OK, so a bit melodramatic.  But here’s the story:  I was doing one of my open-water certification dives at Baptist Lake.  As the dive began, I found it increasingly difficult to breathe.  I even nearly started to panic — I just couldn’t draw a full breath.

At the surface, things didn’t get better.  I was so focused on getting oxygen that I took out my regulator and didn’t bother to inflate my buoyancy-control device (a jacket that holds the tank and an air bladder) to keep my head above water.  So, struggling to get air, I swallowed about half of the lake.  Yummy.

A divemaster was near and helped me.  As it happened, my tank shifted, so the chest straps on the BCD also shifted, such that I couldn’t expand my chest enough to draw a full breath.  The divemaster re-adjusted my straps, and all was well.

Other than that little mishap, the dives went well.  I still can’t hear — my ears remain plugged with water — but everything else was great.  Another session tomorrow, and I’ll be a certified open-water diver.  Woo hoo!