I finished loading up the gear, and secured it tightly in the boat. If it moved it could get damaged or cause damage so it was important to secure down anything you brought onto a boat while you weren't using it.
"Bacon, and eggs are at the table if you want them," Jack yelled from the apartment.
I double checked everything was tied down properly before heading back up to the apartment. I choked down the cold food as Jack watched me disapprovingly while he leaned up against the fridge.
"You ready to go or not?" I picked up my plate, and headed to the sink.
"You remember the deal," I could hear his frown in his voice.
"Yeah," I rinsed the grime off with hot water, "I still owe you even if we don't find anything."
Jack pushed off the fridge, and went downstairs. I could hear the boat start up before I could even finish rinsing my plate. I smiled slightly. I'd won this round. I kept my victory off my face as I went downstairs.
Didn't want to irritate Jack right now. On the boat I climbed as Jack finished checking the boat over. I walked in the cabin, and sat down next to the console. Jack would need my coordinates pretty soon, and then it was time to sit back and wait until we got there. I pulled my phone out, and switched the internet off so I wouldn't waste battery on looking for a signal.
Jack came in, and took his place at the helm.
"So engine is good, and no new leaks?" I asked when he didn't say anything long enough for it to be awkward.
"Where are we going?" Jack's harsh glare snapping to me told me exactly what he thought about this whole excursion.
I pulled up the pictures I'd taken of my charts, and glanced from my chart to Jack's. I found the spot fairly quickly, and pointed it out to him.
"There," I circled the area on the chart with my finger, "That area right there."
Jack looked at the spot kind of funny for a second, "You think it's that close." he looked at me, "That's only about an hour away."
"Yeah," I nodded slowly, "I think dad was going to far out."
Jack tensed when I mentioned dad, but swung the boat out of the dry dock anyways.
"Let's get this over with," Jack mumbled.
I left him alone in the cabin, and sat out on deck. It wouldn't take to long for us to get there so I wanted to just enjoy that salty sea smell for a little while. I wouldn't be able to just sit back, and enjoy anything once we put all the gear on to go diving. It wasn't that there wasn't cool things to do once you got in the water. It was just all the gear, and stuff that kind of dampened the excitement of the experience.
I guess that was why I liked free diving the best. I went back into the cabin, and tucked my phone into a plastic bag. Sealing it up, and tossing it into the drawer.
"You want me to get yours too?" I asked.
"Sure," Jack fished his phone out of his pocket with one hand, and handed it to me.
I bagged it, and stuck it in the drawer next to mine. Better than having to buy new phones. I pulled the wetsuits out first. Jack's was a size up from mine, but it was actually easier to tell his suit from mine by the hole in the sleeve. I'd accidentally put a hole in his sleeve last summer when I'd been fucking around with one of his fishing knives.
Jack had given me a major piece of his mind after that, but he couldn't afford a new suit yet so he just had to deal with it. I stuck my finger through the hole, and hung the wetsuit in the air.
"What are you doing out there?" Jack could probably see me screwing around with his suit.
I dropped his suit on the bench, and changed into mine. I swayed slightly as the boat slowed.
"You want me to drop the anchor?" I yelled at the cabin.
Jack shook his head as he cut the motor. Letting the boat slow to a stop.
"Start gearing up," Jack dropped the anchor overboard, and started double checking the knots.
I did as I was told. Taking it slow so Jack could catch up. Both of us had the right muscles for this kind of thing just from doing it so many times.
"Don't forget the check list," Jack started doing his own checks.
"I know," I grumbled as I went through our out of water checks.
It had become habit by now to check if all my gear was working before I got in the water. Once actually got in the water we would do the checks again. Just in case shit happened. Jack looked at me, and I nodded to confirm I was done checking. Jack nodded one more time before we rolled off the boat.
It didn't take us long to get our bearings, and do our submerged checks. Jack motioned for me to take the lead, and I checked my surroundings. I saw the landmark I was looking for pretty quickly, and headed towards it. From there I could follow the route I'd mapped out on my chart. It took us about an hour to hit the end of my route, and right in front of us was a massive reef.
I was sure the cave dad was looking for was in this reef somewhere. We combed the whole area slowly. After about ten minutes Jack waved me over, and shook his head. We weren't finding anything. I signaled him to let him know I wanted to check a little deeper.
Jack nodded that he understood, but didn't follow me down. He thought this was a lost cause. I ducked under a shelf of the reef, and saw the cave right away. It was stupid obvious. I clicked my lights on, and dove right in.