Day Eighteen & Nineteen

Back to work after my two fabulous days off! Yesterday (Thursday) was supposed to be a full-on cruise ship day but it turned out that one of the ships cancelled claiming an email had been sent but we knew nothing of this. The second cruise ship were supposed to have a fair few certified divers but Jeff and I ended up with 2 Discover Scuba Divers. So as with all DSD's we take them over to Cooper Island to do their skills and education stuff right off the beach. As I had spent almost all afternoon with Bella yesterday she comes bounding over to me when we pull into the dock on Atlantis (one of the smaller boats) and proceeds to jump on board as Jeff is going through the education! I manage to drag her off while I take all the gear to the water's edge. One of the divers had never snorkelled before and was having a lot of issues with getting used to the gear so he didn't end up doing the dive at all. I basically walked around the shallows of the water with him holding my hands so he could get used to breathing through the regulator. He didn't feel comfortable enough to do the dive and as he hadn't completed the required skills anyway we couldn't let him do it. So he sat with me on the boat when we took the remaining diver to the Rhone for her dive.
The afternoon we had a family of 4 and another guy who also dived the Rhone. Two of the family hadn't dived much before and had brand new kit too so it all had to be set up to fit the tanks. One of the BCD's was a Scubapro and their clasp system to keep it attached to the tank is not friendly! It took a great big bite out of my thumb and I almost bled all over the ladies new kit!! Not good. It has been stinging ever since - especially when I get it wet and boy does that happen a lot in this position!! :)
The father of the family lost his new snorkel when he was climbing out so someone out there is going to find themselves a new piece of kit. We dropped them back at Cooper and then headed back to base. Courtney had band practice again last night for their gig on Saturday and I just headed to the apartment for some food and a long shower - I was barely in the water much today but I seem to get even saltier when that happens!
Today was another cruise ship day and Dale, Neil and I were on Discovery with 8 DSD's. So again over to Cooper and then the Rhone. This afternoon I was on base again and so I had Neil show me how to service a regulator. All the bits you need come in a kit ordered from the manufacturer but in this case one of the mouthpieces plastic covers had cracked so no wonder the owner thought it was leaking! As they are not kept in stock it can't be totally repaired so will have to go back to the owner so he can decide what to do with it.
I've been wearing my seasick bands as usual but on some days I really feel like I'm going to hurl overboard! It seems to happen mostly at the Rhone. I don't know whether it's beacuse of its sort-of exposed position - it sits right at the edge of Salt Island and so consequently any waves are crashing onto the rocks and then around into the mooring field. When you're diving it is almost always ok down below but on the surface you're bouncing around like a cork! I'm usually fine when the boat is in motion en route to whichever site but as soon as we tie up that's when the ugh-ness starts to kick in. I can see myself becoming a land-based instructor at this rate! :)
I've been offered a position with a company based in Cyprus on completion of their Instructor course. I need to book and pay a deposit before the end of this month to get 10% off the price. I can afford to do the course but at this stage without selling my car I won't be able to get myself kitted out and pay for the exam fees and some books that are required. As the course starts on April 21 I'm not sure if that will give me enough time to get back home, get the car sold and get everything I need and then get over to Cyprus a few days before it starts to settle in. I'm wondering if the company will take me on without being an Instructor (in a similar capacity to what I'm doing now) so I can maybe take the course and exam at a later date and thereby gain more experience in the meantime.
As much as I've enjoyed my few weeks here I do wonder if it's been enough time to decide if it's for me. Some days are totally great, lots of fun and the customers are fab but then obviously other days aren't so good and I get back to the apartment totally exhausted and feeling well beyond my age, thinking can I handle another 5+ years of doing this every day? I definitely feel a lot worse when those ugh-y sick feelings kick in. I know it's supposed to pass the more time you're out on the water but how long does that take? :)
Anyway that's all for now. Hope everyone is well
Hugs
H x