Here I am on the right side of the photo
(1974, Benbecula, Scotland)
We have some amazing women who join us on AdventureWomen trips!
One of them, Angela Weathers, came on one of our Caribbean Sail, Snorkel, and Scuba Diving trip in the British Virgin Islands.Angela is an incredible role model for all women! Here is her inspirational story:
“In 1974 I went to live for 3 years in Benbecula, one of the islands in the Outer Hebrides off the West Coast of Scotland with my husband and 2 small children. There wasn’t a lot there to keep a person like myself busy or entertained since I wasn’t totally into fishing or bird watching. So I decided to take up scuba diving. It was a challenge and the local scuba group wanted to encourage more women to learn to dive, so I suppose they thought that if I could do it anyone could.My husband encouraged me in my endeavor and gave me a wet suit for Christmas that year. The wet suit was a do-it-yourself kit. Two pieces, as far as I can remember, and I simply lay down on the floor while a friend cut the neoprene around my body to make a snug fit, then we just stuck it together with the glue provided. I also had boots, hat and gloves.I did my dive training according to the British Sub Aqua Club training program. The British Sub aqua club has been the UK’s leading dive club and the sport’s National Governing Body since 1953, providing an internationally-recognized diver training and development program via a network of clubs and centers across the UK and overseas.
And here I am in the middle.
It was January and, although it never gets really cold in the Hebrides because of the gulf stream that flows down the west coast, it is almost always windy, and usually raining. Not a lot to see under the water except for a few lobsters and seals and sea urchins. Our tests were carried out in a small loch and the open water tests were done in a larger loch where we entered the water from a small dingy.
Once a diver always a diver and a diving certification lasts a lifetime. However, after almost 40 years, I thought that there probably had been enough changes within the sport and equipment that it would be a good idea to get re-certified with PADI. I took my confined water tests through my local dive shop in Maryland. They were very similar to the tests I had done in Scotland. I also stepped up my exercise routine, doing pilates, lifting weights and doing aerobics at my gym.
Angela Weathers (C) ready to go diving on the BVI Sailing, Snorkeling & Scuba Diving on the Cuan Law in March 2010
I completed my open water diver certification on the AdventureWomen Caribbean vacation in 2010 by diving from the Cuan Law with great people and support. That’s me (below) in the middle, with my dive instructor on the left, and Mel Carney, who also got certified, on the right.
Seeing all the marine life in the Caribbean and diving the numerous wrecks around the shores was awesome and well worth the work it took for me to get back to diving. I’ll be back again next year!”
