Read Online 09-Twelve Mile Limit by Randy Wayne White - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Randy Wayne White
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really liked Janet, she said. We hit it off the first time we met. She is … Janet was the sort of woman you know you can trust after just talking to her for a few minutes. With her, there wasnt going to be any of that catty crap that so many men and women pull. No bitching, no whining. Right away, just being with her a couple of days, I was thinking that the two of us could start doing some dive trips together. Maybe some of you know, but good dive partners are hard to find. Especially women divers, the independent types willing to do some traveling.
Before they got in the water, according to Gardner, Sanford told them that one of the rules of diving is that you never go off and leave a boat unattended. But, because the Baja California was so deepit was in 110 feet of waterthe divers would only have about fifteen minutes of bottom time, so maybe it was actually safer for them all to go at once. It might be wiser to have four divers together on that deep wreck than go in two isolated sets.
Its not like Michael called for a vote or anything, Amelia said. But nobody stood up and said, Hey, absolutely not. Someone has to stay in the boat. Ive seen other divers go off and leave their boats lots of times, and, the sad thing is, it was the first time Id ever been with a group who did it.
We were fifty miles offshore, there werent any other boats around, and I, or Janet, or Grace, should have put a foot down. It wasnt just Michaels fault. We all screwed up. But that mistake we made … Amelia laced her fingers together and bowed her head slightly. That mistake, leaving the boat alone, its when things really started to go south. We had the dive flag up and it never entered our minds that, in fifteen minutes, so much could go wrong.
The four entered the water together, but when they got to a depth of about thirty feet, Grace Walker indicated that she was having trouble equalizing the pressure in her ears. We followed Michael and Grace up to ten feet or so and waited until she decided to try it again. But Graces ears were still hurting her, I could tell. Michael indicated that he and Grace were going to return to the boat, and I signaled okay. Janet and I watched them go to the surface, then we continued our dive.
Gardner told us that she and Janet spent approximately thirteen minutes on the wreck, then started back up. When they were fifteen feet from the surface, they made a safety decompression stop of about three minutes. Then they surfaced. Gardner said she was shocked by what she saw.
Only about three feet of the boats bow was sticking out of the water, and it was capsized. I couldnt believe it. Janet was in shock, too, and we started swimming toward the boat. We couldnt see Michael or Grace, and Janet started yelling out Michaels name. Michael finally answered, but we still couldnt see them because of the waves. The seas were running about four feet now which, as I told you, meant they were eight feet high or so from the trough. When youre out there swimming … when youre out there alone in the water, trying to swim, you spend a lot of time in the trough.
I didnt realize how quiet it had become until Amelia paused, then stretched her legs cat-like, giving herself some time, perhaps, to regain emotional control. There was a light breeze drifting out of the mangrove bog from the southwest, carrying the tumid odors of sulfur, tannin, iodine, and salt. The breeze touched the halyards of sailboats, caused a random, indifferent tapping, and carried across the water the sump-sound of the pump to my big fish tank.
No one was talking now. There was no fidgeting. All attention was on Amelia Gardner and the words her lips formed, everyone seeing the scene, the slow tragedy of it recreating itself inside the minds of us all.
She said, Janet swam straight to the boat while I swam toward Michaels voice. When I got closer, I could see Michael and Grace in
Before they got in the water, according to Gardner, Sanford told them that one of the rules of diving is that you never go off and leave a boat unattended. But, because the Baja California was so deepit was in 110 feet of waterthe divers would only have about fifteen minutes of bottom time, so maybe it was actually safer for them all to go at once. It might be wiser to have four divers together on that deep wreck than go in two isolated sets.
Its not like Michael called for a vote or anything, Amelia said. But nobody stood up and said, Hey, absolutely not. Someone has to stay in the boat. Ive seen other divers go off and leave their boats lots of times, and, the sad thing is, it was the first time Id ever been with a group who did it.
We were fifty miles offshore, there werent any other boats around, and I, or Janet, or Grace, should have put a foot down. It wasnt just Michaels fault. We all screwed up. But that mistake we made … Amelia laced her fingers together and bowed her head slightly. That mistake, leaving the boat alone, its when things really started to go south. We had the dive flag up and it never entered our minds that, in fifteen minutes, so much could go wrong.
The four entered the water together, but when they got to a depth of about thirty feet, Grace Walker indicated that she was having trouble equalizing the pressure in her ears. We followed Michael and Grace up to ten feet or so and waited until she decided to try it again. But Graces ears were still hurting her, I could tell. Michael indicated that he and Grace were going to return to the boat, and I signaled okay. Janet and I watched them go to the surface, then we continued our dive.
Gardner told us that she and Janet spent approximately thirteen minutes on the wreck, then started back up. When they were fifteen feet from the surface, they made a safety decompression stop of about three minutes. Then they surfaced. Gardner said she was shocked by what she saw.
Only about three feet of the boats bow was sticking out of the water, and it was capsized. I couldnt believe it. Janet was in shock, too, and we started swimming toward the boat. We couldnt see Michael or Grace, and Janet started yelling out Michaels name. Michael finally answered, but we still couldnt see them because of the waves. The seas were running about four feet now which, as I told you, meant they were eight feet high or so from the trough. When youre out there swimming … when youre out there alone in the water, trying to swim, you spend a lot of time in the trough.
I didnt realize how quiet it had become until Amelia paused, then stretched her legs cat-like, giving herself some time, perhaps, to regain emotional control. There was a light breeze drifting out of the mangrove bog from the southwest, carrying the tumid odors of sulfur, tannin, iodine, and salt. The breeze touched the halyards of sailboats, caused a random, indifferent tapping, and carried across the water the sump-sound of the pump to my big fish tank.
No one was talking now. There was no fidgeting. All attention was on Amelia Gardner and the words her lips formed, everyone seeing the scene, the slow tragedy of it recreating itself inside the minds of us all.
She said, Janet swam straight to the boat while I swam toward Michaels voice. When I got closer, I could see Michael and Grace in
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