…as reported by Ashley Doyle
photo credit: Swank Photography
http://www.modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=704091
I
The last day of college couldn't have come any sooner. My brain was friend from cramming for exams and drinking too much coffee. I was looking forward to leaving Miami and coming home to the much quieter city of Marathon, an island/city in the Florida Keys. My plan was to go home, get a few jobs, do a little modeling and save up for a new car. Well, not a completely new car but new to me.
Having found my two jobs, I then went onto ModelMayhem.com to find the modeling jobs. It didn't take me long to stumble upon the Mermaid Hunter's profile on the website. There, in a category called "Castings", was the Mermaid Hunter's search for new Mermaids. New Mermaids? Well, that's me! Or it could be me! I had been swimming all of my life. I had been certified for diving since I was eleven. I had never lived a mile away from the ocean. When I was a kid I was even obsessed with the Little Mermaid... Shoot, I was perfect Mermaid material, or that's what I told myself.
Immediately I contacted the Mermaid Hunter and we set up a meeting.
My adventure had begun...
II
Now, I wouldn’t consider myself a pro at modeling but I have done my fair share of it. Up until my visit to the Mermaid Hunter’s lair, I had thought there was only one standard form of modeling: standing in front of a camera and posing. Boy, was I wrong!
My meeting with the Mermaid Hunter began in his very comfortable model’s quarters in Key West. The model’s apartment is a portion of his home set out just for visiting models. Decorated in whimsical Mermaid décor with its own well-stocked kitchen, bathroom and living room, the model’s apartment lacks in nothing! And if it were lacking in something, the hospitable Mermaid Hunter was happy to please his Mermaid-in-training. If this was the life of a Mermaid-in-training, I would be happy to live in a constant state of training-limbo just to have the chance to stay in such a wonderful location. It was rare that even the hotels in Key West had such a scenic location looking over a serene channel of turquoise water.
My training began with a short talk from the Mermaid Hunter. He debriefed me on the sort of things I would be doing that day but most importantly, he drilled into my head that if I was ever uncomfortable with something, I should not hesitate to tell him. He was not going to force me into something that made me feel unsafe or uncomfortable. The training I would go through to be named one of the Mermaid Hunter’s beautiful Sirens would be challenging but fully within my capabilities.
Okay, pep-talk through, the Mermaid Hunter and I left the model’s quarters. We didn’t have far to walk before we were at his on-location studio where he had everything he needed for the Mermaid training. There was a large tank, a small pool surrounded by lush flora and fauna, and a flat-bottom boat with the Mermaid Hunter insignia upon the boat’s side at the end of his dock. The large tank filled with warm, crystal water would be our first stop.
After securing two ankle weights upon either of my ankles, the Mermaid Hunter lowered me into the tank. He taught me a special breathing technique to help with my breath holding. I could now hold my breath for two and a half minutes! Never had I been able to perform such a feat! I dipped beneath the surface of the water and for the two and a half minutes that I was beneath the water, I became a Siren. I kneeled in front of the tank’s windows and peered out at the Mermaid Hunter as he filmed me. As any Siren would, I batted my eyelashes, puckered my lips and tried my best to lure him into the tank. If ever I slipped out of my Mermaid mindframe, the Mermaid Hunter was there to offer me a few words of helpful advice and I would instantly fall back into the ways of a Mermaid. Air spent, I easily surfaced again.
A few different masks were given to me to try on in the tank. I tried each of the masks on then submerged myself once more. Under the water, I tested the seal of the mask to make certain there were no leaks and then with the Mermaid Hunter’s instructions, I took the mask completely off. After a moment I put the mask back on then gently broke the bottom seal, looked up, and blew out some air from my nose to force the water out of the mask. Mask successfully cleared, I pressed the seal back against my face and gave a thumb’s up to the Mermaid Hunter sitting at the other side of the tank’s window. I wondered why I needed to test my mask-clearing abilities but the wondering didn’t last long. Once I was out of the tank, the Mermaid Hunter assisted me in picking out a wetsuit, weightbelt, fins, and snorkel from his own supply of dive gear and then began to load up his flat-bottom boat. The adventure had only just begun…
A two-minute boat ride and we had arrived upon my next adventure. This would be the most challenging moment of my training: I had to use the breath-holding techniques I had learned in the tank and use it in the wide-open ocean. Through the green water, I would be traveling down a line to a sunken ship whose bow rested at fifteen feet beneath the surface while the stern rested at thirty feet. I was a little nervous at first but knowing that the Mermaid Hunter was going to be there every step of the way helped me a lot. While I was only going to hold my breath, the Mermaid Hunter had full-on scuba gear so that he could assist me, if need be.
It took me a couple of tries before I was able to travel all the way down the rope to the barnacle-encrusted ship. It took me several more tries before I felt comfortable enough to leave the safety of the rope and explore the boat. The Mermaid Hunter gave me objectives each time I completed a task and returned to the surface for air.
After several objectives had been completed, it was time to try everything I had just done but there was one tiny catch. I had to do it without my mask. Twice, I tried to make the journey without my mask but as the day wore on, the already chilly waters had begun to cool even further. My own weariness coupled with the cold ocean water began to wear me down. As the Mermaid Hunter had asked me to do, I told him that I was getting too cold. Completely understanding, he congratulated me on the part of the training that I had completed and the two of us boarded his boat to head back to the studio where the Jacuzzi-like water of a small pool waited me. I was allowed to sit in the pool and unwind, relaxing beneath a waterfall, amongst lush foliage.
Okay, so I haven’t yet completed my training as a Mermaid but believe me when I say that I certainly do look forward to it! Watch out Ariel… there’s going to be a new Mermaid in these waters!
III
Coming soon!
