(Badwater Bill) wrote

It was the ultimate toy on floats. Until one day I was initiating a
water-tko and a boat ran in front of me making a large wave. I
aborted the tko, hit the wave and went over backward. As I capsized
backward I saw the surface of the water move away from my face as I
was dragged underwater. If you guys recall, the weight shift
Quicksilvers had two straps that held you in, one around each thigh.
They used a plastic disconnect that was rather hard to undo. As I was
5 feet under water and trapped in that seat I reached down for the
release and had a problem with it. I remember thinking to myself,
"You have one shot at this mutha. Just hold your breath, be
methodical, go slow and be deliberate. If you don't?you get to die
today.

I slowly unsnapped the left one, then reached over for the right one.
It was all in the dark at this point, I was 10 feet under water. The
right one wouldn't disconnect. I sighed in my mind's eye, and took a
second shot at it. Bingo, I was free. I swam away from the seat and
up to the surface. That was 24 years ago. Every day has been a free
day since that day.

Except today, since you posted it in RAH. I'll point it out before
"Anonymous Al" does: Your five minutes under water can not be logged
as floatplane time. This .05 hr time must go in the submarine column.
But since you were not checked out in the Navy as an underwater
diver, you must subtract another 30 seconds because the time you swam
to the surface without a vehicle attached to your ass was unloggable.
Let's get the experience straight for godsakes.

pac "analanonymous" plyer