‘Always.’
He jumps down to the small deck space, taking off his shades to show me the playful sheen of his eyes. Happy and carefree, at least for a while, in his board shorts with dark hair messed up from sea water, he looks his age.
‘You can stay in your bikini for now; we’ll be shallow and the water’s warm. We’ll put you in your gear on shore and go over the basics.’
‘Hmm, and there was me thinking I’d mastered the basics.’
‘Let’s hope you’re as good at the dive basics as you are at the other basics,’ he says with a wink that makes me chuckle.
Williams makes his way ashore with two dive tanks and Carl follows with two sets of everything else. Gregory jumps into the water then holds his hands to lower me. When we reach the sand, he talks me through the equipment and very briefly how to set it up, whilst Williams and Carl catch some rays on the beach.
When Gregory feels I’ve sufficiently listened, repeated back to him and absorbed everything he has to say, and I’ve managed not to laugh at his patronising method of teaching for more than five entire minutes, he helps me into the BCD jacket. He talks me through strapping myself in with the belt around the waist and harness-type straps over the shoulders, all the while holding onto the tank and breathing apparatus attached to the inflatable jacket, taking the weight for me.
‘These things weigh a tonne,’ I say, bending forward slightly to ease the weight of four metal blocks attached to my waist by a coarse, thick material belt.
‘They won’t feel too bad in the water. Ready?’
‘Yep.’
‘All right, it’ll feel heavy when I let go of the tank. Head into the water and kneel. I’ll bring your fins.’
‘Okay. Let’s do it.’
He releases the tank and I fall back, slapstick style. ‘Holy shit, that’s heavy.’
Gregory catches me with a hearty laugh.
‘Don’t tell me you’re ready if you’re not. Ready?’
I blow out. ‘Yep. Ready now.’
‘Okay, go on,’ he laughs.
On our knees, just below the surface, Gregory teaches me how to breathe through my own regulator and switch mine with his spare if I get in trouble. That thought scares me. He shows me how to clear my mask and retrieve my regulator if it falls out of my mouth.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll be with you. I won’t let anything happen to you.’
‘I know you won’t.’
When we’re back on the boat, Carl drives us to a stick poking out of the waves, which is apparently a marker for a dive site.
‘I was out here with Bryony last week and we saw four turtles,’ Carl tells me.
‘Turtles?’ I turn to Gregory. ‘Seriously?’
He nods with a delectable smile.
‘Oh my gosh, I’ve only ever seen them in Attenborough documentaries.’
Gregory hands me a short wetsuit. ‘Put this on.’
‘Aren’t you wearing one?’
‘I’ll be fine in shorts. You might find the water cold down there, especially your first time. It’ll make the weights more comfortable on your hips, too. Dunk the suit in the water first; it’s easier to get in when it’s wet.’
‘I’ve no doubt it is,’ I say with a mischievous wink.
When I’m suited up, he makes me recite the pre-water kit checks he taught me but he does the work. ‘Big willies really are fun,’ I tell him. ‘BCD. Weights. Releases. Air and final check.’
