me talking out loud

I have got to be one of the worlds biggest dummies. Went diving this past weekend and almost manage to get myself and my husband killed. And no - that isn’t exagerating it.

We decided to go diving at a beach we have dived before (Dadi Beach which is normally so calm it is like glass). Looking out at the beach we noticed a little bit of surf - not much but enough so we would have to pay attention. Anyway while snorkelling out the tide started to go out and the surf had came up to 3-4 foot waves and the occasional 6 footer thrown in just for good measure as a result (unnoticed by us at the time - so much for paying attention to it… the first in a series of mistakes). Eventually we came to the edge of the reef. Jason and Kayla snorkel out through the surf with little to no problems. I on the other hand (after almost taking a header into the reef eairler) decide to walk out though the surf. So I take off my fins, mask and snorkel and start walking out, jumping over the waves (BIG MISTAKE).

The real problems started when I reached a channel cut into the reef (about 15 feet wide and only 10 feet from the end of the reef). The water depth suddenly drops to ~6-8 feet (I’m only ~5 foot). Right in the middle of the surf zone. So there I am with no mask, snorkel or fins with 4-6 foot waves crashing over my head sending me head over ass banging into the various columns of coral in the zone. Jason swam back to grab and hopefully pull me out past the surf, but without my fins I couldn’t help him and the currents are too strong for him alone. Luckily neither my husband or myself truly panicked. Granted we weren’t thinking but neither of us truly panicked. Anyway - long story short after being tossed around for a while it’s decided that I would head back to shore and he would go out past the surf again to grab Kayla and make sure she made it back in safely (which they did with no mishaps on their part).

So how did I manage to get myself back to shore in that mess? Well for one I put back on my mask and finally remembered I had a whole tank of air on my back - grabbed the respirator and simply breathed. Then it was simple to let the waves and surf push me back in (with the mask on it’s amazing what one can see and avoid hitting under the water).

Yes - I was Stupidity Incarnate for many reasons, but these pop in my mind immediately
1) Taking off my mask and fins
2) Calling for Jason to come save my happy little ass - thus endangering himself, instead of just turning back to shore at the first sign of trouble.
3) Forgetting I had a full damn tank of air on my back (trying to gulp air betwen waves is kinda hard) and not droping below the surf and swimming through and mostly…
4) Thinking I was smarter then my training

Mother Nature was kind to me this weekend. She could have easily killed me but instead banged me up a bit and left me with some bruises, scratches and cuts - no broken bones and luckily still alive and with a bruised ego. She must have been in a good mood - Thank goodness.

So how did the day end… Well when you get bucked off a horse the first thing you have to do is climb back on. So we went to someplace with a LOT less surf and dove there for about an hour. Now the whole situation can just be a story to remind all of us that the ocean is a dangerous place and we should all be a bit more cautious and respectful to her.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 16th, 2006 at 10:26 am and is filed under Family, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.