Dangit! I want to go diving. Now!

I last went underwater last summer, when I was at a conference in South Carolina. I had a kayaking tour scheduled for the built-in day off, so I was forced to play hooky for a day to go out on the dive boat. I was kind of stoked because I had just picked up the items I had purchased on lay-away. I had my Zeagle buoyancy compensator, my Dive Rite computer, and, best of all, my Poseidon regulator. Poseidons are Swedish and expensive. I like them because they have a powerful, easy airflow, and I'm a heavy breather underwater. Anyhow, I hooked everything up to the tank and -- low and behold -- the Poseidon was leaking air. Fortunately, the captain had a spare regulator onboard, so I just used it.

The dives that day were kind of a bummer. I lost a lot of dive time due to an informal diving protocol requiring snorkels. I didn't bring my snorkel along; they really aren't used in the Gulf of Mexico. Then my dive buddy, who was even less experienced than I was, panicked when he couldn't see the anchor line running from the boat to the bottom, so he surfaced and went back to the boat. I had been descending free-form about 2-3 feet from the line, something that isn't done there. Again, I was following my training in the Gulf. The second dive went much better, and I saw some pretty little fishies.

The previous summer, I dove in Lake Powell, Arizona. That was interesting. Lake Powell is a desert canyon that was dammed and filled with water. Diving there is kind of like hiking, except you're underwater and there are fish. It was neat swimming inside little mountain canyons and ravines.

Anyway, I've got a hankering to go down again. But I have neither the time nor the money right now, so I'll have to content myself with taking that kayak in the garage on its maiden voyage.