Spreading into new avenues of learning/mayhem/whatever....

Im going to "try" and get the GI Bill to pay for specialty courses, and books and training materials to get My Divemaster certification.

This path isnt a cheap one. Courses start at $200+ and the training guides arent cheap either. Just like college. One book (Diving encylcopedia) is $50. But if I can pull it off My options widen greatly. I have said it before, SCUBA diving is My favorite hobby. The oppertunity to do it as a job is appealing, and an idea I have had since I was in the Marines. Ive wanted this for nearly 10 years.

Yeah, there are some obsticles in the way.....money being one of them. Do send positive thoughts toward the agent in the VA benifits office to approve a grant. But the hardest obsticle, because I could pay for the training but one thing looms more over My head....

I swim like a brick...sorta.

Prerequisites in the Divemaster program is a watermanship and stamina session.

400 meter swim in under 10 minutes. I dont think the GOG patented doggy paddle would work....

800 mask/fins/snorkel swim in under 15 or 20 minutes. Thats the easy one.

100 meter rescue swim with a diver in tow. Hmmmmm....might be difficult due to stamina...

And the killer....

15 minute water tread, with the last two minutes with your hands out of the water. Whoa.....

This all of course is done in fresh water, and not salt water. Before becoming a diver I was deathly afraid of deep water. The deep end of the pool (described as anything over My nostrils) freaked Me out due to a old accident I had growing up. Lake, cloudy water....stepping in the wrong direction, head sinking down and panic. Since then I hated water.

Ive never been a good swimmer. No one ever taught me properly. And to those who learned on their own you had oppertunities I didnt. Poor kids dont have pools.

So Im faced with a great oppertunity, but there are roadblocks. Swimming lessons arent cheap either. $200 for 6, 30 minute sessions. $33 an hour to swim seems a bit steep. But I also dont have much choice. Especially if I want it to work.

I can imagine working on a dive boat, or a cruise ship as a professional diver. Warm tropical waters, great money...and travel. Or even working locally, or elsewhere on private charters, shark diving, wrecks. The lure of the ocean made me overcome My fear of water to explore the ocean. The lure of money, and adventure will help me overcome this too.....