July 27, 28 2013
The Scubabros have their own training lake in MiddleofNowhere, Oklahoma. (Also, I'm a city girl, and anywhere where there is not at least asphalt = Middle of Nowhere) When we get out there, it is beautiful! No city noise, no cars, nothing but the sweet sound of... Nothing! I need to get out of the city more often. Keep this in mind for later.
The first task is to descend into the lake. 25 feet. Seems like a cake walk. Not the case. There is a yellow rail that leads all the way to the platform at the bottom. The Scubabros were taking us down one at a time. I volunteer close to the beginning, as I am a little nervous. The point of the exercise is to descend to the platform and ascend, just to get the feel of the lake. Mike tells me not to go faster than him and to stay close. We start our descent. Immediately, we are not in Kansas any more. I almost feel like I would take an algae tumble weed at this point. I can see Mike's outline and feel his hand on the yellow rail, but other than that, it is just brown and shadow shapes. I stick to Mike like glue. It feels like I am basically holding his hand on the way down. He's signalling to equalize my ears, which I can do without holding my nose, so I pinch my nose anyway and signal OK. At some point, I look down at our hands to make sure all is still going well. When I look up, I realize I have lost Mike. Panic sets in. I can see a dark shape undulating beneath and ahead of me. I start to breathe fast and shallow, opposite of what my training tells me. There is a rushing sound in my head, and an odd pounding. My body is freaking out. I just closed my eyes. One deep breath. Two breaths. Three. Calming down. Four. When I open my eyes, Mike's mask consumes my entire field of view. OK? he signs. I respond with the universal sign of, "One moment please". How do I convey that I am fighting a panic attack underwater? Open hand on chest and exaggerated deep breaths. Works for me. OK? he signs again. One moment, please. Deep breath. OK I signal back, finally. No time to be a coward.
A few more feet and we reach the platform, the dark shape under me. Once we get situated on the bottom, it is time to ascend and the next student to make the journey. We all have a go at the yellow rail descent. And next up is the line descent.
Having been to the bottom already, diving down the rope was a piece of cake. Again, not descending down faster than the instructor. Once at the bottom, I had to demonstrate partial and fully flooded mask, fin pivot, and recovering and clearing my reg. Then, Mike signaled he was out-of-air, I switched to my alternate air source, gave him my 2nd stage, and we ascended.
The third dive was the most fun. Cleared a fully flooded mask, then we got to explore the platform. The bubbling sound was an aerator. It's used to keep the platform clear. We followed the rail to the bubbles and played in them a little. At first, I was just satisfied to look at. When I got bubbles swished in my face and giggled through my reg, Mike put my hand through the bubbles. Laughing with a reg in your mouth is a little tricky. Time for a simulated safety stop. My buoyancy control at this point is dire at best. I tried very hard not to embarrass myself here. Good thing the water was murky. And for the fun part. CESA. Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent. I signal I am out of air and calmly bolt to the surface saying, "AHHHHHHHHH" to avoid exploding lungs. I was really surprised I could pull this one off. Down 25 feet, one breath at the bottom, and swimming to the surface without inhaling again. I did smack Mike on the head as we ascended. Glad he did not take points off.
Time for some surface skills. Simulated cramp removal, easy. Tired diver tow. My friend Dave was kind enough to let me tow him, All in the name of science, er, certification. More on Dave later. Now, on land, I am an accident waiting to happen. I could not walk a straight line to save my life. Apparently, there is a skill in this certification using a compass. Uh oh. The point is to set your compass and swim a straight line without raising your mask out of the water. Double uh oh. I set my compass, and start swimming. Slow at first, the needle doesn't move much. I think I am in the right place and dare to raise up out of the water. 20 feet out of the way. Oops. I get back on track and try again. I was able to navigate back to shore without any trouble.
Now, I am sure I am forgetting the little things, like establishing buoyancy during each dive. Forgive me. I am blogging about it after the fact. You can really tell what I think the highlights are. On that note, we're off to the final dive.
Descending with no visual reference. No problem. I don't remember hovering without kicking. I must have done it, but I was so bad at it. I have worked on buoyancy control on each dive after. I can now almost hover 30 seconds without moving a muscle. I removed and replaced my mask again. For the last skill, I am to tow Mike in while using a compass. This swim was far less traumatic as the first entry. I got my heading, swam a little way, stopped, checked my heading, then swam some more. Eventually, I got us back to shore and passed the class with a round of applause from my fellow students.
There is now a habit of celebrating a successful dive with a cold beer. Delighful. I am now an Open Water Certified Diver with more adventures to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment