Being an Intern

I love the idea of being an intern at my age. I'm living like Merlin--living my life in reverse. Doing an internship at 55 years old could be intimidating, but hasn't been so far. The other interns are of course much younger than me. They're all been very cordial, helpful and fun to be around. I brought over drinks the first day I was here to celebrate my birthdy, so that helped break the ice.

My first day at work had me doing "surface support" on the boat, meaning I helped divers in and out of the water. The second day had me leading a dive on the bow of the RMS Rhone. I hit the water hard and fast with cruise ship guests as the boats are pretty full in the morning with divers for two-tank dives, then a rush to drop them off and pick up 40 or so snorkelers. Leading the dives is work--setting up the boats, kitting up all the dive gear, then dismantling it in short order to get that equipment off the boat and ready for the snorkelers in the afternoon. Our rest is in the water watching the snorkelers, unless, like the other day, you have to work with a snorkeler who is afraid of water. He finally relaxed, and stayed in the water the whole time with me leading him around with a floaty. It was a rewarding experience. The good thing about these days is we get tips! Now you know I've reverted to being a teenager who gets excited about getting tips.

Leading dives can be intimidating, especially if visibility is bad. I like the Rhone now, both bow and stern because it's so defined. And now that I've done each, I like the stern better because there's more to point out. Even doing these dives in reverse, as I did the other day, still can prompt the question: "Where am I?" or "oh no, I going to have to surface to find out where I am!?!" I've heard every divemaster has had to pop to the surface then re-descend to lead the group back to the boat. Drift diving is easier on the dive master because the boat follows along and is right there when the divers surface. Oh well, I seem to like challenges so am doing moored dives here.

We're also learning other parts of the dive business. There's the retail side--working at the base, and the two remote locations--on Cooper Island and Norman Island. The business side--keeping paperwork for seven years of data on each dive, updating the electronic logs. Filling tanks--six at a time. Boat operations--daily cleaning, weekly projects, fueling two 100-gallon tanks per boat and other misc. chores.

And now I have to start studying lots for my upcoming Instructor Development Course (IDC). I also will become certified to in Emergency First Response, a new critieria for the IDC. This means back to studying physics, chemistry, physiology and more. That's what you'll find me doing for the next month, in addition to my daily work activities.