See, it was smack dab in the middle of the food fishery. The days of massive amounts of cod being processed are long gone, and what is caught during the season is by ordinary folk like you and I. The easiest thing? Send the parts you don't need back into the water. Fine feeding for cunners and the like, but not so appetizing for a diver!

Immediately, once we were on the bottom, visibility was reduced to only a few feet. We were new at this, and trying to stay off the bottom probably kciked up more silt and debris than was called for. Once Earl had us all rounded up, we thankfully got on the move, and visibility wasn't so bad.

We did our skills, explored a little around the wharf and called it a dive.

That was it, we were certified! Earl congratulated all of us, and we in turn thanked him for providing a great start to our underwater adventures.

Of course, I didn't think of it too much. The fact that I was now a diver wouldn't sink in until a little later.

As we all had an extra tank of air, we decided on a little "bimble" with Earl: off the wharf and down the breakwater and back again. Truth be told, I wasn't too keen on heading back in at this particular spot. In the last training dive, there were definitely moments that made me uncomfortable, given the garbage and "whatnots" sitting on the bottom. But, I was already smitten with diving, and in the end I decided I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity... especially with some free rentals and a tank of air!

We all headed in, went down and, excuse the pun, were buoyed by the new confidence given to us by our shiny new certifications. There was an entirely different tone to this dive. The five students actually took the lead, and Earl was at the rear. Of course, we all were probably spurred by desire to be clear of the wharf, which provided conditions which Earl was surely more comfortable with. Once we hit the breakwater, the atmosphere was much more comfortable. There was much less refuse on the bottom, which wasn't entirely covered in kelp.

By and by, our little group stopped. It seemed one of the Noels was having a problem. Father and daughter started to ascend, and the Gows continued forward. I took a look back, and... no Earl! This didn't bother me, though. Earl is a certified solo diver and preaches from the Book of Self Reliance. Presumably, he saw something and stopped to show us, only to have us not notice and continue on! Sure enough, this was the case and when we had moved on, he went looking for scallops! Never a wasted opportunity!

What bothered me was this: when I turned back, the Gows were now gone, past the visibility horizon! Well, the only people I knew the location of were the Noels and then had gone up. Not willing to play the hero in the slightest, I headed up as well.

Turns out there was a mask clearing issue, which was finally resolved on the surface. Everyone checked out okay, so we decided to head back down. I'm unsure what happened, but halfway in my descent, I notice I was by myself.

That is, until I came down nearly on the erstwhile Earl! Knowing the Noels were teamed up, I decided to tag along with Earl. He, of course, was doing fair work on the scallops of Dildo, and, myself wanting to get my own license ASAP, watched him for some pointers. Now I know there's not much of a science to the whole affair. You find and take, easy as that.

The bottom near the breakwater slowly descends, and at 30 feet, we hit the thermocline. And I felt it. There must have been a 10 degree difference in a couple feet. No kidding, you'll notice the thermoclines! I felt the cold through my suit and my lips went numb. Not that it was unbearable, but you can definitely feel it. And now I know why serious divers in Newfoundland opt for the dry suit, because as Earl said "You don't get days as good as this often"... and this was just at 30 feet.

As we made our way along, I noticed the thermocline in a second way, but it took a moment. In the distance, I could see a thick dark line, and thought to myself: "My God, what is that?" Then it hit me: I was, in fact, seeing nothing. The visibility under 30 feet was magnitudes better than above 30 feet. I was just seeing the distance, in a sense. And when I looked up, I could see the murky waters above the thermocline absorbing the light.

Eventually we turned around and headed back. I barely noticed it, but during the trek ashore, we came up under a very large boat docked at the wharf. My clue: a huge shadow came over me. Earl is an experienced diver, but I knew better than to muck with overhead environments, so I danced out from under it and reconvened with Earl on the otherside (while being able to keep him in view the entire time).

Once we had made it in, we realized we were the first back! Here we were, an Ocean Quest instructor and an Ocean Quest employee out of the water first with a good bit of air left! I'm not sure whether that is irony, or a comment on how excited the other students were to be diving!

And that was my first dive as an certified Open Water Diver.

Back at Ocean Quest, Earl filled out the paper work in the lodge, giving us some pointers on our future careers as divers, and possibly as professionals like himself. We all got our temporary cards, and I set about to filling my dive log using my computer. I put Earl's name in the "Buddy/Guide/Instructor" section and asked him to sign off on the logs. For the first four, he circled "Instructor", but on the last one he circled "Buddy".

That was an important moment for me. That's when I finally realized that I was an Open Water Diver. I was now different. I had experienced something completely new and wonderful, and many more adventures now lay ahead.

It was in that moment that I knew I had arrived.