So today I went scuba diving for the first time ever! Okay, well actually I've been diving in the pool for the past five weeks now, but today I had my first two open water dives in Square Lake (which is, in fact, not really shaped like a square...). We got up at about 7:30 this morning and drove an hour and a half to the lake, which is a little bit north of Stillwater, MN. There were ten of us in John's (the instructor's) camper! I've never really been in one of them before, so it was pretty cool, and cozy with all of our gear and tanks! Tried to catch a few more z's on the ride over. When we got there we found out that there was a triathalon going on, so we had to park a little bit away from the spot where we were actually diving (we parked very smartly next to the "No Scuba Diving" sign). The lake was really pretty, but it was a cloudy day and a little chilly for swimming (55 degrees outside, 40 degree lake wooo). The lake had a relatively long beach though, and I can imagine it being very beautiful and refreshing on a hot day.
So we took all of the stuff out of the camper and divided into three groups. Cassie and I were in the second group, so we had a little bit of down time. But I have to mention it takes SO LONG to put on scuba gear. Especially the wetsuit. Ours are two-piece wetsuits, and I can't decide if they are easier or harder to put on than a one-piece would be. So scuba gear includes: wetsuit (overalls then jacket), boots, hood, gloves, weight belt with about 20 lbs worth of lead on it, BCD with attached tank and valve (we attach them before putting them on), fins (put on in the water), snorkel and mask. WOAH. So much gear. And altogether it is probs around 60+ lbs, plus once you get wet your wetsuit has a lot more weight. So we trudged along from one side of the lake to the other with our gear. And let me tell you, it is difficult to walk in these wetsuits. Especially since they don't really fit right (the crotch on mine has a good 4 extra inches of room...). So it's pretty funny to see us all walking out there. It took at least 40 minutes to get everything together for dive #1. We were in the water for approximately 30 minutes. And then we took it all off! And did it again an hour later! But with wet wetsuits this time! Hooray.
It was pretty scary going in the lake for the first time. The visibility was really poor (maybe I could see 2-3 feet in front of me?) and so we didn't see very much. Saw a few smaller fish and a lot of seaweed on the bottom, but not much else. The water was also very cold, but once the water in my wetsuit warmed up it was really not bad at all. Just my lips were really cold ahaha. And it was a little more difficult to equalize cause I couldn't really feel my nose. We all held hands while we were underwater (because honestly we would have gotten lost SO easily. I thought it was gonna be awful and so stupid at first, but once we got in the water I was really happy about it, even though it was super inconvenient for manoeuvring). The first skills we practiced were clearing our masks under water and octopus breathing (everyone has an extra valve on their tank to give to their buddy in case the buddy runs out of air). Then we "explored" and came back up. We also tested for neutral buoyancy when we first went in (You are supposed to float at eye level with everything on except the BCD). Then we got out and changed and group 3 went in, and then when they were done we had lunch. John brought a grill, so we set that up next to the changing tent and had a nice little cookout. Everyone in the group was really chill, and it was nice to get to talk to some new people. There was this one older guy (who was part of John's community class) who had been to India and China, and he was really eager to talk about Shimla with me.
So after lunch half of us put our gear on for our second dive (maybe a little harder than the first time) and got in again, this time practicing the "tired swimmer" carry, in case of the event that your buddy experiences overexertion and you need to get them back to the boat/beach. It was so hard! I was actually shocked by how tired I was after such a short period of swimming. I generally consider myself to be a relatively strong swimmer, and in lifeguard training I have swum carrying someone in a spinal clamp (aka not using arms to swim) for multiple lengths, and so I was not expecting this to be difficult, especially since you can use your arms in this type of carry. Even when we practiced in the pool (so still wearing the 30 pound air tank, but less extra weight) it felt pretty easy. But this was really tiring! So we were pushing our buddy halfway out to this diving platform, and then our buddy pushed us the other half. I went first, and by the time my half was up I really did need the "tired swimmer" push haha. It was sort of disconcerting though, since I usually feel so comfortable in the water. At this point it started to rain, and the day sort of went downhill. We dived for a little and practiced some more skills, and then went back to shore and the second group went in. By this point it was raining pretty steadily, and a lot of our stuff was still lying around outside, so we were rushing around trying to carry all of our gear back to the van and putting away what we could. We were all pretty soaked, and not from the lake. I felt really bad for the group that was still in the water, because by the time they got out it was raining really hard and they still had to get changed and everything.
So it got pretty cold, especially with the rain at the end. But we made it out! Got back to campus around six, went immediately to dinner with Cassie, and then took a LONG, hot shower and it felt sooooo good. And now I'm so sleepy and sore! I'm gonna be so sore tomorrow...but first repeat! Getting up at around 7 again for round two. But after these two more dives tomorrow, I will officially be certified! Hooray! Great Barrier Reef here I come!
In a way it's a really good thing that I had a ridiculous amount of work last week because now I have basically nothing this weekend, which is almost necessary since I'm not really functioning as a normal human being right now...not even trying to do work tonight, but hopefully I'll be able to force myself tomorrow...
SO EXCITED TO SEE MY BEAUTIFUL AMAZING WONDERFUL SISTER NEXT WEEKEND!!!!
Bedtiimmmmmme
So we took all of the stuff out of the camper and divided into three groups. Cassie and I were in the second group, so we had a little bit of down time. But I have to mention it takes SO LONG to put on scuba gear. Especially the wetsuit. Ours are two-piece wetsuits, and I can't decide if they are easier or harder to put on than a one-piece would be. So scuba gear includes: wetsuit (overalls then jacket), boots, hood, gloves, weight belt with about 20 lbs worth of lead on it, BCD with attached tank and valve (we attach them before putting them on), fins (put on in the water), snorkel and mask. WOAH. So much gear. And altogether it is probs around 60+ lbs, plus once you get wet your wetsuit has a lot more weight. So we trudged along from one side of the lake to the other with our gear. And let me tell you, it is difficult to walk in these wetsuits. Especially since they don't really fit right (the crotch on mine has a good 4 extra inches of room...). So it's pretty funny to see us all walking out there. It took at least 40 minutes to get everything together for dive #1. We were in the water for approximately 30 minutes. And then we took it all off! And did it again an hour later! But with wet wetsuits this time! Hooray.
It was pretty scary going in the lake for the first time. The visibility was really poor (maybe I could see 2-3 feet in front of me?) and so we didn't see very much. Saw a few smaller fish and a lot of seaweed on the bottom, but not much else. The water was also very cold, but once the water in my wetsuit warmed up it was really not bad at all. Just my lips were really cold ahaha. And it was a little more difficult to equalize cause I couldn't really feel my nose. We all held hands while we were underwater (because honestly we would have gotten lost SO easily. I thought it was gonna be awful and so stupid at first, but once we got in the water I was really happy about it, even though it was super inconvenient for manoeuvring). The first skills we practiced were clearing our masks under water and octopus breathing (everyone has an extra valve on their tank to give to their buddy in case the buddy runs out of air). Then we "explored" and came back up. We also tested for neutral buoyancy when we first went in (You are supposed to float at eye level with everything on except the BCD). Then we got out and changed and group 3 went in, and then when they were done we had lunch. John brought a grill, so we set that up next to the changing tent and had a nice little cookout. Everyone in the group was really chill, and it was nice to get to talk to some new people. There was this one older guy (who was part of John's community class) who had been to India and China, and he was really eager to talk about Shimla with me.
So after lunch half of us put our gear on for our second dive (maybe a little harder than the first time) and got in again, this time practicing the "tired swimmer" carry, in case of the event that your buddy experiences overexertion and you need to get them back to the boat/beach. It was so hard! I was actually shocked by how tired I was after such a short period of swimming. I generally consider myself to be a relatively strong swimmer, and in lifeguard training I have swum carrying someone in a spinal clamp (aka not using arms to swim) for multiple lengths, and so I was not expecting this to be difficult, especially since you can use your arms in this type of carry. Even when we practiced in the pool (so still wearing the 30 pound air tank, but less extra weight) it felt pretty easy. But this was really tiring! So we were pushing our buddy halfway out to this diving platform, and then our buddy pushed us the other half. I went first, and by the time my half was up I really did need the "tired swimmer" push haha. It was sort of disconcerting though, since I usually feel so comfortable in the water. At this point it started to rain, and the day sort of went downhill. We dived for a little and practiced some more skills, and then went back to shore and the second group went in. By this point it was raining pretty steadily, and a lot of our stuff was still lying around outside, so we were rushing around trying to carry all of our gear back to the van and putting away what we could. We were all pretty soaked, and not from the lake. I felt really bad for the group that was still in the water, because by the time they got out it was raining really hard and they still had to get changed and everything.
So it got pretty cold, especially with the rain at the end. But we made it out! Got back to campus around six, went immediately to dinner with Cassie, and then took a LONG, hot shower and it felt sooooo good. And now I'm so sleepy and sore! I'm gonna be so sore tomorrow...but first repeat! Getting up at around 7 again for round two. But after these two more dives tomorrow, I will officially be certified! Hooray! Great Barrier Reef here I come!
In a way it's a really good thing that I had a ridiculous amount of work last week because now I have basically nothing this weekend, which is almost necessary since I'm not really functioning as a normal human being right now...not even trying to do work tonight, but hopefully I'll be able to force myself tomorrow...
SO EXCITED TO SEE MY BEAUTIFUL AMAZING WONDERFUL SISTER NEXT WEEKEND!!!!
Bedtiimmmmmme
No comments:
Post a Comment