<div><strong><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> <a href="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/04/The-Chesapeake-front-cover-two-final.jpg"><img title="The Chesapeake front cover two final" width="201" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1594" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/04/The-Chesapeake-front-cover-two-final-201x300.jpg" alt="" height="300" /></a></span></strong></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: Impact; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><strong> </strong>Last month, I shared the most affordable way to start diving without expensive and complicated equipment. Free diving which is also called snorkeling is easy to do for anyone who can swim. My four year old son, John actually learned to swim when he put a mask and snorkel on at the edge of a clear lagoon. While he was looking through the mask and breathing through the snorkel, he started to do the dog paddle around the shore. He is now thirty years old and a certified diver. Time sure does fly by.If you missed the article last month about choosing your gear, you can go on-line at [the-chesapeake.com] to learn how to choose your gear. Last week, I visited with Mike Broomhall who runs the Sea Dive Shop in Solomons to get a local perspective on snorkeling. He is happy to help people choose good basic gear and offers courses in both snorkeling and scuba diving.</span></span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: Impact; font-size: medium;">Most likely, you can teach yourself to snorkel if you choose good gear and find a nice warm indoor swimming pool to practice in while you are waiting for the weather to warm up. One of the most comfortable pools in St. Mary’s County is at the Wellness and Aquatics Center at the College of Southern Maryland in Leonardtown.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family: Impact; font-size: medium;">There is one very important piece of gear to add to your mask, snorkel, and fins when you use a public pool. Make sure you grab a bottle of liquid spit from your local dive shop. Liquid spit is not really spit. It is defogging fluid. It is not a good idea to spit in your mask rub it around and rinse the nasty mix into a pool full of people. The ocean is a far more forgiving to use the natural expectorant process. </span></div>
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