The birth of a classic bit.

Last day of scuba classes today in the busy ocean waters of Los Arcos. The current slapped us around all day, and the water was freezing. Our Dive Master Rick took us over near the arches that give the site its name and we could feel the warm water rush towards us in blurry waves, like those you can see on the horizon on warm days.

At the end of the day, he came up to all of us a couple times, and said goodbye.

“Great diving with you, George.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Greg.”

“John, good dive today.”

“Ryan, it was a pleasure.”

Then he came up to Shawn and shook his hand and said: “Shawn.” And moved on.

He did this twice.

We laughed and repeated different variations of this transaction all the way back to the ship.

Feeling it.

This last cruise was the first one where I think we all suffered from being homesick. Maybe it’s the holiday season, but we all started to talk a bit more about home. Being here until May is starting to look like a long time on this ship.

Finished our first sea dive at Los Arcos, and it was amazing. The first time going underwater was a little nerve-wracking, but the second one, done on your own with your dive buddy, was really easy and we took an amazing dive through reefs, following a manta ray. There were moments that I wanted to yell out in excitement it was so great. My dependence on air prevented me. Then they drove us in the motor boat back to the pier, and it was a great ride back. Chef George suggested he drive us right up to where the tender boats drop us off, but one of our crew said that the Mexican government wouldn’t let us on the ship without going through security. That would have been great, though.