Navigation Station...

PADI have a monthly specialty they promote. It looks this week as if we have been having a special on Underwater Navigation. Today, I spent my third session in the water this week with students engaged in addressing navigation challenges. Paul, who is commencing his Advanced Open Water course was first to go. He did a great job in quite demanding conditions at KPH. Visibility can't have been more than about 15 feet, but he unerringly tackled some fairly testing tasks - controlling his buoyancy and demonstrating calm mastery of the environment. Todd, who was also in the water to gain experience and up his dive total (which is growing impressively quickly) then took on his second dive for the Navigation specialty. This required some long transits and dive site location and return exercises. He too did really well. Between the two divers, who supported each other admirably, we spent about 62 minutes in the 63℉ (17℃) water. All of us at one stage or another had an encounter with a massive Bass, which made a point of swimming up to investigate us, rather than the other way around. Todd performed a small act of kindness for a youngster as he made his exit. A little girl and her parents had come down to the shore to release what had been a pet turtle all Summer, but which needed to be released back into the wild. It was interesting to see it make its confident way out into the Lake. But, we all watched tensely as it appeared the local seagulls were showing an interest in it. Happily it survived - for now at least.