Читать книгу Into the Abyss. Diving to Adventure in the Liquid World онлайн

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Since purchasing my Aberglen Gordon 5 metre inflatable dive boat in 1984 I had learned quickly how to handle it, how to launch and retrieve it, how to drop divers in the right place and how to recover them safely from the water. But with hindsight my sea-craft was still in its infancy and I had had no formal training. None is legally required in the UK although the Royal Yachting Association does offer very good courses.

I bought a pair of second hand wooden water skis and soon found that learning to water ski was hard work, but exhilarating. At first I spent a lot of time floating in the water – being pulled up eventually to last upright for only a second or two, before crashing back down into the water in an explosion of froth and foam.

The theory was simple enough. Float in a sitting position, knees up at chest and get the tips of the skis out of the water. The boat should circle towing the water ski rope, which would gradually close in. Grabbing the rope it could be flicked over a ski until it was in a comfortable central position between the skis. The boat would move forward slowly until the slack was taken up – then a lusty cry of “Hit it!” was the signal for the cox to gun the throttle. The boat would surge through the water, pulling at the skier. The effect of the skis pushing against the oncoming water would start to raise the skier out of the water.