Skydiving

I found a shoebox full of old photos the other day, most of which had never been converted to a digital format. It's been fun looking through them and reminiscing. I especially loved finding evidence of my first skydiving adventure, in Hawaii. (I've since been skydiving in California and Puerto Rico.)

A group of Coast Guard friends went with us to the North Shore of Oahu to a small airport there. My classmate Jay and I were the only two who actually wanted to jump, but the others figured they would like to be in the audience. I'm not sure at what point I discovered I'd locked my keys in the car, but that was a stressful discovery. Luckily, a couple of those friends volunteered to drive 45 minutes one way to get my spare set. It might have even been further than that, because 45 minutes is if my keys were at home; they may have been on the ship. The friends who made that trek for me may not have witnessed the actual jump; I don't know.

I remember being very calm and collected through the safety brief. My instructor went over the gear and maneuvers with me, and made sure I had a good understanding of the process, particularly exiting the aircraft and approaching the landing. I had no problems getting into the plane or hooking up to the instructor, though I anticipated some nerves as it got closer to time to jump, especially since we were supposed to go first. Surprisingly, I wasn't anxious at all! I remember feeling exhilarated during the entire plane ride, happily observing the view; we could see pretty much the entire island. And when it was time to approach the door and jump, I was ready!

Without hesitation, we jumped. It was loud, cold, and disorienting. I'm not sure how long we were in a freefall, but we jumped from about 12,000 feet I think and didn't pull until around 5,000 feet (if memory serves) so it was a few seconds. I wasn't too crazy about that part. I remember the wind buffeting my face and the pictures turned out pretty funny. I laughed and smiled most of the way down.

What I really loved was drifting toward the earth after the parachute opened - which I got to pull, by the way. My instructor even let me pull the cords to turn the chute. I could see the ocean, and even some sharks in the water, and I spotted my car parked at the airport. ("There's my car!" "No way, you cannot possibly distinguish your car from this height." "It's the yellow one." "Oh.") We could see the mountains and highways, as well as fields and streams. It was truly beautiful, and I was only sorry the ride was so short.

Our landing was smooth, and we high-fived all around. It was only about ten minutes after we hit the ground that I started to get the shakes from all the adrenaline coursing through me. I loved the experience, but didn't think I'd ever really want to pay so much money to do it again. But I had the opportunity to jump with two other people who'd never been before, and so I splurged on those occasions, though this first jump was the only time I ever paid extra for photos. I even bought gift certificates to go with one of my brothers when he visited me in California, but the weather was not cooperative. Who knows, maybe I'll get up there again one day. I'm sure I'll enjoy the ride!