I WAS DROWNING AND NO ONE COULD HELP
This was possibly my third or maybe fourth-time scuba diving in the cold, dark waters of the English Channel. I was with a group of experienced divers so felt quite safe and was happy to follow their lead…. I mean what could possibly go wrong?
The first thing that went wrong…
We bounced out to sea on an inflatable rib, using GPS and a fish finder to locate the wreck we would dive on. The water was quite rough, and I clung to the safety rope to stop being tipped over.
Because the sea was rough it took much longer than expected to find the wreck and drop the shot line (a rope we would follow down 20 meters or so to the wreck). Eventually, we secured the rope and prepared to dive.
My buddy dropped into the water first and I followed, doing the typical backward roll, I love that first splash of cold water!
However, as we descended the shot line it was clear that we had left it too late. A strong tide was running making it difficult to descend. As we reach the bottom and swam for the lee of the wreck the tide fought against us. As we struggled against it, we were quickly getting exhausted and it was clear we would not make it.
My dive buddy signalled that we should abandon the dive and we let the tide quickly push us back to the line.
The second thing that went wrong…
As we slowly ascended, we had to grip tightly on the line with both hands
About halfway up an air inlet valve in my dry suit got stuck open. A dry suit is a waterproof, airtight suit used for diving in cold waters. Mine was now filling up like a giant balloon, causing me to turn upside down as I clung to the line to stop myself from shooting to the surface and risking the bends.
I began to feel a tinge of panic.
Fortunately, my dive buddy quickly disconnected the air hose and turned me the right way up as I vented the excess air out through my sleeve valve!
I checked my gauges, 50 bar left, not ideal, but enough to allow me to do my safety stop and finish the dive. I was relieved.
They say bad news comes in threes!
As I finally broke the surface, I was surprised to see just how bad the weather had turned in such a short time. The wind was raging, and the waves were frothing with white caps. Lifting me high before suddenly dropping me back down. It was like being on a roller coaster.
In my inexperience, I immediately spat out my regulator (the thing you breathe through underwater) to replace it with my snorkel, bad move!
The waves battered me, causing me to swallow mouthfuls of water, and I was feeling very sick. As I battled to replace my regulator, I got tangled in the buoy lines.
I was now in full panic; I was flaying around so badly that my buddy could not get near me.
I was tangled, swallowing water and drowning. I knew I was going to die.
It was at that moment that two things happened all at once,
1: The guys in the rib saw I was distressed and powered over the waves to power directly towards me through the waves
2: I finally located and replaced my regulator and started to breathe deeply
The result of those two things was that I immediately felt safe, I know all I had to do was breathe through my regulator and they would get me untangled.
I lay still, face down in the water and checked my gauge .. 2 bars!
They thought I was dead
In the rib, there was a sense of doom. The body that had been thrashing around was now laying limp in the water. They thought I had gone!
As they pulled me into the rib and administered oxygen.
It was unclear who was more relieved, me, to be safe or them, for not having to fill in a death report!
I am happy to say I have had many, many happy dives since that day!
So why do I tell you all this?
Well, I know that when I first started in affiliate marketing it felt as if everything was going wrong.
I was spending money on tools to help me succeed, and getting nowhere
I was spending time writing blogs, and Facebook posts and getting no response.
I was drowning in despair, feeling like I had wasted good money and precious time on a pipedream leading nowhere.
I was fortunate to find a boat load of help….
First, I found a mentor to help me through the process of affiliate marketing, showing me how to effectively promote online.
Then I found a coach who taught me how to build and sell my own products using affiliates to sell for me.
I now feel that I have finally got my head above water and can start to make some real progress.
If you feel that you are struggling, do let me know how I can help.
And if you want to know about either of my mentors then:
Check out Dean Holland’s book
Or sign up for John’s Webinar