Blowing Bubbles

This blog is probably going to end up being a long add for your local scuba diving program. But, hey, I'm trying something new and I'm loving it so I might as well promote my new , if not fairly pricey, hobby. The nice thing about scuba though is that once you invest in the gear, it's really not that pricey.

But, I digress....

Scuba lessons were a present from my parents for Christmas. It was something I have always wanted to do but have never had the money for. G has been certified for a VERY long time and is a level higher than me in certification (he got the advanced open water cert). I thought it would be great fun as something we can do together on vacations.

After finding the local dive shop and signing up I waited until March to take the class since it would be much warmer water than it would be in January. (when I signed up)

So, Friday night rolls around and I'm in dive class. My instructor's name is Eddie and he works for IBM. The nicest part , is that there are only two other people in my class. Eddie explains that this is one of the nicest advantages to class in the Spring ... no one's thinking about summer vacations yet and is therefore not taking lessons. Friday night we spend about three and a half hours reviewing the textbook , which we were all required to read before we got to class. I spent one rainy spring break day going over my DVD and textbook (which I'm sure you'll remember if you're a faithful blog reader) We busted out the first three chapters the first night.

Saturday morning we did more textbook work , but then headed to the pool. Here's where things get interesting. It took us a good hour to unload our gear and learn how to put everything together. Once assembled, Eddie informs us that now that we know how to do it we have to go take everything apart and do it again.... and then again. By the end of the weekend we have assembled and re-assembled our gear five times. This way, when we get on a dive boat, even though we're novice divers we won't look lost and a "little slow" at putting together our dive gear.

After learning what all my gauges were and where they lived on my BCD (my nifty inflato-vest that lets me hover underwater) we were ready to go under. There's really no good way to describe what it's like to breathe underwater for the first time. I was fairly nervous, but once I was under I really didn't think about it. The air hisses in.. and you blow lots of fun bubbles when you breath out. It's all controlled by your regulator and you really don't even have to think about it. So, I got the breathing underwater part down.

Then, come the skills :
learning to breathe off your "buddy's" regulator. -- You always dive with a friend and they always carry extra air (or an extra regulator) for you to breath off their tank if you run low, or out. So, we had to simulate being out of air and getting in position to breath off their air. Really not as traumatic as it sounds. Fairly easy actually
neutral boyancy --- leaning to "float" without touching the bottom of the pool , the sides, or surfacing. This is done so you don't drag along and destroy the natural habitat underwater while diving. Especially at coral reefs and wreck dives.
Assent and Dessent --- the steps to sinking and surfacing to and from the bottom of your dive site
Proper weighting --- so you don't just sink like a rock, like I was doing the first day (WAY too much weight on my weight belt)
Putting on and taking off your gear in water too deep to stand (at the surface)
Putting on and taking off your gear at depth (at the bottom of 15 feet of water)


There are many other skills, but I just don't feel like typing them all, honestly. Everything was MUCH easier the second day and I was really starting to enjoy myself. There's something very zen about the whole scuba experience. No one's talking to you, there are no phones, there's no traffic, it's very peaceful, it's just you and the bubbles. (and your buddy of course) I really think I'm going to enjoy this. It was a great way for me to zone out on the weekend and not worry about everything else going on in my life.

Next weekend I head out to open water. I'm diving an old rock quarry north of Huntsville. I know , it's not very sexy. But, here in Texas, other than Lake Travis we're hurting for dive sites. This is all prep for Florida and my new life there.