It was not a 1st April fool’s prank or joke. When I received a reply from Mark Fyvie’s email account, I was taken aback by the contents which left me momentarily frozen. The tragic news was delivered by Robert (Mark’s brother) - Mark has passed away while on a cavern / cave diving expedition in Ginnie Springs, Florida on 10 March 2008. Shocked and not believing what I read, I sprung straight away to verify this unfortunate fact, which was reported in several web sites* and officially announced at englishforum.ch, an online forum founded by Mark for English speaking expatriates in Switzerland.
I remembered vividly that impulse decision that lead me to take up recreational scuba diving some years back. That was after I came across an advertisement in one of the newsletters I subscribed to that would help me realize the dream of weightlessness flying with the fishes in the open deep blue seas. It went something like this:
DIVING COURSES –MAY AND JUNE
Please contact: Mark Fivie for more details
mark {a+} zurichdivers com
For those of you who have always been meaning to get
back into the water but have “been too busy”, 2005 is
the year to rearrange priorities and make some time to
get into the water. For those of you who were active
in 2004, plenty more underwater adventures await you
this year.
In-water activities:
May 14-16 - Rescue Diver course (requirement: Advanced
+ 20 dives)
May 21-22 - Open Water Diver course (This is the
beginner course, only 2 places left)
I had the strange urge to do something different, adventurous and out-of-the-ordinary to my life. It was in early spring time where 10 degree C or less was not uncommon diving in the Zurich lake region. Even getting into the 5mm full wetsuit with another jacket over felt sorely insufficient against the treacherous cold in and out of the waters (fond memories of having to fiercely struggle with the gear at the car park area under the flyover near the lake). We had to hit the roads early weekend mornings in order to secure our slot in the deeper end of the swimming pool just outside of town. Otherwise, as the morning progressed with more pool users arriving, we may be asked to leave early, thereby cutting short on our available pool time, oddly a Swiss thing, said Mark. Intensive evening academic and knowledge review sessions, both self and group study, were conducted. Naturally, Mark was my diving instructor for this PADI OWD (zurichdivers.com) and there was also this nice lady from the UK as well (her name must have been Linda or something).
Despite Mark’s limitless patience, expert guidance, detail attention and genuine interests to help new divers achieve certifications within their capabilities, my inadequate fitness and hectic travel schedules then did not see me through the full course, unfortunately. I can see “safety” written all over his face and vocabulary, as he felt I was not ready until I get into better shape, mentally and physically, to take up this sport. I am pretty certain Mark has taken all the necessary safety precautions to mitigate any possible risks in penetrating the cave, a passion that grew on him in recent years where he lamented the difficulty to find good buddies to explore together with. To try to appreciate why, take a look at this contribution by RebreatherPro.
Rather than going away disappointed, I was inspired and drove myself to work harder on my fitness, confidence, and overcome fear and remaining reservations I may have as suggested by Mark. Mark and I continued to stay in touch mainly through email all these years, talking about topics around health, fitness, cars, life outlook, diving, and I still managed to join him once in a while at the divers meet-and-greet sessions he organized. Not the online englishforum discussions or events however, as I am often not im Land, otherwise I could have gotten to know the forum users, the man himself and his fiancée better, whom I did get to meet on a number of brief occasions.
I can now confidently say that I have covered some grounds (lakes/seas/oceans) as far as recreational scuba diving is concerned, motivated, driven, inspired and challenged, largely attributed to Mark’s (and only a few others like him I have the good fortune to know) unique mentoring style, spoken or written words of intelligence, intellectually stimulating and encouraging. His immense passion for the sport drove him to greater heights in the pursuit of his dreams that many others in a lifetime cannot even possibly lay claim to or come close to achieving. I am saddened that I cannot personally share my recent Maldives live-aboard (safari tour) diving experiences with Mark, which he commented he would like to see (more diving stuff) on my blog. Not to mention I will certainly miss his interesting viewpoints, colorful ideas and feedback that are always welcome in my books. Why must bad news happen while I am away and not able to attend to? 
Mark, it was my honor to know you in person. You left behind a legacy that will remain in the hearts of those touched one way or another by your gentle kindness and selfless nature to share with strangers and friends alike. To Lynn, Robert and family of Mark, stay strong and take good care of yourselves. I know how hard it can be as I personally am still trying to move on for a recent lost myself.
.jpg "Mark Fyvie (1972-2008)")
Please consider making a donation to help keep Mark’s vision and contributions for englishforum.ch and the community alive.
* nullzeit TAUCHEN, bluedivers.ch, heute-abend.ch (Pg 9), Florida Spring, deeper blue, CDNN, gainesville.com, The High Springs Herald
Technorati tags: Scuba Diving, Diving
Always wanted to do something sensationally different and still no plans yet for the summer? Interested to explore the vast open waters of mother-earth but have no idea where to start under safe, fun conditions and good company? Want to stay away from the computer and spend some quality time getting wet? No time to exercise those lazy muscles of yours?
I have put together (more) contents for one of my favorite past time. Besides the blog posts on this subject, you will find a page dedicated to recreational 
