Day 3: Diving Exam & Our First Two Dives November 13, 2005
Posted by Martin in : Education, Health & Sport, Thailand , trackbackOur morning class comprised of seven of us. As Priya and Jennifer were a day behind us, our class was merged with another. There were two Irish girls, and two Irish guys, all about the same age as us. We spent a lot of the time working from a quite complex dive table which determined how much nitrogen we would absorb, how deep we could go, for how long and also how long we needed to de-pressurize and rest between dives. It was the most demanding part of the theory course although we could work together and in all honesty we won’t be planning our own dives for some time anyway.
We had an hour to complete a larger multiple-choice exam which we could also work together on. Our theory class was now complete and we had an hour before our first official two dives.
We boarded the boat with a number of other divers and spent some time setting up our equipment and checking it. It is important, although not essential, to prepare and to dive with a buddy. In doing this, the safety checks are doubled and if one has a problem under water assistance is right on hand. I was buddied up with an experienced Spanish diver called Fernando who was with us for opportunity of a free dive.
As we floated and swam around the boat the Thai staff amused themselves by throwing biscuits into the water near us which attracted schools of fish to take nibbles, completely unconcered that they were swimming right into us. The girls were suprised that the fish were not interested in eating the watermelons they decided to experiment with, although quite honestly what any fish would see appealing in eating anything 99% water is beyond my grasp anyway.
Both our dives were in Aow Leuk. We dived to about 12 metres and visability was at 10 metres for both dives. We practiced our basic skills now that we were in deeper water and just relaxed, enjoying our time.
A few minutes into the dive my weight-belt vanished! I was completely oblivious to this until I began uncontrollably floating to the surface. I was yanked down again by my instructor and was awarded some of his surplus weights.
I spent the second half of my dive wondering whether I had indeed clipped my belt on properly and when exactly it might have come off.
The dives itself were spectacular in themselves but really they were done to build confidence and get used to controlling ones buoyancy underwater. Both dives were for just 40 minutes yet the time really flew by.
Nobody had taken us aside and advised us on the inevitable underwater problem I’m certain we all face. The fact is that when you’re inside a wetsuit which is to be re-used many times over, how the hell are you expected to pee when your bladder is exposed to the relative cool temperatures as you enter the water?
Sure, we learnt a number of hand signals necessary to communicate ‘I’m OK’, ‘Danger’ and ‘I’m out of air’ and I’m pretty sure I could have combined all three of them to develop my own, “My pubic areas is feeling refreshingly warm” signal.
I’m not certain of the formal protocol. Safety dicates being in pairs, so I guess trying to float oneself alone, behind some seaweed would not be considered best practice.
My inquisitive mind is also searching for the answer as to whether your buddy would notice should you just mosey along and relieve yourself, perhaps more importantly, which direction would your pee spread to? How would you most strategically position yourself so not to cause offense? I guess this is something best left answered in th Advance PADI course.
We got to do quite a bit of sunbathing today and all of us were excited to be doing the two other dives the next morning. By the end of the first dive, knowing that despite uncontrollably floating away from the group at the beginning, I was unphazed by any possible problems and was confident in my ability not to undeservedly die.
Bolstered by this positive thought I again had an early night to await a 7:30 am dive the day after.
Comments»
no comments yet - be the first?