Five Dives In

So what happened in between the first dive and now ? Well, diving happened and it’s a full on physical and mental activity and every dive can produce challenges that come from being in an unnatural environment. I’m learning quickly that it’s always best if you can pre-empt problems and think of solutions whilst you’re on dry land

One of several challenges was how to descend gracefully and stay down “Make sure you’ve completely emptied all the air out of your BCD jacket” I dutifully pulled air release valves, tugged on strings and kept my breathing shallow. And still I seemed to ‘hover’ at 15 feet until some kind rescue diver (my lovely buddy Merlin) grabbed my fins and pulled me firmly down. Then I was OK until the tank got lighter (as the air was used up)and it then again became a struggle to stay down.

So, the solution seemed to try adding some weight. With sixteen pounds of lead weight in my pockets I descended easily, swam happily and enjoyed stability. Since then the challenge has been ‘to lose weight’ from my pockets, which is still an ongoing challenge but I’m gradually winning.

It goes without saying that being able to see clearly is crucial when you’re diving. If your mask fogs up you’ve got a problem. Merlin, my amazing and thoughtful buddy, has the answer – a bottle of ‘Frog Spit’. I’m not sure what’s in it but it works. Before we dive we spray it onto our masks and clarity prevails.

Dive 1,2,3,4, were perfect. The glass remained clear and there was no fogging throughout the dive. As I prepared for Dive 5 I realised I’d forgotten the Frog Spit routine and a crew member applied the local ‘brew’ onto my mask. That dive was murky and it was only when I surfaced and asked “Why was visibility so bad?” that someone laughed and pointed to my mask “Nah nah! Your mask was fogged up!”. From that moment Frog Spit is top of the list every time. I don’t want to miss the nurse shark, the turtle, the lion fish the morays. More of them in the next blog ……