Never Give Up

PROLOGUE I was holding on to a large rock at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, and I did not know where I was. I watched as the swift moving current rushed past me like a supersonic airliner. There was nothing that I could do but hold on for dear life. My first thought was to get to the surface as quickly as possible without getting the bends, which is a diver’s worst nightmare. When I finally reached the top of the ocean I looked around for the dive boat and I could see it bobbing in the distance which at that time I estimated to be about a mile away. I said to myself “ Oh shoot I am in a bit of trouble” I wasn’t too worried at that time because I knew that my friends would not leave me in this big wide ocean but I had to figure out how to get them to see me, I took out my whistle and blew it as loud as I could, Nothing happened. Then I waved my dive gun in the air. Once more nothing happened. I did not see my two dive buddies, so I did not know if they were still underwater searching for me or if they were on the dive boat. Our buddy code was to immediately begin to search for a missing diver who disappeared from sight. My immediate thought was that they were still looking for me around the reefs and then they would realize that something had gone terribly wrong I was competing with the gushing sounds of the waves so I knew that they most likely could not hear the whistle. I did not have a satellite phone on me because I could not afford one at the time. Fortunately, the ocean currents on the surface were not as swift as the current at the bottom of the ocean. There were no big waves around that would submerge me and I still had a full tank of oxygen. As an experienced diver I thought that I would keep treading in the water and the boat would eventually come around and get me. I estimated that the time was around 10 am or thereabout so there was a long period of sunlight for a boat and searchers to locate me. I knew that if they did not find me immediately, the other divers would contact the Coast Guard to mount a search for me. The coastline of Trinidad was visible in the far distance so that gave me a sense of hope.