The next level

(Referring to another level of diving perfection.)

A Position Paper

Presented by myself

May 21st, 2002

Forty years ago this date, the reefs of Bonaire were put on the market to the public. There were over seventy miles of pristine reefs, where less than half were made available.

There is an island mythology which says, "Captain Don: You have been trusted with Bonaire's most precious possession, her virgin reefs. However, until you and yours have proven your attitude and underwater skills, no more than half the reefs shall be made available to you."

Now, after nearly a half of a century, you underwater people have earned new consideration. You have proven that your trespass has left no mark. So commencing immediately, you are granted permission to venture out into the supreme waters that lay to the east. Corals which lay protected under mountainous waves and protected by white water shores.

This mythology has never been argued. And it has been translated that divers having now passed the first half century test are being offered the best part of it all: The next level: Thirty miles of un-dove, un-seen, nu-venture reefs.

The next level races back into the past. Wild water diving will become vogue. The thrill of the inflatable boat. Nu-diving skills pushed to the edge. To actually bcome a part of the element, not just a prisoner of your gear. To know and understand what it is to actually enter the every portal of life itself.

The next level of certification is waiting for the return of the real diver.

The venture of opening the weather coast to the dive is not be to taken lightly. I have not had any grander illocutions as I suggest that opening the weather coast will be a challenge of the first degree. As this program gets underway, it will be likely that there will be accidents. And if not approached corretly, it could wind up being extremely dangerous.

I speak of the wave piercing skills from New Zealand. Not just any old boat, but a special inflatable from Avon. When I speak of "Cling Equipment", I refer to a special attitude applied to diving gear that cannot encumber the body. The moorings, too, need a great deal of consideration. There are no moorings today that are apropriate for the job that needs doing in a pristeen reef.

I foresee a specialty course, not only for the physical skill required for such a venture, but also for the attitude of the divers who will be entering a reef system that is still virgin.

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