Open Water Dive Day 2

08/21/11

Sunday’s weather was not as nice but it was more comfortable putting on the wet suit since the air temperature was almost 10 degrees cooler. It drizzled on and off but never did it thunder or lightning. Rain doesn’t stop dives since you’re planning to get wet anyway. We kept the same order for the groups and this time boated over to Lourdes Camp where there are sunken metal platforms and other sunken objects to explore.

Again we did two dives and a few skills on each one. Our two “tours” kind of blend into one. We followed the ropes that connected the platforms and different "landmarks" like a small sunken boat, a motorcycle, a stairmaster, and toilet seats. There are those signs that say “Children at Play” marking the boundaries. We swam through a diamond hoop and look at a mirror so we could see what we looked like underwater. We went down to 30 ft where I saw the thermocline. It looks like an oily line where the warm and cold water meet. When we swam to shallower water we came to another platform where a stuffed Disney doll was resting. We couldn't figure out what character it was supposed to be (the tag said Disney on it that was our only clue). It looked like a deformed Pooh Bear.

At one point I swam up to a fish and was barely a half a foot from it. We were looking directly at each other until it decided to swim away. It seemed like it might have wanted me to follow him. I played around by swimming near the zebra mussels and watching them close up. The guys in our group were turning over rocks to find crayfish to play with. Back at the original platform they tried to get this big crayfish to fight the smaller ones like action figures. The big one was pretty aggressive and had pinchers that would probably hurt a finger. Other items found were a pair of sunglasses that were not colonized as well as a clean pair of Speedo goggles.

Open Water Dive Day 1

08/20/11

Saturday morning was sunny, 82 degrees Fahrenheit, and the water was calm. Ashley and I got to the site at Sevey’s Marina on Skaneateles Lake last by about 10 minutes. Ashley forgot her wet suit but we managed to remember everything else. On board the boat was our instructor, an assistant, and 12 divers. Seven of us were from our class and the other five were mainly from classes taken at colleges or somewhere other than directly through the SSI Syracuse store. We paired up into buddies (Ashley and I were paired up) and six of us went in at a time.

Before we could get in the water we had to attach all our equipment and squeeze into our wet suits. With the weather as nice as it was we broke into a sweat pretty quickly on the boat. Our dive site on the lake was called Murphy’s Cliff where we stayed close to shore. We got to go in the first group. It was less scary than entering the pool since there was no gutter to step over. But it was also unnerving getting into the lake. I forgot to inflate my BC so I had a little trouble staying above the water to snorkel at first but I quickly figured out what I forgot to do.

I quickly realized the lake was just like the pool but there were things to see besides clumps of hair and hair ties and much wider boundaries. Before Ashley and I could do our skills she had to get one of her ears to equalize. I resurfaced with her and we went more slowly down on our second try. We did our skills at the bottom of the lake at about 14 ft. It's mainly millfoil and zebra mussels (both invasive species) that surround you as well as the sediment we kicked up as we settled on the bottom. It prevented us from seeing each other temporarily. After our instructor saw us do all the skills we got to follow him around the bottom. We went close to 30 ft and saw a fairly large tree that had fallen years ago and lots of fish around it. I saw one fish carcass but mainly a lot of live smallmouth bass who do not seem to be too frightened of us.

We were down for almost 40 minutes but of course it felt like half as much time went by as it would or all subsequent dives. We climbed back onto our boat after the next group got in and snacked while they did what we just had. After about 30 minutes we got to go in again.

I was the last one entering this time and when I did my weight belt fell off (I had about 20 lbs of weight around my waist because when you wear a wet suit it increases your buoyancy). I had to climb back on the boat and take off my tank and put the weight belt back on, making sure it was extra tight. And of course it nearly slipped off when I entered the water again! I caught it this time and my instructor helped to make sure it was secure.

We did one more skill then swam around some more. This time I came close to the 30 ft where there is what they call a thermocline which is a thin layer between different temperatures of water. You would put your hands down toward the bottom and it would be freezing but you'd pull them up just a few inches and it felt warm again.

Afterward we were fed hot dogs and Coneys while we did paperwork and filled in our DiveLogs. I use more air than Ashley does since I had to switch tanks for the second drive and she definitely didn’t need to.

Weeks 6 and 7

08/01/11 and 08/08/11

Writing this more than a week after our last class, everything blends together. It was mainly discussion of dive tables and practicing how to read them during Week 6 and then more dive practice in the pool. I think this was the week we practiced taking off our masks under water and putting them back on as well as taking off our BCs and putting them back on. Last week we took our test and everyone passed. I got 2 wrong although I had changed one from the correct answer to the wrong answer. We did mainly review of skills such as finding the regulator and purging ours masks. All but three of us did the dry suit diving so they took a while to get in the water, having to suit-up and get the excess air out. We practiced dive belt release and the emergency buoyancy ascent which I needed to flare more for. We also practiced taking our BCs off and sitting on them, a different way to take it off to adjust something at the surface rather than underwater. Ashley had to go one flipper again because she left one boot at home. Luckily, due to her sprained foot earlier this summer, she had plenty of practice. This one-footedness made pushing and pulling me difficult. These skills were practice for being with a tired diver that needs help getting to the boat or shore.

We are all signed up for the open water dives this coming weekend in Skaneateles Lake for both Saturday and Sunday morning. I am excited and a little nervous. We have to pick up our rentals for the dives before Saturday and make sure everything is together the night before. The dives are early in the morning and we should be done by noon. I am hoping to find a trip during my spring break or winter break where I can go more tropical and perhaps get my advance diving certificate. Next update will be about diving in an actual lake!

Scuba Diving Week 5

07/25/11

Every class we seem to review what bad things can happen under water. Of course, it is all a precaution so it won't happen.

We went over squeeze again and how to rid of it. Excess pressure in ears = the Valsalva maneuver, sinuses clear on their own, lungs = just breathe and don't hold your breath, intestines = farting (watch your diet around a dive), and teeth can't be solved but it's only really an issue if you have older fillings (they can pop out!). Dry suits can also cause excess squeeze but that would be covered in the dry suit diving course. MythBusters had an episode which included a deep diving suit which proved you can be squeezed up into a helmet due to excess pressure.

Pure oxygen treatment was emphasized again as well as following your dive tables and computer to prevent decompression illnesses. The one thing I will remember is to keep breathing because this prevents any lung injuries. These can include:

• air embolism- air bubbles in blood can be lethal. remember to breathe!
• pneumothorax- fancy way to say collapsed lung.
• mediastinal emphysema- air trapped in chest cavity, no tissue damage
• subcutaneous emphysema- bubbles form around the neck creating a rash. when person moves head they pop like bubbles wrap.

Nitrogen narcosis is a type of sickness that happens usually below 60 ft of water. Divers call it "getting narked" and a lot of times a diver doesn't realize it is happening to them. The narcotic effect is caused by excess nitrogen in the system which makes people act drunk. There are stories of people trying to save fish with their regulators and doing other stupid things. This is one major reason to have a buddy with you. To get rid of the effect you just have to ascend to shallower water. Some people can experience this at fairly shallow depths just based on different factors so divers should be aware of it.

Other tips were to never leave a boat unattended and that one should only administer pure oxygen at sea level, above water. If it is given underwater one can have oxygen toxicity. It's the same idea as not going into deeper water to try to recompress after a decompression injury since the lower depth allow the gases to be released much more easily into the bloodstream.

When we got to class there was an underwater frisbee and torpedo toy in the pool. We enter by falling in backwards which is unnerving with the wide gutter lip of the pool but actually felt better than the giant stride entry. We got to play in the deep end for a bit before practicing the sharing of air in the shallow end. Once Amalie was taught this (she missed that class) and everyone else practiced it, we went to the deep end to do it with an ascent. Ashley and I managed to do this wonderfully. No problems with learning things this day but recommendations that the rescuer inflates their BC as soon as we reach the surface and to make sure I'm pressing down on the button hard enough to let my full breath enter the BC to inflate it.

Now we just have one more class before our testing happens and then, in about 3 weeks, we will be doing open dives on Skaneateles Lake.

Also, as a reminder to myself more than anything, SSI Syracuse emailed us a flyer of future dive trips and I'm hoping my internship schedule allows me to go on one. Which means I really have to save up my money.

Scuba Diving Week 4

07/18/11

Week 4 of scuba diving provided us with a lot of useful information and we just practiced what we learned during week 3 of class.

They recommend taking the Diver Stress & Rescue course if we take any of the other SSI Continuing Education courses so that we are well prepared for the issue that can happen underwater. It is always stressed that if you don't feel well in any way that you shouldn't dive. You only want to dive if you are in your comfort zone. Another course that sounds fun is the Night & Limited Visibility Diving one since coral reefs appear very differently during the night. There is also a Navigation course that is recommended.

We discussed currents and how you should always dive against the current so that you don't need to expend more energy returning to the boat than you did going away from it. There is a "rule of thirds": use a third of your tank going out, a third coming back, and have a third left at the end of your dive. To see why you shouldn't dive with the current (and why you might want flags or whistles attached to your BC) Mark recommended watching the movie Open Water. Most diving companies that take you out have a tagging system to keep track of everyone and not leave a diver abandoned out in the water.

Waves and rip currents were discussed next. Rip currents occur when there is a bottleneck created near shore by unevenness in the ground beneath the water. The rule for these is let them carrying you out if you are starting your dive but if you are returning to shore you want to swim diagonal or perpendicular to the current.

Sharks was our next topic of discussion: "the pitbulls of the ocean" because they are misunderstood. You're in more danger at the surface of the water (such as surfing or boogie boarding) because the silhouette looks like a shark's favorite food: seal. When you're diving you are in the shark's element and they can see what you are which makes it much safer diving in shark waters than surfing or just swimming in them. There are videos of people free diving with great whites who don't come to harm and actually avoid any aggressive behavior by swimming at the sharks if they seem to be stalking another diver. Sharks don't really like humans as a meal and probably don't like a meal that isn't running away from it.

After telling us about fire coral last week we went over what is best to treat injuries from the organisms on the coral reefs. Hot water is the go-to first treatment before seeking actual medical help. This is because marine stings (unlike stings from land animals) are not directly harmful due to an injection of venom since the nematocysts they release are stinging cells containing the venom. Instead of activating them by wiping them away, hot water keeps the cells from springing into the skin and allows them to be rinsed off. This is also why wearing full wet suits is recommended even in warm waters.

For any diving injury pure oxygen should be administered. Even if it is a fire coral injury, the pure oxygen should be administered while hot water is being poured on the infected area. The second treatment for decompression injuries would be a recompression chamber which one wants to avoid having to use. Although a dive may go well and rules were followed, other factors can contribute to having the bends. It takes about 24 hours to really get the symptoms and know you have it.

After considering some of these issues that may result in having to seek medical attention, they emphasized the importance of having DAN (Divers Alert Network) insurance since it's pretty cheap at only $35/year. We are covered throughout our class until we are signed off.

The water portion this week was review. We did learn how to manually inflate our BCs. Ashley learned how to swim with one fin since she sprained her foot the Tuesday before and it was swollen like a sausage. Next week seems to be the week we will actually play more.

Scuba Diving Week 3

We first went over buoyancy compensator (BC) features such as pockets and the lack of a bladder in the newer vests. This way the air is evenly distributed through the vest on land. When in water the air rises to the top so it helps keep your head up when vertical and your back up when horizontal. Our instructor said we would be going over how to inflate the BC slowly so that we could become neutrally buoyant in the water. This means that when you take a breath you rise slightly and when you exhale you sink about the same amount you lifted. You always want to be neutrally buoyant when scuba diving to prevent sudden trips upward or downward.

Next we covered why a wet suit is important even in warm waters. Tropical waters are usually in the 80s which means you can still get hypothermia if you're in them long enough. The average human body temperature can only decrease by about 4 degrees before hypothermia sets in and as your body loses heat 25 times faster in water, that decrease can come at some point even in very warm waters. It is also good to protect against things like fire coral which can leave a lovely rash. Real scuba suits are also very different from the wet suits one gets at Dick's for half the price that are recommended for wind surfing, water skiing, etc. The difference is in the air that is captured in the rubber layers. In cheaper suits it is a series of random air pockets that can be easily compressed. When this happens there is little air to keep the warmth in. In true scuba suits there are uniform rows of spheres that resist compression and thus hold in heated air more efficiently at greater depths and thus greater pressures. The bubbles do wear out after usage so it is always best to have your own suit and not get someone's hand-me-down. Also, "there are two types of scuba divers: those who pee in their suits and those who lie about it," said our instructor Marc. It heats up a cold environment very quickly.

Mask information was discussed next; mainly, how to keep mask squeeze and sinuses pain from happening. With the mask one must exhale through one's nose and for sinus equalization one should blow gently out one's plugged nose to clear the eustachian tubes. Swallowing and wiggling the jaw can help this problem as well.

At the pool we took what was taught and applied it. After changing we had to strap on our BC to our cylinder correctly. I didn't tighten the valve enough because air was leaking but I think it wasn't entirely my fault, it was a tricky attachment. We have to make sure to breathe out of both primary and secondary regulators so the valves are lose and we don't accidentally inhale a spider that crawled in it or something. Once these were on we had to help each other to get them onto our backs and then helped each other again to put on the fins. We did this with a "figure 4" that had you crossing your leg so one foot rested on the opposite leg, one hand held onto your partner and the other put the fin on. We shuffled to the edge to do the big stride jump into the deep end. You covered the regulator (which was in your mouth) and put your fingers on your mask to keep that tightly in place. Your other hand kept the pressure and depth gauges pressed against your chest.

I needed to step out more and not bend my backward leg so my fin didn't catch. we made sure we were floating correctly and headed over to the shallow end to go over skills learned two weeks ago. My only problem was not putting my regulator downward when we let go of it so bubbles came out at me and I ascended right away. Two wrongs. Just need to keep the mouth piece facing the bottom. We all remembered to exhale as we found our regulators to breathe through and so we got to go toward the deep end pretty quickly. We slowly sunk to the 12 ft as we kept equalizing our sinuses. I found it easier than I expected it to be since when I go straight down without gear my ears hurt so much. We were allowed to swim around for a while and two other divers taking a photography class were taking photos of us. I saw at least two spirals of black hair among other chunks of hair and debris. Very glad for chlorine after viewing all this. Each one of us had to practice one of the missing regulator maneuvers while in the deep end which went well.

We headed back to the shallow end to practice sharing air. Ashley did the same thing I did earlier with not keeping the mouth piece facing down. This was pretty easy to trade off and we practiced signalling okay to each other and the signal for "out of air". The cardinal rule for diving is to never run out of air!

After practicing this a few times we went back down to the deep end and practiced neutral buoyancy. I was slow at it but we all managed to maintain it. After this we practiced exiting by the ladder as though we were exiting by a boat's ladder. you keep your mask and regulator in place and just take off your fins, put one on each wrist, and climb out. The change in atmosphere is noticeable when you don't have water buoying your cylinder. We get to work with the aluminum cylinders next time. These are lighter but wider.

Next week is labelled as "play time" so I'm not sure how much new stuff we will learn but fun stuff at least. About a month until we actually go out in open water!

Bike Riding to Work

Not nearly as exciting as scuba diving, although we are just in a pool right now for that adventure, but I figured worth keeping track of this summer.

The last two days I did not drive a car at all. Wednesday morning I rode my bike to Duerr Park where I manage the pool there and rode it back before getting ready for work at the YMCA where I rode my bike to and from. The day was windy and never got above 70 degrees but it was decent for bike riding. It added extra time onto both commutes but I never felt overheated. I did the same thing Thursday but the YMCA first and Duerr second which was rough since the Duerr route is twice as long. The weather was warmer this day but the wind was just as strong, if not stronger.

My route to the YMCA has changed since they started construction on the small part of the road that connects the whole neighborhood, Fairway East. It's a part that runs over a narrow, but wide-enough to keep me from getting across, creek. Their is no set end date of course for this nuisance; a nuisance it is as it keeps cars from getting easily between two sections of the neighborhood. Luckily I have decided to ride my bike to work because by car it would take me probably 20 minutes by car to get there, having to go about 2 miles in the opposite direction of the Y with at least twice as many stoplights. I leave my house and head toward my best friend's house where there is a walk/bike path behind this house, the sole occupant of a 10 ft road. It brings me out to the newest section of Fairway East so that I drive by fancy new(ish) houses and all their matching mailboxes. I get to the light that is now at that end of the neighborhood and turn right onto Morgan Road, a two-lane road with a speed limit of 45-mph that can get busy during rush hour. I have learned to brave the left hand turn signal of a biker rather than wait and cut directly across: arm straight out to my left clearly saying "I'm goin' that-a-way." Luckily Water House Road now has a shoulder and less hills than it did two summers ago since they fixed it up. At the end of that road I turn right onto Henry Clay Boulevard.

The most interesting thing I have seen on this road is a car parked within the reed growing at the side of the road. It was only there for one day. My roadkill count of the road is about 5, not counting anything twice although many of the corpses linger there for days and after a week or two are flattened, nondescript patterns on the pavement. I try my best to avoid cycling over them but I did it at least once by accident, and of course it was not an old kill, it was still a bit juicy. Instead of going up to the light I cut around the back of the Y through the Town of Clay park. I take the light on the way back home since I can turn right and not left. It takes between 15 and 18 minutes for this trip.

Duerr is simple as well, just longer since it takes about 15 minutes by car. Instead of starting off the same way as my Y ride, which I did last summer, I take a left out the other way and cycle to the light of a busier route, Rt 57/Oswego Road. Instead of turning with traffic (there are two lanes that turn left), I go straight on green and turn around near the Taco Bell to get onto Rt 57. From there I cycle passed many strip malls, churches, car washes, and a Dunkin Donuts, and pass under three traffic lights, almost reaching the Wegmans there but instead I turn right into that neighborhood. There is a walk/bike path over John Glen Boulevard (a highway) that connects the Elmcrest Elementary and Longbranch Elementary schools and neighborhoods surrounding them. I used to take this with my friends who would hang out with me after a crew race. This way I do not have to cross the busy highway. I get to Longbranch Rd, the road I used to drive down to get to crew practice (for the outlet to the lake is bridged by this road further on) and also to see my high school boyfriend, which connects to Rt 370/Cold Springs Rd where I either take a left at the light (if traffic is low) or I cut into the gas station there and wait patiently to cross. Duerr Park is shortly beyond this intersection, a dead-end road. The ride takes me about 26 minutes both ways but the winds have kept it to more like 30 these two days. Not too many roadkill sightings (oh, and now honkings or cat-calls yet, only nice hellos from walkers and other bikers). The only incident was a spider bit me yesterday leaving a good sized, weeping bump on my calf.

Totaling it up so far I have ridden about 7 hours to and from both places of employment which equals almost 6 hours of driving that would have been which means already I have saved myself (well, my family really since we all share cars) about a gallon of gas (I'm going by the fact that in the car I usually drive, a Pontiac Vibe, takes about 10.5 gallons into its tank and it takes between 5 and 6 hours of highway driving to deplete it). I'm sure I could do more accurate math but I think the approximations make sense. Health-wise it also keeps me from figuring out when to fit in gym time since it burns about 9x as many calories as driving would and only takes about twice as long, if that with the YMCA.

So here I shall write about any interesting occurrences (although I doubt there will be many) and keep track of the environmentally good impact I am making!