Mild wasn’t too comfortable swimming, but she wanted to see the reef.
The Dive Master made it possible.
The Dive Master was exactly that: he held the highest PADI certification and possessed multiple decades of experience diving in complicated situations and training others to do so.
But on this day he took the uncertain Mild for tours of several reefs. Outfitted with a life jacket for extra security, she gripped a donut-shaped life ring, and the Dive Master towed her back and forth across the coral and in search of the black-tipped sharks the other guide had spotted. It was not complicated, and it was way below his certification.
But he was much more than a motor. He interpreted for Mild what she was seeing. He free dove with her GoPro to get closer video of the venomous snake swimming below. They chatted and laughed. She spoke loudly so he could hear through his eardrums damaged over all those years of diving. He built her confidence over several swims during the day, and the two of them built a lovely bond, Mild and the Dive Master.