Dive, Dive, Dive

Went diving in the St. Lawrence River yesterday. Very interesting. There is an area that is made BY divers FOR divers....several anchors and blocks of concrete, all in a big circle. Plus a big old wooden sailboat sunk on purpose for divers to explore, and for fish to take a break in.

For some reason, we are getting better at it. Easier to get into our wet suits, (though still pretty difficult to stretch that mouse pad across by big butt) and we didn't forget anything. This was the first time Brenda and I dove entirely by ourselves, and of course a fair number of annoying (read potentially dangerous) things happened. To get around to the port side of the boat meant crossing the guide rope, I went over it, and she tried to go under it. She got tangled in the rope, and though it was not a bad tangle, everytime she would turn to get her tank unsnarled, the rope would wrap around some other part of her equipment. I can see why divers carry knives....nets and fishing lines could prove devestatingly dangerous. She was pretty much untangled by the time I got myself into position to do something about it, so she really didn't need me, but it is the sort of thing that helps you learn.

Then a good hard swim upstream past the boat. All this rain this month has made the current pretty stiff, and I found that I was puffing and panting with the effort! Using up my air at a scary rate. Brenda was much more relaxed than I was. Then we got back on the rope, and I swam alongside while Brenda pulled herself along the rope. This is on the uphill part of the tour, so like a beginner I wasn't watching my buoyancy, and suddenly it was out of control, and I shot for the surface. Fine...its only 40 feet....well, 40 feet up and 60 feet downstream! So by the time I got it sorted out, I was in for another stiff swim. I followed her bubbles. Just as I got to Brenda, she followed protocol, and because she couldn't see me, she launched for the surface.

And, as protocol demands, I followed. Like totally out of breath by that point! And no way were we ever going to find that guide rope again! Let alone be able to sprint to get to it! I must have looked like I was in extremis, panting like a puppy dog...sucking wind like I had just run a race. So we sort of dog paddled over to the rocks, and I tried to catch my breath. Discovered that the tank, and weights (38 pounds of weights alone!) made the clambor across the rocks really difficult. There was NO WAY Brenda would be able to do it without dumping her gear, and though I was plenty strong enough to do it, the heart and lungs complained mightily! (step to the next rock...pant, breathe, pick out another rock...pant breathe pant....) But once I got over to the car, dumped my gear and got the ring with the rope out to Brenda, it wasn't so bad.

I had made a couple of beginner mistakes....not realizing we were going uphill (as you go up, the air in your wet suit expands, and you have to adjust your buoyancy to stay neutral by dumping air) , and then not being able to find my buoyancy air release when I needed it, being upside down trying to swim down making the buoyancy air release like, totally useless, then not being in good enough shape to sprint when I needed to sprint....all in all TOTALLY embarrassing. Not especially dangerous, but not the way I planned to end the dive. As Brenda pointed out...it is from our mistakes that we learn. Well, as long as I didn't have to learn to breathe water, I'm happy.

The picture was taken last year on our check out dives, and are of Brenda and our dive master. Click on the images to enlarge.