5 Mar--100' Dive

Mon, 5 Mar .... another busy day. up at 6am and at the Whale Shark office at 6:30 to get things ready 'in case' they had a boat this afternoon, since i won't be getting back much before we'd have to get the boat ready to go again. but, the weather is not looking very good this morning ... it's raining again, and this time it looks like it's going to stay around awhile. i'd rather not go diving when it's raining .. i hate spending money to be out in the rain ... but i'll go anyway :( i got there early and had plenty of time to get my gear around. i was hoping they would cancel; but knew that they wouldn't. it's not too bad being under the water when it's raining; ....except the visibility isn't as good when the sun isn't shining, and the colors aren't very nice. but we will be learning new 'skills', so won't be diving for 'fun' or photography; ... so i guess it's ok. ....it's just when you get out of the water, and it's windy and cloudy and raining ... then it's cold and not much fun :( before we left, Chris, our instructor and Staci and i went over the lesson and questions that i completed last night as a review of what we would be doing today. .... then we headed out to the Halliburton Dive Site.. it's a Wreck Dive, and the ship is called The Halliburton ... and it was sunk 10yrs ago for the purpose of making an articifical reef and dive site. i guess they almost had 2 boats down there because the boat the pulled the Halliburton out there, didn't disconnect some cable properly and it almost sunk along with it! so today it sits on the bottom at 100 feet, which is considered a 'deep dive' for recreational purposes. and this is what i am getting certified for ...... deep diving, ... so i can 'legally' dive down to 100 feet. previously my Open Water Certification only allowed me to dive to 60 feet; ......... some places don't pay any attention to that restriction; .....but some places do ..... and ... they can make money by requiring you to get your 'Advanced Certification' if you want to dive that deep. ... i didn't know i wasn't supposed to go deeper than 60ft and actually have been down to 90-100ft at other places (whoops) personally, i don't get excited by diving deep; but sometimes there are 'things' at deeper depths that i might want to see ... or there might be a group of divers that are going on a 'deep dive' that i would legally be able to join .. so... here i am ........ we all got in the water and descended slowly to 100 ft and kneeled on the sandy bottom next to the ship. this is the sandy bottom underwater ... here we played some games with an egg. Chris cracked it, and the yolk remained whole and it was squishy and we could play with it while it floated ... then he had a plastic water bottle that he brought with him from the surface, which was now all crumpled and sucked in because of the pressure it was under at that depth ... this demonstrated how our bodies would be if we weren't using our diving equipment. then he got out a pad divided into 15 randomly numbered squares .... our test was to touch #1 square and then our nose, then #2 and our nose, etc. until we finished all 15. this was to demonstrate how our coordination and brain function changes at deep depths. there is a condition called 'nitrogen narcosis' that sometimes occurs at depths, between 80-100ft. breathing nitrogen under pressure at depth produces an intoxicating effect ... some people feel like they are drunk; and it is commonly referred to as being 'narked' and it can cause them to have a false sense of security, ignore safety, poor judgment, also euphoria .... for instance some people just keep going deeper and deeper ... which is life threatening. anyway ... Staci and i both did our test .... then we explored the Wreck, ....there are sponges and corals growing on it, as well as fish that have made their homes there. we saw a DogTooth Snapper which was quite large and a nice size CowFish. ........ i wasn't permitted to take my camera with me since i am taking a course .. i'm in school ! ...some people get all excited about 'wreck diving' ...but it doesn't hold much interest for me ... i don't get it :( here are a few more pictures from yesterday a Tiger Grouper in a Barrel Sponge i've never noticed the 'buggy' eyes on a Parrot Fish nice red Star Coral ... looks like Marge Simpson's hair, except red :) then we ascended slowly and within the guidelines, stopping at 15feet for 3min ....... which is required. it's a little bit of a challenge to just 'hang' in the water at 15 feet with no reference point, without floating up to 10ft or back down to 20ft, or whatever ... it's part of what you need to be able to do ... and practice makes perfect :( back on the boat, it was uncomfortable, but not unbearable. we needed to be out of the water for 1hr before we could go back down for our second dive. this allows our bodies to release some of that nitrogen. so we reviewed our dive with Chris, and did that test again with the numbers and touching our noses ... we both were about 5 seconds faster on the boat than in the water.... but neither of us were 'narked' while we were at 100ft. our second dive was the "Navigation Dive" ... this one was more difficult for me; ..because it involved a compass, which has always mystified me. first we had to count how many kicks it took us to swim 100ft. Chris had a measuring tape and marked the distance ....this is a number that we should remember for the future so we can gauge distances; mine was 7 ... so if someone says go 100ft, then head north, etc., i would know that i needed to kick 7x to go the 100ft .... then we had to use the compass to swim in a 'square' returning to where we started ... Staci watched the compass, and i held on to her while we swam, to make sure she didn't run into anything, and make sure we stayed at the same depth, and at the same time, i had to count my kicks ... well, ... that was just too much for me :( ... she did ok, but i didn't do so good .... i did better when i was the one holding the compass coz there was only one thing to think about .. keeping that needle pointing at N between that groove, then moving it to E, then S, and W ... i was glad when that was over! ...i was stressed! .... then we went on a short 'tour' and when Chris turned around to go back, we were supposed to lead us back to the boat ..... we got back to the boat, i knew the general direction; ...but it wasn't 'us' that got us there. i can tell you now, without a doubt, i do not need to advance any further with my diving; and have no interest in being a Dive Master and having all that responsibility on my shoulders ! ...i'll just pay someone to guide me around, while i take my pictures and enjoy myself; and they can make sure i get back to the boat. here are some more pictures from yesterday's dive i love these Azure Vase Sponges ... the color is unbelievable ... another Parrot Fish French AngelFish back on the boat, this time it was cold, we headed for shore; unloaded and rinsed our equipment; then met in the Dive Shop for a review of that dive .... Chris passed us both on our 'Deep Dive' and 'Navigation Dive' ... thankfully ! ...2 down, 3 to go. and i was kind of happy that the weather was bad so we didn't have to have a Whale Shark boat ... that would be too much ... i had enough on my plate for today ! one of my 3 'choice skills' was a 'Night Dive', and it was scheduled for tonight at 5pm; so i went back to my room, to get warm ..... and noticed that the waves had really picked up and it was raining, and just awful outside. this is the only time i wish i had hot water, .... i was cold, my hair was wet, ... i did not want to do another dive today. diving is supposed to be fun and i'm really looking forward to doing a Night Dive .. but not in this weather :( ....i put on my sweat pants and a long sleeved shirt and jacket; piled all 3 blankets on the bed, and climbed in and took a nap. i got up about 2:30 and started reading my chapter on Night Diving, while listening to it rain and the waves crashing on the shore outside my room ... wishing we didn't have to go. i got to the part in the book where it talked about the environmental conditions under which you should NOT do a Night Dive ..... and in my opinion, they were happening out there right now :( then i got to the part that recommended that you should be sure that you had a good meal before you went on a Night Dive especially if you had 2 other dives that day. i realized that i had only eaten a piece of PB&J bread ... and i had better eat now, and then finish my lesson. i grabbed my money and out the door and down the street i went. i passed Munchies and saw Staci sitting on the porch eating too ... she had gotten to the same point in the book and realized she hadn't eaten either. she asked me to join her and i suggested we go inside where it was warmer .... my hair was still wet and i was cold. i had some really good Hot Chocolate and Chicken Quesidillas and we had a nice visit. she is a Dental Hygienist from Colorado who was just on the mainland of Honduras doing clinics in small villiages putting a 'sealer' on the kids' teeth to prevent cavities. then back to the room to finish up my lesson .... the weather had not improved! ....i went to the Dive Shop around 4:30pm and thankfully they cancelled our Night Dive ! yeahhhhhhhhhhhh !!!! ...we met with Chris for awhile to decide what we would do next. i'm volunteering at the Vet Clinic tomorrow, so i can't dive; and Staci is leaving at 6am on Thurs ... so we'll be doing some of our dives separately ..... not ideal for the instructor, but ..... that's the way it's going to work out. while we were meeting, some lady stopped in and wanted to know if i could print out some photos of Whale Shark encounters here in Utila since she was leaving tomorrow and wasn't able to see a Whale Shark. i told her i was in a 'class' but if she would come back at 6pm, i'd print some photos for her. at 6, i printed some photos, but by 6:30 she still hadn't shown up. i left them at the Dive Shop for her. i went to the store and sat with Valentine for almost an hour ... she was so comfortable sleeping in my arms, and kept me warm ... i felt bad leaving her. Many people come in and out of the store and look at me like i'm weird ... now, why would that be ? Greg, our Dive Master, came in and talked to me .... he understood what i was doing :) then back to my room to work on more homework .....and my blog ... which i have neglected for several days now :(