The Great Barrier Reef, Part I

Christine and me on Thursday morning, about to embark on our 3-day/2-night liveaboard SCUBA diving adventure with Deep Sea Divers Den. Over the next few days, Christine would complete her Open Water Diver certification and we'd both get in quite a few dives along a section of the Great Barrier Reef called Norman Reef.

The first night of our trip, I went SCUBA diving at night for the first time ever.

Even though I look totally relaxed and dashingly handsome in these pics, I was more than a little nervous about the whole thing. I was jumping into pitch-black waters that I knew were full of sharks (I had just watched several sharks swimming off the back of the boat, where I was about to submerge myself). Even though I had it on good authority they weren't the type of sharks that posed much of a threat, it was still really unsettling. Not to mention the overall fear factor of submerging yourself in the ocean far from any landmass when it's completely dark out, with nothing more than a feeble flashlight. And with memories of the film "Open Water" running through your head...

Here I am about to jump in. I have tried for several days to upload a videoclip of my actual submersion, but it has been extremely problematic and after many hours of effort, the only part that appears to be viewable is a 7 second clip of me adjusting my mask strap. But since I invested all that time, I had to include it here. You'll simply have to use your imagination to envision with what sublime grace I stepped off the platform into the black waters... :-)