“I feel like a lobster.” Caddie pulled at the neck of her wet suit. “I’m boiling in this thing.”

“Here,” said Brian. He tugged at the zipper on the back of the suit, pulling it halfway down. “Is that better?”

“A little,” answered Caddie. “I can’t believe how hot these things are.”

“You won’t think it’s too hot once we’re in the water,” said Brian. “The water’s probably fifty-three, fifty-four degrees.”

“Why aren’t we wearing that kind of suit?” asked Caddie, nodding at two divers walking toward the beach.

“Dry suits?” said Brian. “You don’t really need one. Besides, they’re more complicated. You have enough to worry about. Now let’s go over the reg again.”

Caddie knelt beside him on the grass where they’d laid out their gear. Brian had borrowed some for her from a friend, and he’d showed her how to put it together. The regulator was attached to the tank, which in turn was strapped to the BC. Brian picked up the reg and handed it to her. Caddie put it in her mouth and dutifully breathed in and out a few times before removing it.

“That’s pretty much it,” Brian told her. “Oh, except for buoyancy. You’re going to have to learn how to put air into your BC so that you float under the water. That’s what you use this for.” He picked up a thick corrugated hose attached to the front of the BC at the shoulder. It ended in what looked like a regulator.

“How’s it work?” Caddie asked.

Brian pressed a small button on the regulator end and the BC puffed with air. “You use this bigger button to let it out again,” he explained, showing her.

“That looks easy enough,” said Caddie.

Brian laughed. “You think so?” he said. “Wait ’til you try it underwater.”

“What else?” asked Caddie, ignoring him.

“Now we get you in the water,” said Brian. “That’s how you learn. Just do what I show you and you’ll be fine.”

Caddie, anxious to get going, allowed Brian to help her on with a neoprene hood, which he tucked beneath the neck of her wet suit before zipping her up again. Caddie puffed her cheeks in and out, getting used to the tight feel of the hood.

Next Brian lifted her BC, holding the bottom of the air cylinder on the back as she slipped her arms through the straps. When he let go, the weight of the tank caused her to almost tumble over. But Brian steadied her, and she recentered herself, bending forward as Brian secured the velcro waist belt. Then he picked up two narrow pouches.

“What are those?” asked Caddie as Brian slipped the first pouch into an opening on the side of her BC.

“Your weights,” he informed her. “How else do you think you get under the water?”