The "Leap of Faith' Story

Leap of Faith at "Atlantis"

It was an ordinary day.  Trying to figure out how to tell my wife that I just missed the photo of one of the biggest moments of her life.  Story goes like this ....... a few years ago we were watching an ad on TV for the "Atlantis" resort in the Bahamas.  The ad featured someone gliding down the water slide called the Leap of Faith.  Ride starts about 60 feet in the air at the iconic Mayan Temple, transports you at break-neck speed down a near-vertical slide, through an acrylic tube that goes through a shark tank until it ends in a pool of water.  Carol saw the ad and said, "That's what I want to do sometime."  "What do you mean," I answered.  She came back quickly with, "I want to go down that big slide, through the shark tank."  Well, about half a dozen vacations later we're at the "Atlantis" on day passes and she is about to have the chance of a lifetime.  

My ride down the Challenger Slide
is shown on the left side of slide.

I  question her whether she wants to do that slide first or try the one on the opposite side of the Mayan Temple called the Challenger Slides which look as if they aren't as scary as the Leap of Faith.  We are with our friends Jerry and Just Sue and we talk it over and decide to do the Challenger Slides first.  Just Sue and I also agree to do the slides with her and we talk about who will go first and who will be taking photos of our attempts.  It was decided that I go first and Carol was going to take my photo as I plunged from the top into the pool at the bottom.  I set my DSLR camera to continuous mode shooting and on the "S" setting with a shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second, hoping it would stop my motion and give a clear photo of my fear as I slid down the slide.  

Carol and Just Sue reaching the top
of the 60 foot Leap of Faith.

Walked to the top and when I reached the summit, realized that I was on the same platform that was used for the Leap of Faith, only on the opposite side.  The attendant told me to sit and when the green light flashed I gave a shove, sat back crossing my arms over my chest and flew down the slide.  Wasn't long before I told them that the slide was the same height as the Leap of Faith, but without the shark tunnel at the bottom.  "Well, if that's the case, you better get some good shots of me when I come down in case I get too scared to try the Leap of Faith later in the day," Carol told me.  I grabbed the camera and Just Sue and Carol headed to the top.  I could see Carol appear first at the top,

Just Sue dropping down the Leap of Faith.

but she stepped out of the way and left Just Sue go first.  I held my finger on the shutter release and showed the ride from top to bottom.  After Sue climbed out of the holding tank at the bottom, Carol sat down on the slide, waiting for the green light.  Had my camera all ready and when she started down, pushed the shutter release for her 15 or 20 shots as she descended from top to bottom.  No rat-ta-tat-tat noise like I was supposed to get from the camera.  I looked at the camera display and .......... NO SPACE LEFT ON CARD message appeared.  Holy Crap!  I missed her ride!!  Now what do I do?  I missed taking photos of one of the most important moments in her life.  As she was getting out of the pool I walked over to her and said, "You'll have to do that again."  She said, "Yeah, right!!"  "No, I really mean it.  The camera ran out of space and I missed the photos of you."  "Well, I was going to call it quits but I guess I can't now. You better not miss me on the Leap of Faith then," she said.  An hour later, with a new card and a new battery installed, just in case, I was pointing it at the top of the Leap of Faith slide, ready for action.  Again, Just Sue went first and after catching her ride I caught Carol's thrilling ride down the near vertical drop, through the shark tank and into the splash-down pool.  The two girls gave each other a hug and with big grins on the faces walked towards me to see the results.  This time I didn't disappoint either.  Documentation of the big moment for all to see was in my hand as I showed them the photos.  Now, I can share them with you also.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Carol coming down the chute on the Leap of Faith.