Life after the Lottery Ch. 76

"That was so cool!" Amy exclaimed. I was happy to see her excited.

"Glad you enjoyed it. Let's grab a new tank. We will swim further out this time. There is a small reef we can see. Remember, the coral is sharp, so make sure you have inflated your BC so that you don't crash into the bottom. Also, I highly recommend wearing gloves when you dive. If you have to push off the reef, it will save your hands."

We hooked up a new tank and swam back out, but further this time.

"The water is still only about 35 feet here. We'll go down, then swim out about 30 yards to the reef. Make sure you have figured out how to use your BC, so you are neutral in the water as you go down."

We went down slowly until we were standing on the sandy bottom. He went through some hand signals until we had the BC inflated properly. After that, we started swimming out further until we came upon a small reef. It had a lot of fish swimming around it and some nice coral formations. Amy kept pointing out the bigger fish to me. We were having a good time. About 25 minutes later, we surfaced.

"That is so pretty!" Amy exclaimed.

"You'll really like the big reefs and the lava walls," the instructor said.

"When can we go!" Amy asked.

"You two are doing very good. If you are comfortable, there is a boat going out in the morning to one of the bigger reefs."

"Great! Can we go!"

"Sure. You can do your final check-out dive tomorrow, and you'll be certified to dive without an instructor."

We swam back to the beach and loaded all our gear on the cart, and followed them back to the shop. Amy talked to the instructor and laughed all the way back to the shop.

"How many dives can we make tomorrow?" Amy asked.

"It is only 40 feet deep, so you can make as many as you want. But 4 or 5 will be a lot you will find out. Amy, I checked your air gauge when we came out the last dive. You did well. You still had about 15 minutes of air. You must work out. Most new people suck a tank down in about 15 minutes!"

"I swim a lot in our pool."

"That's good. You look like you do. James, you did well also. Someone your size can use a lot of air too. If you are going to invest in equipment, you should get an 80 tank. It is a little bigger than the ones we used today."

"Should I get a bigger one?" Amy asked.

"You'll do fine on the 72's. You are a little small for the bigger tank. Let me show you one."

He showed us tanks and equipment for a while and explained the pros and cons of different types.

"If you two decide you want to go on more dives that are maybe a little deeper, you should consider getting nitrox certified."

"What is that?" Amy asked.

"Normal diving uses compressed air like we used today. As we covered in class, you have to keep up with how deep you go and for how long because when breathing compressed air at depths, your body absorbs nitrogen."

"Is that why you can get the bends?" Amy asked.

"Yes. If you are only making 4 or 5 dives a day and they are less than 40 feet, you can usually stay in good shape. But I taught you to keep up with it anyway. You have a laminated table on a card for that. When you start going below 40 feet, you really have to keep up with your bottom time. They make a good little timer you can wear on your arm that starts when you go down and stops when you surface. Remember, the deeper you go, the less time you can stay down anyway because you use more air. If you start making dives at 60 feet or more, you will need to keep up with your bottom time and the surface time between dives more closely."

"Does this...nitrox...help with that?" I asked.

"Yes. Instead of normal compressed air, your tanks are filled with a mixture that has a higher concentration of oxygen. That does two things. You can stay down longer and absorb less nitrogen. However, you are still absorbing nitrogen, and since you stay down longer, you have to learn how to track it differently. They make dive computers you can wear on your arm that keep up with all of it. The new digital ones are really nice to have if you are going to dive a lot. If you get nitrox certified, you really should invest in a dive computer."

"Sounds like the way to go if we'll be diving deeper," Amy said.

"It really is, especially if you are doing photography. Some people can double how long they can stay down at 60 feet with nitrox."

"Cool," came from Amy.

"What is involved in getting trained to do that?" I asked.

"Some more class time after to get your Open Water Certification. You are only Resort Diver certified now."

"How do we get Open Water Certified?" Amy asked.

"If you go out on the boat tomorrow, you will be Open Water Certified by the end of the day. That is the first real certification. What you have done so far is what we call Resort Certification. You have to dive with an instructor until you get your Open Water Certification. Then you two can dive together on your own."

"Can we do that tomorrow?" Amy turned and asked me.

"We should do it."

"Great! Then we can get...nitrox...certified?"

"Yes. You have to have the nitrox dive card to even get your tanks filled with nitrox."

"After tomorrow, what is out there for deeper dives?" I asked.

"Well, you can do the Black Wall dive. It is on the Molokini crater and is two dives at 100 feet or more. You do one, then wait an hour or so and do the other one. There are really cool things to see on the wall."

"Cool!" Came from Amy. "We could take a camera for that...if you rent them."

"If you two are going to be here for a month, there are other dives you really should go on. The Lanai Cathedrals are a must if you are going to do photography. There is also the turtle dive. I have some photos you can look at."

We discussed different dive trips that were available. Amy was getting excited. We then had him put together all the equipment we should buy for our own use. He told us not to buy tanks because they could be rented everywhere, and taking them on a plane was a pain in the ass. Amy made arrangements for us to get nitrox certified later in the week, and we booked one other dive trip that he suggested.

"Where are you two staying?"

"We rented a house." I gave him the address.

"Is that the big house on the point there?"

"I think that is it," I said.

"If you swim out about 100 yards and go a little east, there is a great reef there."

"Great. How deep?" Amy asked.

"If I remember right, it is only about 35 feet."

"Cool. Our family is with us. They may want to snorkel out there."

"You can rent some tanks after the boat dive and see some nice things there. Also, you will probably see some turtles and maybe even some rays."

"Cool!"

"And I trust you two not to let anyone else use the SCUBA gear."

"We wouldn't. After they find out we are doing this, we may have some more people for you to train," Amy told him.

"Great!"

"Let's talk about underwater cameras," I said. "What are the options?"

"There is film and then the new digitals."

"What's best?" Amy asked.

"I like the film cameras, but everything is going to the digital cameras now. They are more light-sensitive, and you can take a lot more photos with one."

"What are the pros and cons?" I asked.

"The workhorse Nikon underwater camera is the standard for film. It does not need a waterproof case. It is made just for underwater. It and a strobe will run you about $1000 or more. You are limited to the 36 exposure rolls of film, manual focusing, which is really a guess. Then there are the new watertight cases for the digital cameras. I'm old school, but for a new photographer, you should go with digital."

"I'm old school film, too. I have all the equipment to process and print color."

"Wow. That would be nice. With a camera like the Nikonos, until you get really good at it, you may get 5 or 10 shots on a 36 roll that are good. Film can get frustrating to new people. With the digital cameras and memory cards, you can take hundreds of photos on one dive."

"That may be the way to go. What are the cons to digital?"

"Cost to get started. But the new digitals can yield much better results for someone that is not a professional underwater photographer. The drawback they have is that by the time you buy a high-end housing and strobe to go with your camera, they get very pricey if you go with a high-quality camera. The Canon 1D digital is very expensive but is the Ferrari for still photos and will give you the quality of film. But the new 5D II shots video to and is good resolution at 21 megapixels."

"The 5D II is what I just bought to play with. I got the 24 to 105mm zoom for it," I said.

"It is a great camera since it shoots video also. You can save money going with it, but the1D is the primo still camera. Have you seen the new Go Pro video cameras?"

"No."

"That is something you should really consider. They make some great videos and are watertight to 33 feet for the best one. You can go that route kind of cheap to add video if you don't get a 5D. I have one of those here for sale."

"Video would be cool," Amy said to me.

"And with the new high intensity LED lights for underwater video, they can make some outstanding video. Let me show you some."

He grabbed a laptop computer and pulled up some digital photos and videos.

"Those are awesome!" Amy exclaimed. "Can we do that?"

"I guess we can."

"The new high-end Canon digital cameras are probably the best. One of those with a wide-angle lens is the top of the line. That is the primo way to go. I have a case for the 1D and 5D here."

He went in the back and came back with a box that had a impressive waterproof case in it.

"I don't sell many of these, but I keep one for the tourist from Japan. They all have one of the high-end digital Canon cameras, and the price doesn't seem to be a problem for them. This is for the 1D. It is top of the line for a Canon. When I get the money, this is what I am going to get. Put a couple of high-tech LED lights on this baby, and you can be Jacques Cousteau!"

"It's that good?" I asked.

"About as good as you can get for still shots."

I picked up the housing, and it was heavy.

"Seems heavy and well built," I said.

"It has to be if you are going to put an $8000 camera and lens in it down to 400 feet. It's made from a solid block of aluminum."

I had looked at some of the new high-end cameras in magazines, and they were not cheap.

"What kind of lens?" I asked.

"Canon makes an incredibly fast 16mm to 35mm wide-angle zoom lens that is perfect for underwater. Remember I said that underwater, everything appears 30% closer to a camera, so you need a wide-angle. And a macro lens is great for close up. A longer macro lens is good, so you don't have to get so close. The new 100mm Canon macro would be great. It's new, but I have seen some underwater shots done with it. There are different covers that you change out on the front of the housing. I have the extra one for the new macro."

"Will the short zoom lens work in this housing?"

"Yes. All these knobs and levers are for focusing and zooming. It even has an electronic alarm if it gets any water in it so you can get back to the surface quick. This is the best housing you can get for that camera. There are others that are less expensive, but you can't use all the functions of the camera."

"How much is it?"

"$3,000."

"Which Canon camera is this for?"

"The 1D. It is a helluva camera, but high dollar...plus the lenses."

"Amy, if you are going to learn to do underwater photography, you may as well learn to do it right," I told her.

"If you get the 1D and a Go Pro, you can clamp the Go Pro on one of the light arms and record your entire dive," he said.

We spent another hour talking to him about everything Amy needed. He had all the options for the underwater case and lights. I had him write down all the information about the camera and lenses that Amy would need. He was a bit surprised we were going to spring for all this. He put all the underwater gear together for the camera and the SCUBA gear and told Amy to make plans to come back for a few hours or so to learn how to use it. She was excited, and I was happy.

He wrote up the camera housing and lights, a Go Pro video camera, and the new SCUBA gear, and it was well over $8,000. Amy looked up at me.

"You are the one buying it, young lady."

"Can I put all that on my AMEX?"

"You better be able to!"

She paid for all the gear, and he put the camera gear back until we came back with a camera. I asked him where the best camera store was on the island, and we left after he gave us instructions to where it was.

"Thanks," Amy said when we got in the car.

"Cheaper than a helicopter!" We laughed.

We drove north around the island until we got near Kaanapali and found the camera store. We went in, and it looked like they had a lot of gear. I gave a guy the list of gear, and he just looked up at me, then went into the back. He came back a few minutes later with an armload of boxes.

"We have everything. I wasn't sure we had this new macro lens. Do you want a standard lens to go with the wide-angle?"

"It's going in a SCUBA housing for underwater photography," Amy said.

"I see. I hope it is a good one. If you are going to be using it out of the water, I would recommend a standard lens or a zoon. This is a very good camera, and you will like the quality of the photos and video. Many professionals use this camera. I would recommend one of Canon's new zoom lenses. They make a very nice 24 to 105 zoom."

"I have that one on a 5D."

"Then a good everyday lens would be the 70 to 200 zoom."

"Let me see one."

He went and got one off the wall and put it on a camera. He turned the camera on, and I played with it a bit. It was a hefty lens and had the new image stabilization and auto-focus.

"That is a very fast f4 lens for a long zoom. You can add a 2X teleconverter and have a very nice 400mm lens."

"This is a nice lens. Do you have one of the 2X teleconverters?"

"Yes, we do."

"I'll take these lenses and the teleconverter with the camera."

"All three lenses?"

"Yes. What else do we need?"

He set us up with extra batteries, extra memory cards, and some other things. I got a small tripod.

"That should get us started," I said.

"Yes, sir! It should. If you think of anything else, my name is Ethan."

"Oh...do you have any Pelican hard cases for putting it all in to ship on a plane?"

"I have a few in the back. I'll go get them and see if they are big enough."

He came back with two large hard cases. We opened them up and made sure there was enough room for everything once we cut out the foam. I also got a smaller hard case to put just what we would be taking on a boat since they were watertight.

"Write it up, Ethan!"

He went to work writing all the equipment up as we looked around and found a few more things.

"James, that is a lot of expenses camera equipment. I didn't need all that."

"I have wanted to get one of the high-end fancy digital cameras. I can play with yours."

"The dang camera body was almost $6,000!"

"The new digital camera are small computers. I'll expect you to learn how to use it so you can teach me. If I like it, we'll get another one and more lenses. The lenses I have for my 35mm film Canons won't work on these."

"That sucks."

"Those lenses were not cheap either."

"The new lenses have tiny motors in them that focus them automatically. Plus, Canon makes the best optical lenses. They have never been cheap."

We left the camera store about $19,000 lighter and headed back to the house.

"I guess we made Ethan's day!" Amy exclaimed, and we laughed. I was sure we had also made the instructor's day at the dive shop.

*****

We grabbed as many of the boxes as we could and went into the house.

"You two are loaded down," my dad said.

"We still need to make one more trip out to the car," I said after we set everything on the table.

We came back in with the rest of our gear, including the new SCUBA gear.

"You have SCUBA gear?" Samantha asked.

"Yes, we have been taking lessons," Amy said.

"Hey! I want to do it!"

"You can. Amy and I were just checking out the place," I said.

"Cool!" Samantha exclaimed.

"Ask if anyone else wants to learn," I told her.

Dawn walked up to our pile on the table.

"New hobby?" She asked.

"It is for Amy. Cheaper than your new hobby!"

Amy told everyone about our SCUBA diving. Samantha, of course, was interested in learning. Dad and Charlie talked like they wanted to learn.

After we all had an excellent dinner that Lieke and her cousin made, Amy sat down and started going through all the camera gear with Samantha. Dawn sat with me in the huge den.

"Is Amy having a good time diving?" She asked.

"She is. We have made plans to take some dive trips to several places. This was what she wanted to learn to do instead of flying. She also wants to learn how to do underwater photography, so I got her a very nice professional digital camera and the housing to take it underwater."

"Good. You'll have someone to share your photography with. Sounds like an expensive day."

"About $25,000, but that is cheap compared to your hobby. Do you want to learn to SCUBA dive?"

"I don't think so. I am good just snorkeling."

"Go with us when we go back and get some good gear to snorkel with then. We should get some extra gear for anyone else."

"Good idea. When are you going back?"

"Tomorrow morning early. We are going out on a boat to a big reef for our final diving lessons. We will be gone until late afternoon. You can take us, then get some gear and drive back. I'll find out what time to come back and pick us up."

"Okay. I don't guess there is any danger of diving and being pregnant."

"Didn't ask. Why don't you try Google."

We sat and watched as Samantha looked over the SCUBA gear, and Amy played with all her new camera gear. Samantha kept asking her questions.

*****

Dawn and I were in the bedroom getting cleaned up for dinner.

"I looked on the internet about diving while pregnant. I am guessing you two didn't tell the instructor Amy is pregnant?"

"We didn't think there was a reason."

"If he finds out she is pregnant, he won't let her dive."

"Why?"

"Liability mostly. I read all I could find. The bottom line was it is not recommended, but that is out of caution because they really don't know. We are first trimester, so just be careful. And what I read said no dives at all that required decompression."

"Should she stop?"

"We are only two months along. Just be careful, and don't tell the instructor."

"Okay. We are going to learn how to do what they call nitrox diving. You breathe a mixture of air with more oxygen. Look into that for me."

After dinner, Amy brought the camera to me, and we went over a lot of things on it and experimented with it. We were taking some photos inside without a flash, and they were very good.

"If this works this well underwater, I think you should be able to get some good photos and video."

"I hope so."

"One more thing. Dawn looked into diving while pregnant. Don't mention you are pregnant. And we can't make any dives that require decompression."

"Is it okay for me to dive?"

"Dawn said yes, just be careful. And we may want to rethink the deep dives."

*****

Wednesday morning, we were up early because the boat left at 8:00. Dawn drove us to the shop and went in with us. There were a lot of young people picking up rental gear for the boat trip. I was glad we had bought ours. Amy showed Dawn around the shop and had her look at some masks, fins, and snorkels. The instructor came over to me.

"Good morning, James. I brought my camera and strobe for your wife to try out."

"Thanks. If she can shoot up a couple of rolls and we get them processed, she will be happy. This is one of my other wives, Dawn. She wants to get some snorkeling gear for our family that is staying with us."