Sunday, July 24, 2005
Open Water Diving
Today was the first day of my open water dive weekend. We left for Florence at 7am, and ended up making three dives. The first two were at Lake Woahink, which is a freshwater lake that the dive center has converted into a dive training site. Meaning the dive instructors throughout the years had set up some 'exhibits' on the lake bottom. They'd also taken the liberty to sink a few boats.
Its not that deep. I'd say about 7m. So we dropped down and followed our guide, Jeff. He showed us all the cool stuff. Boats, a sink in the middle of the lake, a model of a miniature rock concert. Random things like that. We made two dives at Lake Woahink, in about 70 degree water temp. I have no idea what that is in celsius.
Then after lunch we drove to the ocean. It was fucking freezing! We made one 40 foot dive (15m) in 40 degree water, and wow, my toes went numb even through my boots. I was wearing a full suit, gloves, boots, and a hood. Basically the only part of me exposed to the water was the lower half of my face. And that was thoroughly numb by the end of it.
Still, I did see some cool stuff. Fish, lots of crabs, and lots of shellfish. And the visibility underwater was a lot better than the lake too. But its also kinda scary. When you're thirty feet underwater, you lose all sense of direction because water looks the same everywhere. Its hard to tell how far down you are, and its really easy to lose track of where you're going.
I've also come to the conclusion that getting into the full body suit when its already wet, and putting on all our heavy gear is really more exhausting than the dive itself. I had to walk myself from the shore into the ocean with about 35-40 pounds of gear on! It was ridiculous! That's almost 20kg!!
Its not that deep. I'd say about 7m. So we dropped down and followed our guide, Jeff. He showed us all the cool stuff. Boats, a sink in the middle of the lake, a model of a miniature rock concert. Random things like that. We made two dives at Lake Woahink, in about 70 degree water temp. I have no idea what that is in celsius.
Then after lunch we drove to the ocean. It was fucking freezing! We made one 40 foot dive (15m) in 40 degree water, and wow, my toes went numb even through my boots. I was wearing a full suit, gloves, boots, and a hood. Basically the only part of me exposed to the water was the lower half of my face. And that was thoroughly numb by the end of it.
Still, I did see some cool stuff. Fish, lots of crabs, and lots of shellfish. And the visibility underwater was a lot better than the lake too. But its also kinda scary. When you're thirty feet underwater, you lose all sense of direction because water looks the same everywhere. Its hard to tell how far down you are, and its really easy to lose track of where you're going.
I've also come to the conclusion that getting into the full body suit when its already wet, and putting on all our heavy gear is really more exhausting than the dive itself. I had to walk myself from the shore into the ocean with about 35-40 pounds of gear on! It was ridiculous! That's almost 20kg!!
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