Scuba Diving Week 2

Ashley and I arrived at the scuba place early to get a tank and a buoyancy compensator(BC) for each of us into the car. The tanks, filled with approximately 2,500 psi of air, were difficult to carry by the small, awkward top where the air comes out. Ashley and I decided we would get a dolly for ours once we have our own tanks. My older sister, Elisabeth, was unable to join us because her neurologist declined to sign her medical form that would allow her to scuba dive. If she finds another doctor at some point then she may be able to but not this summer.

Having worked the morning with a 6 mile ride to work and a 6 mile ride back, I was rather sleepy during the non-pool part of our class. I had done the homework and all and I know we went over the tanks and reasons for the BC and bad things that could happen if you don't dive properly. The BC is a vest that allows the cylinder to be attached and is able to fill with air and release air for surfacing or for diving.

We drove over to the gym and had a grand time carrying everything inside in one trip. The boot of my tank had fallen off in the store but our instructor had picked it up (expensive equipment trying to run off). It would not stay on so I had to keep stopping and sticking it back on. We placed the cylinders on their sides next to the pool and went to go change.

The first step was to strap on the BC to the cylinder. We had to make sure it was snugly on the tank (you can pick up the BC and the cylinder will come with it) and that the cylinder wasn't above the top of the BC so you wouldn't hit your head on it. Then we attached the regulator. The first-stage regulator goes over your left shoulder and the second-stage over the right, being the stage through which you breathe through. The first stage just lessens the compressed air's pressure and the second stage lessens it more to an adequate breathing pressure. We hooked up the tube on the left side to the secondary breathing apparatus that is just in-case you lose the primary stage (such as it getting kicked out of your mouth) or it fails for some reason. This is also the way you inflate and deflate your vest so it is called the low-pressure inflator. Once this was strapped in to the vest so not to be floating around, we inhaled and exhaled with the second-stage. Inhaling was supposed to be difficult, exhaling should be easy since the air was not on. It was weird trying to do this without the air on. If exhaling was difficult too, then we had to unblock the adhesive force that had sealed off the valve.

Next we took the submersible pressure gauge with a depth gauge in our left hand. These gauges, especially the pressure gauge, are incredibly important when diving to prevent having a nearly empty cylinder or from coming up too quickly from a dive because you don't know how far down you are. We pressed the glass face to the tank as we turned on the air to test for leaks. The only reason we did this was tradition; in the early days of gauges with glass faces there was the chance the air pressure would be too great for it and break it. This was highly unlikely to happen now with new equipment. My regulator was not attached tightly enough so air was leaking but it was easily fixed. Then the air flowed into the hose and stiffened it. If everything was correct there were no air sounds and the gauge read somewhere between 2000 to 3000 psi, an acceptable amount of compressed air to dive with.

We then filled the vests up with air, our instructor Marc overfilling his to show why that was a bad idea. He wanted us to fill ours just enough so it would float in the water. We then lifted them up and put them in the water, keeping the gauge and secondary stage on the little gutter ledge to keep them from floating away. We donned our masks, snorkels, and fins, and climbed on in. Each of us had a partner to help us get the BC on, Ashley helped me and I was able to help her even though she is a fair amount taller than me. Once these were on we deflated the vests a bit to allow the gauges to pass through the left arm hole of the vest so it wasn't floating out around us and was right by our left hand.

The fun stuff then began with taking our first scuba breath under water. We just put our heads in enough so our ears were out of the water. It wasn't difficult but it was a little unnerving because you don't get as deep a breath as you might when regularly breathing. It was that, or the feeling like you wanted more air because you were a little more excited then when you're just standing in the water and therefore "think" you need more air. The next task was to get ourselves to the bottom of the shallow end. I had trouble because I wasn't exhaling enough and therefore was keeping too much air in my lungs. They wanted to make sure none of us needed weights to keep us down. Eventually I got it. I just needed to have more bubbles of air surrounding me, coming out of my regulator.

Once everyone was comfortable with normal breathing under water we had to practice purging our regulator, just like we had to with snorkeling. One way, if you have enough breath, is to just nod your head and simultaneously puff out a lot of air. The other way is the purge button in the front of the mask, you hardly need to press it for the water to be expelled. After any purging, one must inhale slowly so not to inhale too much water should water be left inside it. When the regulator was out of our mouths we had to continuously blow out bubbles. One should never hold one's breath while scuba diving. We also used the alternate regulator, learning how to purge that with it's own button as well. We tried a few tricks to retrieve a misplaced primary second-stage regulator; lean to the right and do a wide arm sweep or reach back to where it connects to the cylinder and pull it forward.

This went fairly quickly, all of us staying under water as Marc pointed at everyone for their turn and giving them the okay. Along with all this breathing work we had to learn some hand signals. The thumbs up sign means "ascend", the OK sign means "okay" and a tilting back and forth of the hand means "not good." Very basic, but necessary. The last thing before free time was how to purge the mask of water. It was pretty much the same as snorkeling but of course you're doing it at more of a depth. You hold the mask against your face and blow out your nose. I still feel like my mask isn't the best for my face. It seems to fill with water fairly easily, though now I know how to purge it pretty well.

Free time consisted of simply swimming around each other in the shallow end as we all tried to stay under as long as we could until Marc blew his duck-call whistle. Right before that I lost one of my fins. But the kind we got float so it just floated right up behind me.

We do not have class this Monday as it is the 4th of July so no scuba again until the 11th. We will be moving into the deep end where I hope my ears will survive the minor pressures so to be prepared for bigger pressures when I finally go open water diving.

Scuba Diving Week 1

Feeling the itchiness of chlorine on my skin as I sit here about a half hour after I returned back from my first scuba diving class. Both my sisters and I have signed up for the class and we are going to all go through with it. It went well, most of the class is quick at picking up everything. I just don't like going deep down because it hurts my ears. I will have to get over this.

What we first did was in the classroom at the SSI shop. We went over what will happen over the next 8 weeks on each Monday class (except July 4th). We got our homework assignment (Section 2 Read and watch) and signed up for some insurance that is free as we take the class as well as a free subscription to Dive Training magazine.

Liz and I received Twin Jet fins for practice but I think we'll be going for those ones since they are so comfortable and effortless. Our instructor's have lasted 8 years and will probably continue to be useful for many more. Instead of a solid fin, it is split in half and is made of very flexible material that also floats on water. It costs a fair amount more but should be worth it. It's one of those things that you might as well buy the more expensive version now instead of later and also buy the cheaper version.

We drove to the pool and changed into our suits. We adjusted our masks and attached our snorkels to them then sat on the side of the pool as our instructor Marc Turenne told us about correct fits for the masks and some other pointers. We got in by holding onto the sit and turning over. The water was cold but it was warm enough to get used to quickly. With just our feet in, with the booties on, you couldn't feel the temperature. The booties did fill with water once we were in. We practice putting our faces in and breathing continuously then continued onto putting our snorkels under and learning how to expel the water by puffing out the water. This way you could keep your head down the whole time to reduce energy expenditure.

Then we tried going across with the fins and doing small under water dives to practice continual breathing. We then did this over to the deep end to try it out deeper and still understand how it works. There was one snorkel-only girl in the group tonight so she knows more than she needs to for snorkeling. We did a variety of surface dives which reminded me of swim lessons as well as lifeguard training. We had some free time at the end where Ashley tried out the different fins which were easier on her weak ankle. We got out, rinsed all our gear to get rid of icky chlorine, and drove back to the store to get our learning packs and return the borrowed fins (although we'll probably end up getting those ones- they still have to put down the serial numbers).

So next week we actual get to do scuba. So I will have to read Section 2 and watch the DVD. I will likely read the section at work where I actually want to bring my gear and pretend to snorkel for practice. I want to make the children jealous of my mask (but I will do it not during open hours). Can't wait for next week!