to take any pictures with the handheld camera. It just stayed hung on my arm the whole time. So, I just took a few pictures of the boat that brought us out and some pictures of the reef from above.
I was still wet, but not dripping when they called us in for lunch. This boat had an excellent chef! Our first meal was a salad with mixed greens and other vegetables, prawns, sweet potato fries, and crumbles of cheese, eggs and riced cauliflower. Delicious! Sign of good things to come!
The next trip out was much better. Terrence was my escort, and while I was waiting for him to come down, I got my stuff on, sat in the water for a while, put my mask on and off, ducking my head in the water both with and without the mask before we started off. I was able to take some pictures only holding the rope around the savior ring with one hand. I was also able to kick and help him propel us through the water. At one point, he turned and motioned that he would like to dive down, and I even felt comfortable with him letting go of the tow rope, though I kept my death grip on it where it was attached to the savior ring. He dived down and tickled open a giant clam for me to see! He did that a few times. I still wasn't in control of myself enough to keep myself guided to any particular place, so I missed or terribly blurred a lot of shots. I did get some pictures, though. The water filter on my Fuji underwater camera isn't very good, and I still haven't learned to edit the pictures, so the pictures look much duller than the reef actually was. I did get a few decent shots, though. Unfortunately, again, the action camera didn't record. The reef was actually very vibrant, just like the professional pictures, though the deeper it was and the less light was reaching the coral, the duller they appeared.
After the second water session, we took off for Norman Reef, where we would spend the night!
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