You've got to map it map it

Lots of reading everyday which caused us to have to wake up at 5:30 AM to complete a bit of reading prior to our 8:30 AM start at the dive shop. Today we will be mapping a dive site. I took this as an opportunity to pretend to be an early world discoverer that had to map out a new area of the pacific to claim as their own passage. I really don't think the others shared in my sense of adventure. After a short briefing, our team consisting of 5 males and myself were off to have our first look over the area. It was decided by the group that we would first explore the area from the top via snorkeling to get a broad view and then get a closer look at the details by scuba diving. My first sketch was a mess, I started too far over on my slate and there is no way I would later be able to make any sense of what I had drawn. Adapting to the project and the realization that I needed a new method I tried again on an extra slate I had. My new tactic to choose a center point and work around that was a far better method. Soon our 60 minute time limit was up and we had to surface. Most of us then went for lunch at a local eattery where we were advised to order the curry. I had fish curry and Jeff had chicken curry but I made the mistake of ordering the fries instead of rice. The curry and fish was excellent yet where is a culvers when you need one? I had really been craving dipping something in ketchup, sounds silly but I have seen bottles of ketchup and I have just been waiting to order something that I would get to use ketchup on. The fries I received were greasy with oil, not crispy, kinda limp, and they did not bring me any ketchup. I soaked them in my left over curry sauce and tried not to pout. During my french fry disaster the boys were still talking over the plan for our next trip out to the dive site to formally map it. I eventually had to tune them out for the sake of not conveying how riduculous they sounded. They all just went around in circles, changing the plan, coming up with plans that were the complete inverse of the other, and evidently not really listening to the others. It was seriously like being on a reality show where the group is told to work together yet everyone is attached to their own idea with no regard to anyone else's idea. When we got back to the dive shop we found out that we had missed a discussion with our dive master instructors, if 5 out of the 6 interns are not aware of the discussion does that point at a miscommunication or failure to follow direction? Anyways, the instructors wanted us to verbally convey the plan to the group to ensure we were all on the same page. This did not go over well at all but ended up as a scramble of thoughts without a cohesive underlining plan. The instructors did not appear at all enthused. Off to the dive site it is, except now that it is later in the day we had a change of current due to the switching tides. Our dive site that at 10 AM was clam had now (3PM) changed to a strong south east current. On top of that we also had issues with the dive boat's rudder that seemed to only pull in one direction. After a fight with the rudder and some clever fixing tactics with the scarce tools available it was time to anchor the boat and jump in. If this was a fun dive the current would have been less of an issue as we would have swam into the current for a bit and then drifted along with the current for the remainder and as long as the boat could pick us up, we could complete a fine dive. Instead we were supposed to map, our plan entailed to first snorkel the perimeter as we did that morning but the current did not allow us to get far, no matter how hard we swam. The current is usually easier to overcome underwater with the shelter of coral reefs and rock structures so we changed the plan and all went under. As we swam through the underwater paths between the rocks we were making some head away or so I thought, until I turned around to check on my buddy (Jeff) and realized all the boys were holding on to the anchor line. I joined the group and then someone motioned to go up, we were aborting the dive. There was some surprise and disapproval felt from the instructors as we all flopped back onto the boat. Later back at the shop we realized during our debriefing that the disproval was not necessarily for calling off the dive but instead for our scatter brained plan and lack of working together. Tomorrow we would get another opportunity to map the area and we were informed to have a better plan. I had made a decent map from the morning and sketched this out on a piece of paper so the rest of the group would be able to follow my drawing. As we looked over some of the other diver's drawings and found several similarities making it evident we had a good start. I then took over as the leader, as Jeff pointed out, and wrote up what each group would attempt to measure or take compass readings of on the next dive so that we could take our sketch to the next level of accuracy. It was now about 7 PM and I was still wet/humid and had not been back to the room since the morning. Desperate for a shower I still could not leave the shop until I saw Peter complete his snorkel test. The snorkel test is the last check off before the diver receives his or her divemaster badge. Peter, who had struggled a bit during the course, was eagerly awaiting the completion of his last test. It was not until almost 9PM before the time had come for Peter to put his mask on as Penelope filled a bucket with a mix of spirits and a little soda then poured it into the funnel mounted on the snorkel. Peter completed the snorkel test like a champ and after a few congratulations, Jeff and I were off to bed.