2-4.05.09 Looking, reading, and diving

So the 2nd was looking for a dive company to go with. Now what I found was they all are pretty much the same. Same structure, same cost, and because a lot of the instructors are freelance your instructor could be any one. So how do you choose a company. My thoughts were because my mouth is not really that normal, it just isn’t, that I would ask each company what they could do and how we could work around the problem.
Now most of the companies just said we will have to go through a few regulators and see which mouth piece fits best. The company that I choose in the end had a few ideas, the best one was you can get a moldable mouth piece which we can then put on the Regulator for you. OK so I realize this was good for them because I spend more money but it does mean now that my mouth piece is very comfortable. And I can take it with me and use it any were. That’s right Terry we will be going diving when I get back.
Company found, all things covered, ended up just reading my book and relaxing for the rest of the day, the course was going to start on the 3rd. The 3rd rolled around, the course did not start until the afternoon so packed up from Mr J’s and moved to my new digs down by the beach, just happens to be by the Wharf as well, could work out good when I leave.
Picked up the dive book early and had a read through as you do. Not much else to do on a island. Afternoon rolled around and off to the shop to wait for my instructor. I’m on time were the hell is he, woops forgot island time, 25minutes late. Excellent. First afternoon is all class room stuff. 3 hours of PADI cheeeessssseeeee dive video. Yeppy, thanks America.
So got through the first 3 sections of the book with out to many problems and my Instructor TJ seemed nice enough. Good Irish fella who I could understand. We worked through a few things, O yes forgot to mention there was just me in the class. Finished and TJ said someone else will be with you tomorrow I’m on some drugs from chemist and cannot dive. Right have to get to know someone else. Dinner and headed off to bed, next day diving, well at least in the water and learning all the safety stuff. So much to remember.
The 4th rolled around as it does being right after the 3rd, up and ready and around to the bar across the road from the shop, it’s were they all meet. Waiting, meet at 9, some guy comes in with a load of gear and starts looking at me, finally asks if I am doing the open water course. Yep, so this is my new instructor, Stewart, from Norway, asked him the usual questions, how long you been diving, instructing etc etc you know how it is, you want their credentials before you put your life in their hands.
So meet instructor we are just waiting for the boat now. It is going to be here around ten, we have a few snorkelers on board so I have been told. It’s alright though because they will work in with us. Excellent. The boat arrived, so we jumped on board, Spanish Kate is the dive master today. 3 other people jump on and they are diving not snorkeling. Ok so we are all diving. The Spanish fieriness comes out in Kate as she is supposed to know what is going on.
For all you that have learnt to dive, my first day was not in a pool, but on a ruff beach. Why not the pool. On the boat and off we went, I thought we would be heading to a sheltered bay somewhere, NO, they seemed to have picked a bay where the swell was coming straight into. Great it’s my first day people.
Now me and Stew went over what we would be doing etc before we got in the water, then for PADI you have to prove you can swim, so it was twice round the boat in nice choppy seas, excellent, first time round got water in my mouth, good start Mr Dakin, next lap no problem, now 10 minutes water treading or floating. It’s ruff how the hell am I supposed to float and relax, well I now know I can tread water for ten minutes in ruff seas. After that I sink. You know the story arse goes down first and the rest follows.
On the boat gear on and go through all the pre dive checks, in we go, not probs. Swim to shore, now in the book it says its best to be done in chest deep water, in chest deep water we were getting thrown around, and I had trouble just staying still on the bottom, so the decision was made to head out deeper. So with maybe 1 ½ to 2 meters of water above us it was a lot calmer. But there was more water above me if I panicked.
No panicking then, remain calm, breath normally, and try and watch what Stew was doing because I had to do it right after. First few tasks were easy, taking regulator out, out of air, using buddy regulator, filling goggles with water etc etc etc. So we were making our way through with not to many problems at all.
Then from out of the deep blue, Jaws music people, I was still watching Stew show me the next exercise when bam something bit me from behind, all the little fishes which had stayed away now came in for the kill. The little buggers keep biting my legs it was as I imagine Piranhas’ to be like. Even when I shooed them away they kept coming back in to attack, which made concentrating on what Stew was showing me very had to do. O yes and breath and relax.
Lucky for me we only had a couple of exercises left to do so I was able to escape the evil little swine’s. Not allowed to talk about Swine are we. After we fished the exercises and because Stew was pretty happy with how I did with everything we swam back to the boat though the corral beds, I think Stew had got a bit disorientated as he kept pointing me to go more right all the time, I felt we had gone too far right but did not really want to stop the dive. He finally did the signal to rise to the surface. We were maybe 4-5 meters under water by this stage.
When we came to the top we were about 30 meters from the boat and were we should be. I maybe could have said we were going the wrong way but then the dive would have finished sooner, and is it really my responsibility on my first dive to point out to the instructor we have gone wrong. So we swam back to the boat and boarded for lunch and our next dive site.
So because we had other divers on board they wanted to cruise over to another dive site, no problem with me, Stew only had a couple more things to show me. So the next dive site would be in 6-10 meters of water, I think it was deeper then I was supposed to go on my second dive but who am I to complain.
Gear on over the side and away we go, we did a static line decent, for those not in the know, That’s right people I know what I’m talking about, NOT. You hold on to a rope that is on a buoy at the surface and anchored to the bottom. My understanding is you have more control of your decent. Correct me if I am wrong. Please. I have to take my test tomorrow.
Anyway we dropped down and I had a few problems equalizing, so we just took our time. I had a bit of a squeeze, you know what I’m talking about divers. We had a pretty good swim around and were down for maybe ½ an hour or so. I have to say it was pretty cool, but really hard to keep breathing all the time because I was just fascinated looking around. Yes breathing all the time should be easy I know.
After our ½ hour was over we went back up and again I had a few problems, it seems I just have to go up and down slowly. Once back on top, it was back to the boat and a couple of surface exercises. Did them all sweet with no problems which Stew was pretty amazed about. It had been a pretty good day till I realized I had knocked my snorkel off and it was on the bottom. Time to earn your money Stew. Down you go. That’s why we pay the big bucks here folks.
That was the end to my first day diving, tomorrow is going over a few things at a deeper depth of 12 meters, not really looking forward to that, diving seems to be a mind over matter sort of sport. You have to keep in control and stay relaxed. Good fun though. There have also been some whale sharks in the area, it is the time of year when they swim past this area, so maybe just maybe I might get to see one. Have to pray to the Diving gods tonight.