5 Louis - 2 years ago
Four months before the sweet age of 56, I set out to conquer my life-long fear of drowning and make my first-ever free-swim in an open body of water. Oh, and it was last year that I learned how to swim!
On my second journey to South Africa, and second excursion with SharkLady Kim McLean, I was set up with Wicked Tuna South Africa where Skipper Glynn Channer and his crew gave me the experience of a lifetime. It was January 2020, off the coast of Hermanus, I went feet first through and past my lifelong fear into the depths of the Blow Hole. First time out we were in for 40 minutes, took a fresh-water break, and then dove for another 60 minutes! My dive instructor Armand Coetzer put me so at ease. Armand, and my swim coach back here in the States, Sydney, told me how remarkable it was for any swimmer, let alone a beginner, to stay that long in the ocean. This was my ninth sojourn to Africa and its peoples and places stay forever etched on my soul. I hope to return in May 2021 to dive again with no one other than SharkLady Kim and the Wicked Tuna South Africa crew. - Louis D.
