me talking out loud

Well we finished our confined dives last night… and it was a long night. We were all there by 6PM and eventually get into the water ( had to do some stuff outside first - like learn how to put everything together, review some safety stuff, and well you get the point).

I have to admit that breathing underwater was VERY different then I thought it would be. For one, breathing in was easier but breathing out was harder… never had resistance that way before. Eventually get used to it. Unfortunately one of our class was having a really hard time. He was very uncomfortable and just could not relax (hadn’t swam in years and had never gone snorkeling so he was not used to breathing through his mouth). After about 45 minutes he decided to skip the rest of the class, roll back to the next class, and get out into the ocean and snorkel/swim to help him become more comfortable. I felt bad but in many ways it is the best solution.

Anyway - most of the stuff we did was pretty cool , but I really hated where we had to take off our mask, put it back on, flush and clear. The water in my eyes really irritated them, and making myself breathe only through my mouth took real concentration. Also, having ones air turned off (simulates running out of air) and having to use your buddies alternate air source was a bit disconcerting at first. The only place I really goofed was when we had to simulate a free flowing regulator. I guess I wasn’t getting in close enough to “sip” the air, cause I got a mouthful of water. To my embaressment - I surfaced. But I did immediately come back down and do it again - that time finally getting it right.

We finally finished up ~11PM and were on our way home by about 11:15PM. We got to bed about midnight. I had a great time though I was ready for it to be over when we quit. Jason on the other hand absolutely loved it and was willing to stay for more if the instructor wanted.

Our first open water dive will be Saturday at oh-my-god it is early at one of the local beaches. I am not looking forward to taking off my mask in salt water. My eyes burn just thinking about it. Oh well.

      

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 20th, 2005 at 11:54 pm and is filed under General, Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.