In association with Performance FreeDiving International
I arrived this afternoon on Grand Cayman via a red-eye flight from Vancouver to Toronto and a morning flight to Cayman. Despite feeling groggy and sleep-deprived, the trip went pretty well with only a minor delay in Toronto to de-ice the plane.
Snow and slush soon become a distant memory, although inclement weather is still a factor in warm, sunny Cayman. As the plane drops through the clouds I can see white caps all around. I’m feeling apprehensive about the diving conditions.
Mandy’s is the first familiar face I see at the airport. As I semi-expected, diving has been cancelled today due to the rough weather. Mandy, Kirk and Peter quickly whisk me off to lunch and then to home base at the Cobalt Coast Resort. At the resort we meet up with Goh, our videographer and the deep safety team, Spencer, Dave and Bill. I know all these guys from previous competitions back in Canada. I have actually known Bill Coltart for years in several capacities ranging from dive store operator, paramedic, to Safety Supervisor at the 2004 Worlds.
With all of the Variable Ballast dives going on, the deep safety guys are really racking up the hours. Both Bill and Spencer have had dives here lasting well over three hours! We’ve got an A-class support team here and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.
My own role will be a combination of freedive safety diver, underwater videographer and webmaster. I’ve done lots of all of these things back in Vancouver, but none of them away from home.
The webmaster role occupies most of my time today as I try to figure out how to keep the site up to date using Goh’s second computer. The wireless connection only works at the bar, so I’m here getting all my software installed and working while the barman’s in front of me and the waves are crashing on shore just 40m away. It’s a strange bar, with more notebook computers than drinks in sight. So, this is where Kirk has been typing all of his daily reports …
I’m looking forward to the next two weeks. I just need to get a good night’s sleep to be ready for tomorrow.
