Swimming pool in tow

I spend most of the year on the road with a pickup truck hauling a 32-foot trailer carrying a portable swimming pool and scuba gear.

I visit all kinds of places — food festivals, air shows, trade conventions, anywhere there are people — set up the pool, fill it with 27,000 gallons of water and invite people to try diving.

On some level, what I’m doing is so unusual and unexpected that people have a difficult time believing me. I parked at a truck stop in Texas recently, far away from the closest body of diveable water, and another motorist pulled alongside my trailer.

“What you got in there?” he asked.

“Scuba gear,” I said. “And a swimming pool.”

I tried to sound convincing, but he just rolled his eyes. Would you believe anyone who said that at a truck stop in Texas?

Setting up the pool is the most difficult part of the job. A lot of things can go wrong, and they often do. At a boat show in Norwalk, Conn., recently, the water started out running clear, but about halfway through the process it turned dark brown. I had to empty the pool and start over. Then the heater broke down. I have to heat the water to 86 to 90 degrees. Otherwise it would be an unpleasant experience, even for someone wearing a neoprene wetsuit.

In Mexico City, the pool water had to be trucked in. When I added the chlorine — poof! — suddenly it billowed black clouds underwater. The water had reacted to the chlorine and was completely unusable. I had to retire five filters that day, and after several attempts to fill the pool, I finally found the noncombustible variety of Mexican water at a bottling plant.

Once the pool is set up, the real work begins: convincing people that they want to dive. I try to show them how easy it is. But every now and then, some guy will put on a ladies’ wetsuit, and you have to remind yourself that not everyone defines “easy” the same way as I do. Being in full scuba gear for the first time, with mask, fins, snorkel, regulator, buoyancy control device and tank, can sometimes be overwhelming — even though the pool is only four feet deep.

I take it really slow. Every year, we have 13,000 people in the pool, and they’ve all made it.

But getting people into the pool is pretty easy compared to getting them out. Just the other day, I had a couple who liked it so much, they didn’t want to leave. The show was closing, the lights were being turned off, and I was standing at the edge of the pool pleading with them.

They finally came out after I promised they could try it again the next day.

David Reidenbach, scuba tour director for the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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