crane is scary enough! But once you've travelled all the way up there and you're told to step into thin air and "dive like superman'' -- attached only by plastic cord, it's sheer terror.

However, as those who braved Bermuda's first bungee jumping outfit at Dockyard yesterday will tell you, it is also the thrill of their lives.

Co-owners of Adrenaline Extreme Bermuda Mr. Nick Moore and Mr. Stuart Kirkpatrick made their first bungee jumps ever yesterday morning before a crowd of curious onlookers.

Strapped into waist and ankle harnesses, after a series of safety checks, Mr.

Moore bravely swan dived out of the cage crying "Bungee Bermuda!''.

With the thick bungee cord attached to his ankles, he bounced several times upside down over the ocean before being caught by his colleagues and pulled onto a padded mat on the dock.

"It was the most terrifying, but thrilling experience I have ever had!,'' he said. "I just free fell. There was no pulling or jolt at all, just a gentle deceleration.'' Mr. Moore said he was definitely up for the thrill again.

However, W.P.c. Georgia Belboda, the company's first paying customer, had a slightly different perspective.

"I think I'd have to think twice about doing it again,'' she said. "It's an indescribable feeling. It feels like you're dying. You have to have a lot of nerve.'' Nevertheless, she thoroughly enjoyed the jump and would recommend it. "I felt like superwoman,'' she said.

Following his jump, Mr. Kirkpatrick advised: "Just realise you're going to do and do it. He who hesitates is lost.'' He added, "Keep your feet together and do a perfect dive -- screaming helps.'' AEB owners Mr. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Moore and Mr. Sebastian Henagulph, all Bermudians, spent 18 months planning the operation. Equipment had to be specially made and they had to hire a crane.

Mr. Kirkpatrick, an ex-British Army officer, said they decided to bring the thrill sport to Bermuda so they didn't have to travel to America to do it.

American bungee jumping experts Mr. Jim Townsend, a former US Army parachutist, and Mr. Hennes Hunt, will spend three months in Bermuda helping the three men get the operation off the ground and ensuring the proper safety precautions are taken.

Bungee jumping is suspended at the first sign of lightning or bad weather. Mr.

Moore said the operation would run through November. He believed a large percentage of the business would be local.

The US bungee jumping operation that Mr. Townsend works for boasts a success rate of 1 in 200 -- i.e., one of every 200 jumpers chickens out.

AEB got official permission from Planning on Thursday to operate at Dockyard after a week-long delay.

AEB will operate from Dockyard every afternoon from Wednesday to Sunday.

The cost of a jump is $65.

Jumpers must sign a waiver form, acknowledging the sport is a "hazardous activity which could result in various bodily injuries or even death''; releasing AEB from liability in the event of an accident; and certifying they do not suffer from any illness or medical condition that could affect the jump.

UP AND AWAY -- Mr. Stuart Kirkpatrick takes his first bungee jump from a 140-foot high crane at Dockyard.