There is a certain anticipation, a longing, a curiosity, a tinge of fear, heightened awareness of life and the world around you associated with SCUBA diving. Those feelings only grow as you approach dive time. Your body prepares itself to be hyper-aware, your senses perk, you suddenly think about things that come naturally such as breathing and appendage movement. All systems are go and every endorphin your body has is released into your bloodstream.

And then it happens.

A fin strap snaps. A tank leaks. A mask cracks. And its over.

Yet... those endorphins, that feeling your body released in preparation for a life-threatening situation, they remain. Like Regan's demon, it has to be exorcised. The only way to do that is to dive.

My last two planned dives failed pretty miserably. In Ecuador Cameron and I had planned to dive the entire bay at Salango in hopes of plotting some underwater archaeological material. When we got there and saw the state of the water (high current, horribly murky, zero vis) we realized that might not happen, but decided to give it a go. On a side note, this is an area of murky water known for Hammerhead sharks in a bay in which a cat food factory dumps fish gut chum. Im just saying. Anyway, we head to town to get gear that was last used in 1974 and haul it and tanks back on a rickety tuk-tuk. Dive #1: my air hose has a massive leak, spewing bubbles into the water. No dive for me. Dive #2 (new set-up): AGAIN, my hose has a massive air leak. No dive. That was the end of diving in Ecuador.

Next up: December winter diving in Hood Canal, Washington. Cameron and I had been diving here before and we figured we would get in a nice, cold dive before heading south to see the families for Christmas. Upon arriving in Hoodsport something looked terribly amiss in the water. What was that? Ice? Yes, the sea water had frozen solid. We waited it out one day hoping it would melt off, but after stories of regulator free flow (which happens at temperatures below freezing and is not a good thing) we decided to pack it in and head south early.

So, I have stored up within me many, many diving endorphins just waiting to be released.

Next question: where to??