October 24, 2004
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Scuba: Cert dive, whew
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2164 hit(s)
Because I was a dumb bunny and injured my ear in a swimming pool, of all the silly places to do that, I was not able to do my certification dive with Zack. But as I explained, the doctor's advice to give it two weeks coincided neatly with the instructor's next batch of scuba newbies, and I was able this weekend to crash their cert-dive party. I just got back from that milestone and, I'm happy to say, I have a signed certificate in my fist.
As with Zack's class, and about six other classes, we went to Alki in West Seattle. This is convenient to me, since we live about eight minutes away from the dive site. (OTOH, it's a pain after each day's diving to have to refill tanks or take back the rental equipment way the heck up in north Seattle and then turn around and go back to West Seattle.) The weather people, never fully reliable in Seattle, had predicted showers and clouds, but we got sunshine for both days' diving.
There are four dives in all, each one to practice a small set of skills -- bouyancy, descent, ascent, mask flood (which you do over and over, but which is very useful to know), mask removal (gack!), buddy air, some primitive compass skills, stuff like that. I knew that for the most part the skills part wouldn't be very fun, and gosh, I really called that one.
After finishing the given dive's skill set, we got to "tour," as they call it. That was cool, actually. Puget Sound is well-known for having lots to look at, and we saw at least a few critters and such each time. (Amusing moment: some sorts of anenomes growing on a submerged toilet sitting under 40 feet of water.) We beginners had our moments, of course. At one point we were having a look at the stuff that had stuck itself onto some old pilings, including some stunning purple starfish. All of a sudden I was rising, rising, rising until I popped to the surface and had to sheepishly descend again to join my classmates. That was our lesson in the increasing bouyancy of our vests as we get into shallow water. "Dump air!" our instructor signaled a number of times. I was glad, of course, that I was able to serve as an object lesson so frequently, starting with the dangers of improper equalization (ears), bouyancy control, how not to put on your flippers (since I lost one), and a few more.
A satisfying aspect of the two days was that, as promised, it did get easier with each dive. During our first dive, a woman in the class was having some trouble with something -- bouyancy, I think -- and after struggling with it a bit on the surface, she issued an exasperated "Why am I doing this to myself!?" I suspect that she might have said out loud what more than one beginning diver has thought to themself.
The one surprise for me was that I did not get cold. Puget Sound water is cool at best; I believe one of our divemasters measured it at 57 degrees. We had thick wetsuits (which contributed significantly to our awkwardness; it's damn hard to contort yourself to put on or remove your fins wearing that thing). Even so, I expected the water to be chilly, especially on the face. But it wasn't that bad at all. Between dives, the rest of the class huddled around the big propane heater that the instructor had set up in our tent. But as long as I was out of the wind, I didn't find it nearly as cold as the other students, and even a couple of divemasters, found it. A pleasant surprise for me, I guess.
Technically speaking, Zack and I could go rent equipment and go diving by ourselves now. That would be absurd, of course. Most people seem to go on to the next class in fairly short order; there are many classes to choose from. A few people can find more experienced divers to go out with, but the experienced divers would have to be very good friends to put up with the comedy of helping out a new diver. That said, I've been invited to my first dive party; a woman I work with has arranged a birthday diving party for her husband, since both of them are enthusiastic scuba-ers. I could go! An interesting thought.
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