Jo's Testimonial

Jo and Sherry smiling
on the plan to paradise
- Belize!

To all Eels everywhere, thank you! Thank you for the vision, and thank you for your personal efforts organizing and planning scuba trips, certifying divers, and crewing events. I think you have added ten years to my life and a spring in my step each day.

Susan Jackson had put the idea in our heads. She did some excellent pool work with Doug and taught us so much about how to really utilize pool therapy for Doug. When we began to explore the Eels organization the monthly meeting was a party at Davin’s house followed by the Imax get-together the following month. We felt very welcomed by everyone. Davin began to answer many questions we had about how in the world we could get certified and do something as ambitious as go on an Eels trip.

Davin and Chad set aside time in their busy schedules to work on our certification. Doug took to it like a fish. Chad was his usual exuberant bundle of energy and gave Doug his blessing, "You are golden". I however, was not. I was dealing with submersion anxiety. By the middle of the second day, I had had enough. I announced in tears that I was trying very hard to do this for Doug, but I was not so sure I wanted to or could finish the certification. Davin told me to let go of that thought. He said they would take care of Doug, and I could enjoy the trip in what ever manner was comfortable to me. He said some travel companions just snorkel and others just stay by the pool. He agreed to give me some additional shorter lessons to get me ready for the open water ! dive that was scheduled, donating more of his precious time to making it work. He also came over to our house to do final reviews and give Doug and me the written test.

Davin was out of town the weekend of our open water dives at Lake Travis. Chad came in from Galveston and Tammy and Tracy came in from Corpus. I was apprehensive about not having Davin there, but only until we showed up and got started. Tammy was encouraging and patient. By Sunday I was actually looking forward to diving! By the second dive on Sunday I didn’t cling to the surface trying to psych myself up for the plunge. I think by the end of the day Chad pronounced us both golden.

Jo smiling.

If I had any questions about taking the plunge on that first day in Belize, the choppy swells and engine fumes wiped that out. I took the plunge away from sea-sickness to the beautiful calm world of the reefs. John-Jack was attentive and took good care of me. He was a perfect dive partner, loosely independent but always there when you needed. Often when I got lost in my own little world for a few minutes and then looked up he would be ready to point the way. After the first day Chad told me I fit in well with the paras because I just used my arms to swim up to things. Well, monkey see, monkey do. I started watching everyone more, learning how to improve my style, checking out what others were seeing, and making sure everyone was OK. Sometimes I looked closely at things watching behavior and peeri! ng into holes. Sometimes I swam with fish, caught up in their shimmering colors. Sometimes I looked over broad expanses to see what I could discover. I became one with the sea.

Rocky led us through the adventures of the day over and through canyons, even some dive-throughs. At one canyon Kiran, Joe, and Chad swam through the lower dive-through while I followed along above showered by bubbles that burst through holes in the tunnel. Chad had a tight squeeze to get through at the end. I sat on a rock and waited, ready to assist if needed. Another time most of us went through a dive through, Jill was there to film it. I was waiting for each person to come through. Joe and Kiran emerged one after the other, one of the rare instances in which these two dive partners could be seen together. Jill and I were left behind waiting for Chad. After a long interval I finally looked around and saw him swimming by above us and pointed him out to Jill.

I really enjoyed our boatful of people. Everyone but Doug and I were seasoned veterans. Joe, "I don’t want no stinken help", Murphy kept us entertained. Kiran was cosmically peaceful and unflappable even when being harassed by Joe’s infamous song. Luckily, Joe eventually traded his refrain of 'Kiran has a head like a ping-pong ball’ to ‘Rocky has a belly full of Belikin’ due to his running bets with our dive master. Davin, Chad, Rocky and crew did yeoman’s work getting divers in and out of the water and on and off the boat. Most days Kiran was out of the water first and Joe last. Davin, Chad, and Doug came out second. I guess it takes a lot of air to push someone around especially if they are vertical most of the time. It is unbelievable that 2 guys who obviously enjoy diving a! re willing to spend the dive assisting someone else instead of just grooving on their own experience.

I still don’t understand why so many people donate so much time and effort to others in this way. I can’t truly speak for Doug about what the experience meant to him. I know that the rigors of travel were very hard on him physically and at times emotionally difficult. He was so in to bicycling. He worked hard and became fit and skilled. It has to be wonderful to participate in scuba, but difficult still to live with the compromises of his injury. It was a time of adventure and personal growth.

I can speak to what this trip meant to me as a care taker. It is the biggest break in cabin fever I have had in the last 4 years since Doug’s injury. The week-long experience of eat, sleep, and dive was physically and emotionally rejuvenating. I have always found travel to be good for my soul. Travel to Belize was awesome!

Many thanks and love,

Jo