One more deep breath on the surface, relaxing, letting the waves rock me back and forth. Jack-knifing and one big pull with the arms, on my way.
Slow and steady kicks and the first equalization, keep the pressure up to save oxygen. Fifteen seconds and the bottom starts fading in, out of the blue. One quick glance at my watch and it tells me 15 meters, keep going slow and steady, 18, 20. The scale of the depth gauge is less exact here but it’s nearer 30 than 20. Level out and have a quick look around, 33 seconds. Let’s go up.

Kick away and let my body rise up, cursing myself about using the weight-belt, a couple of more kicks, damn it’s heavy, starting to push harder, much better, now progress is made.
Looking down at my arm again, 5meters, starting to relax as my whole world fills with light as the surface get close enough to touch, one more kick. Air! Damn, new record and closer to my goal of 30 meters. Cursing my self again about not bringing the GoPro to document it and not leaving the weight-belt in the dingy.

So we’re in St Lucia right now, heading back south for St Vincent. Not bad place, good snorkeling, lot’s of tourism and boatboys but when they find out we don’t want a banana leaf-hat or “de bieest ganja in the Caribbean, bobmallay usede to smioke dis Mon” they leave us alone after selling us some overpriced bananas. Easy dollars are easy spent. EC$ (Eastern Caribbean) looks cute with flowers and fishes on and the coins are made in aluminum so it’s almost monopoly money one parts with on a steady basis.

But as the sun sets and paints the Pitons orange before crashing into the sea at least I realize that we’re actually where we should be. We’re halfway there, only need to get back home later. Only the fun part left, carnival, Antigua’s sailing weeks, BVI, Bermuda and the Azores. But now we’re here and we’ve got no time to keep before the Carnival down in T&T..