Preparing to dive:
Even after nearly 1000 dives, and even in the comfortable toastiness of tropical waters, there is nothing automatic or elegant about gearing up. Its feels like a thousand klunky pieces and parts that all need to work right. One thinks: are all the 0-rings and hoses intact and sound? The computer charged? The camera batteries charged, the right lens installed, the housing well sealed? The tank a good fill? The weights proper? All buckled, fins and mask on? The dive plan understood? Relaxing comes only after crossing that boundary between worlds – beneath the rippling, surgey surface, drifting slowly, gently downwards. Deep breath, focus. Now starts the hunt for the real treasure of the sea: the chance to experience the creatures, lives and stories of another universe – a place that is at once familiar, and as alien as any the cosmos might possibly serve up.
