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Published: July 23rd 2008
024a - Indonesia - Gili Air Side Story
07/11/08
We're Engaged!
What better way to propose to my girlfriend of four years, world travel partner, SCUBA diving buddy, camping companion, cooking mate, best friend, life activity partner, than to do so in a place that is so special to us: the sea. Under the sea that is, about 25 meters below, in tropical Indonesia, with our fellow instructors and divemasters, and turtles and angel fish, watching us and baring witness to the surprise!
The Ring
The story begins in Bangkok, about a month earlier, as I searched for a ring suitable for an undersea proposal on a journey that still had many months and many developing countries to go. Like most things in life, a little money and a lot of thought goes further than a lot of money and a little thought. Especially when it involves love, and extra-especially when it involves someone like Hannah.
In many ways the ring had to match its recipient: elegant but not flashy, brilliant but resilient, expressive but still balanced, and symbolic while still being personal. Bangkok has an entire district devoted exclusively to jewelry. If you're a jeweler
in Southeast Asia most likely you have some gem and metal wholesalers in Bangkok. Unfortunately, it's also littered with many scam-artists and fakes... so I had to be careful. I did some research and found a list of reputable jewelers in the city. After sneaking away from our hotel room one day, I visited a few shops and found a jeweler I could trust. Their selection was good, but it wasn't perfect, and I wasn't sure what to do. I'm not experienced at buying jewelry, and I certainly had no experience engagement ring shopping. In fact, I can honestly say that I've never shopped for, bought, or even worn any type of ring, anytime, ever in my life. I left the jeweler and wandered around Bangkok for a couple of hours letting my mind digest. Finally it came to me: I would go back to the jeweler and ask for a custom design.
The jeweler was game. The design would incorporate a diamond in the center flanked by three smaller gems on each side. The small stones, sapphires and rubies, would represent our birth stones, and would achieve a balance that defines our relationship: two rubies and a sapphire
on one side and two sapphires and a ruby on the other. The center diamond would be our union, a solid strong foundation from which to build on. The band would be white gold and of significant width, but the underside would taper inward, so that it could easily be rotated to a modest ring while traveling through poverished areas. Finally, since I would be proposing underwater, communication would be critical, so the words 'MARRY ME HANNAH' would be engraved on the inside. I was stoked with the design and the jeweler assured me that the ring could be made in time. I bargained hard (always with a smile) and we agreed upon a fair price for the ring.
Four days later, a few hours before our flight to Indonesia, I left our hotel room to pick up the ring. Hannah knew something was up so I pretended to be shopping for her birthday present. I even bought her a bikini that she had been eying a few days past since I knew she would hound me with questions about what I went shopping for. It was a good ruse and she needed a new swim suit anyway. The
ring turned out perfect, exactly as I envisioned it. I declined the pretty box, stashed the ring in my money pouch, and hid it until the day I would make my proposal: Hannah's 30th birthday.
The Proposal
Keeping my plan a surprise meant that I didn't tell anyone about what I was thinking; I couldn't share my enjoyment about the ring purchase or my underwater proposal idea. Even when I spoke to the moms (mine and Hannah's) a couple of weeks before her birthday about my intentions for proposing, I left out the vital details of the grand plan. On top of that, I always changed the subject anytime Hannah brought up 'our future' together!
In the days leading up to her birthday I told our dive shop owner, Chris, about my intentions. She thought it was a great idea and decided to help out by organizing an 'instructors' only' fun dive. She pretended that it was just something that the shop did every few months. All the other instructors and dive masters found out about it in a meeting where Hannah was conveniently absent. They were all excited as well, and many of them brought underwater cameras
and slates on the dive.
Her birthday arrived. I snuck into the shop office and got the ring from the safe. I kept the ring in a little pouch and secured it to my surface marker buoy (SMB) located in my BCD (dive vest) pocket by wrapping the lanyard around it a few times. I definitely didn't want the ring falling out during the dive so I double checked and triple checked the BCD pocket and prayed that everything held up!
The plan was to have someone distract Hannah by having her take a picture while I swam away and placed the ring on (or around) a piece of coral. Then, I would call her over and point it out as though I found an undersea treasure. She would be surprised, I would drop down on one knee, show her the inside of the ring, and you know the rest! Well, like many things in life, this didn't turn out exactly as I planned!!
Before we dropped in to the water one of the guides proclaimed that there was a strong current. This wasn't going to be as easy as I expected! We got down to 12
meters and the current was ripping, 5 - 10 knots, and relentless. Ten or so minutes into the dive, Hannah paused to look at something, and I swam away with the current as fast as I could. I separated by a good 50 meters and pulled out my SMB and started unwrapping the ring. My heart was starting to race: don't drop the ring, don't drop the ring, don't drop the ring! I got the ring out and placed it halfway on one of my fingers while I clenched that hand into a fist and started to look for the ideal location to place it. I glanced up and saw Hannah swimming frantically towards me. She was ANGRY! One of the most important rules in diving is to not separate from your dive buddy. She let me know that she wasn't happy with angry underwater gestures such as shaking her fist and giving me a mean look. I smiled gently and motioned for her to calm down. She huffed and snatched my hand tightly (not the one with the ring) and we continued the dive.
The designated distractors (our good friends Lewis and Nicola) swam up and asked Hannah
to take a picture for them. She agreed, let go of my hand, and started to take pictures. Lewis and Nicola made her take a few pics to give me as much time as possible. I swam ahead rapidly and found a patch of coral. But the current was still ripping so I had to kick hard just to stay in one place. Don't lose the ring, don't lose the ring... I placed the ring next to the coral and tried to stay in one place. Then, Hannah, Nicola, and Lewis drifted right over me (with the strong current) without even seeing me!! Uggh!! I grabbed the ring and swam back to Hannah.
I wasn't giving up yet! I signaled to Nicola to give it another go, which she did, and Hannah once again separated from me. I swam rapidly ahead and found another patch of coral to place the ring around. Would you believe it if I told you the exact same thing happened?!? The three of them drifted right by me without noticing!!
Alright, I've got the ring in one hand, Hannah's hand in the other, the current is still ripping, and I've unsuccessfully tried to
propose to her twice already!! I'm disheartened and fatigued, but I'm not giving up yet!! I decide on a different approach.
I tap Hannah and point to a bare looking patch of coral and start swimming towards it. I keep pointing and, although there's nothing special there, she keeps trying to figure out what I'm looking at by swimming against the current just to stay in place. I pretend to pick something up from the sand and show Hannah the ring, laying it on the palm of my hand.
We stop kicking and start drifting with the current. My life goes in to slow motion. She's in shock. She doesn't understand what's going on. She doesn't look happy. I point to the ring. Still not happy. I grab her hand and point to the inside of the ring to show her the engraving. She crosses her arms and gives me a mean look. She descends until she's sitting on the sand while the current drags her lightly across the ocean floor. She starts pointing at me and grunting. Not happy, and definitely not the reaction I was looking for! Her eyes are questioning me with shock and surprise.
She sticks out her hand and I place the ring on her finger while I wait for her to process what's going on. Our friends gather around and show us their slates with 'Congratulations Team America' written on them. It finally registers! She looks at all our friends, smiles and poses for a picture and a quick kiss. Our friends yell through their regulators and congratulate us with underwater high-fives, handshakes, and hugs.
NOTE: One of the divers captured all the action on video. Click here to watch!!! Her hand is tight in mine as I pull her in close. We embrace and our eyes lock. Yes, I'm serious. Yes, this is for real. We remove our regulators and our lips touch. The kiss seals the deal, drifting at 25 meters, in tropical paradise, with my fiance accepting my proposal, in my arms and grinning from ear to ear, I finally smile!!!
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Marc
non-member comment
Congrats!
Congratulations you two! That is an awesome way to get engaged. I better be invited to the wedding! (Nico, I TOTALLY called that!!)