Wednesday 12 January 2011

Pigs Fly By As I Scuba Dive...


Certified scuba diver…who would’ve thought it, eh? Certainly not me, that’s for sure!  Before I talk about our SSI Open Water Course, let me put things into perspective. For most of my life, I have had a chronic fear of deep water. Scuba diving was honestly my worst nightmare; the thought of sinking 18m deep into the ocean, supported by only an air tank, sent me into a cold sweat. Then there was the dreaded ‘bends’ to fear; I wasn’t able to come up to the surface quickly if I panicked down there, or I might get air-bubbles in my blood stream and become PARALYSED. This was all too much for me. The day before we started our course, I wrote a poem about my inner turmoil…

Pre-Diving
I’m lost, I’m scared
I’m unprepared!
Just watch me cry-
what if I die?
It’s deep down there-
how will I fare?
But grin I must
and just have trust.
Though I won’t sleep,
I must go deep
into my soul
to fill this hole,
into the sea
to set me free
from this big fear
that I have here.
How do I tell
this inner hell?
Through all this doubt,
my pen runs out!
Three words work well-
oh, bloody hell.

A little dramatic, I know…So, enough of my nervousness- onto the course itself! To my great relief, we didn’t even get into the pool on the first day. We met our Scottish diving instructor, Neil, and our fellow diving-novice, a Swedish guy called Tobias. A Belgian mother-of-three called Elfie was also to join us the next day, but we still had a nice, small group.  It started with one of the scariest parts of the course- signing the disclaimer. ‘Sign your life away- diving is a dangerous sport…if you die, don’t blame us, mate’. Then we began the marathon video-watching sessions that would continue over the next few days…all about the equipment, key skills, making it look like there was a lot to remember just to make me extra nervous. Paranoid, me?
   The next morning, we were fitted into our scuba gear- squeezing on wetsuits, shoe-horning on fins, tightening masks. Damn, I thought, I’m actually going to do this. I warned Neil about my nervousness. ‘Are you scared of water?’ he asked; I shook my head. ‘Are you scared of fish?’ he said; I shook my head again. ‘You’ll be fine then’. Abrupt advice, but strangely comforting! We had a morning classroom lesson with Neil before Marcus, Neil’s Austrian helper, showed us how to fit all the breathing equipment together. BCD (an inflatable vest that controls buoyancy underwater) and air-tank all set-up, it was time to heave them onto our backs and head towards our first dive-destination…the pool. It took me by surprise how bloody heavy the whole she-bang was…I nearly collapsed onto the floor with the weight of the thing!
   So, towards the pool we waddled, where Neil showed us the easiest method of getting into the sea with scuba gear on- the giant stride, which is basically a big step into the water. Now, this really is very simple, so long as you remember two things- to inflate your BCD before you get into the pool so you don’t sink like a stone, and to hold on to your regulator and mask so they don’t fill with water. Of course, I forgot both of these things, and so bobbed up to the surface half-drowning and spluttering with water. Great start.  Luckily, things went a lot better after that…I thought I’d panic when we first sank to the bottom of the shallow end, with only the regulator to help me breathe…but that’s when I had the diving epiphany that would save my diving career. As long as I breathe, I’ll be OK. And so that’s what I kept at the forefront of my mind as Neil made us do some necessary, but pretty unpleasant skills for ‘what-if’ scenarios…what if your mask filled with water? What if your regulator (breathing mouthpiece) was kicked out of your mouth? What if you lost your mask altogether? And the big ‘what-if’- what if you ran out of air? The latter was a particularly comforting one to learn; it involves tapping your diving buddy, gesturing you’re out of air, and asking to share. Don’t worry, you don’t share the same regulator; everybody ingeniously has a ‘secondary regulator’ to give their partner in desperate times. So, no matter what situation you find yourself in, it’s good to know that you can always breathe.  I had my only panicky moments during the last two skills I mentioned, rushing to the surface because I hadn’t fitted my mask/secondary regulator properly. I soon got over it, though, and was soon swimming comfortably at the bottom of the deep end, enjoying this crazy weightless feeling much more than I could have imagined.








   Day two- time to head into the turquoise ocean! Back into the classroom in the morning, though, to talk about why we don’t just rush to the surface after a dive- build-ups of ‘residual nitrogen’, which can turn into the dreaded ‘bends’. A little scary to hear this before going out to sea, but of course it had to be drilled into us…So, classroom work officially finished, we rushed onto the long-tail boat that was to take us to Phoenix Diver’s big pink dive-boat. As soon as we stepped off, there was pure commotion-air-tanks everywhere, divers pushing past each other as they tried to find their equipment bag, instructors trying to explain what to do in the midst of this madness…It was such a relief to fit the equipment together and just head to the top-deck for a chill…the craziness downstairs had brought butterflies into my stomach, not helped by slight sea-sickness. Before I knew it, we were at our first dive site- Mango Bay. We were only going down 9m on this dive, to practice skills and get comfortable in the ocean. Still, this was very, very real now, there was no going back…Blocking the fear, I strode as confidently as possible into the sea, holding onto my mask and regulator for dear life! Relieved/slightly surprised to be floating on the surface, I swam towards Neil and the buoy line, which we were going to follow all the way to the sandy sea-bed.  ‘Ready?’ he said. Not really, I thought, but still deflated my BCD and followed him under the water, all sound immediately replaced by the gurgle of bubbles. Trying to co-ordinate equalizing my ears and holding onto the rope, my knees were scraping along the sandy bottom much quicker than I’d imagined. Semi-circle around Neil while we performed some skills, before moving onto the fun bit- swimming with the fishes alongside my diving-buddy, Mr. Martz, who was clearly in his element being the water-baby that he is! It’s difficult to explain the power of feeling weightless…when you breathe in, you are lifted up; when you breathe out, you immediately sink…no need for arms at all, just legs and lungs. It was at this moment that I realized the true appeal of diving…feeling detached from this underwater world, yet at the same time part of it, both in your fluid weightlessness and the marine-life’s acceptance of your presence. As long as you don’t disturb them, they don’t disturb you…a mutual respect. How did I feel when I came up to the surface? A little panicked while I quickly inflated my BCD, and then a huge smile and slightly deranged laugh escaped from my lips! As we rode the boat to the next dive destination, Twins, I honestly felt on top of the world (though I’d just been closer to the bottom!).
   Don’t worry, I’m not going to go into too much detail about the next three dives; all I will say, enjoyment wise, is that I became much more relaxed with every dive. At Twins, we dived down to 12m to see some eels, trigger-fish (who apparently get a bit nasty if you enter their territory) and my favourites, tiny electric blue fish. We had a painfully early start the next morning- 7am!- as we headed towards Chumphon Pinnacle. This was definitely the most fish-rich site- schools of huge barracuda swam underneath us, shy sting-rays rushed under rocks, schools of smaller fish surrounding us, beautiful coral silently breathing and protecting the tiniest fish…and we dived all the way down to 18m! The buoy-line at the beginning was a little longer, but other than a bit of extra ear-pressure, it didn’t really feel any different from the previous day’s dives. Our last stop before we’d officially be SSI-certified divers was called White Rock- it almost felt like home for Patrick (haha!...not). Only 12m this time- although of course, that’s still a bloody long way down!- but we practiced a few more skills, with the added pressure of being filmed this time by the underwater videographer, Ben. The dive was fantastic, but one of my highlights was Patrick’s top-deck jump…he was all set to dive into the water, but unfortunately slipped forward at the last second, tumbling into the water belly-flop style before rectifying it at the last second. Don’t worry, he was absolutely fine…and it’s all on video! Coming to a blog near you, folks!
   So that was it…after possibly the fastest three days of the trip so far, we are now certified Open Water Divers! That day- and night- we probably drank a few too many Changs, and Samsom buckets…At one point, I looked over to Patrick and an eccentric dread-locked French guy communicating with bizarre expressions and hand signals. That was probably the time to call it a night, but no, of course we carried on, losing both our room key and dignity…Anyway, want to know how I’m feeling now? Think this poem pretty much covers it…

Après Diving
It’s funny when
you find out that
the fear’s just in
your head.
It’s funny how
you’re still alive
when you thought you’d
be dead.
The skill you need
is just to breathe
and then you will
survive-
I never thought
this day would come
when I could learn
to dive!
I must admit,
the skills were hard,
I tried hard not
to freak;
I just looked around
at schools of fish
then things looked much
less bleak!
I’ll say it loud-
I’m very proud
to overcome
this fear,
for I can say
that I have learnt
a lifelong skill
this year!
No longer am
I haunted by
a fear of the
deep sea,
What other fears
can I knock down?
What’s locked inside
of me?

 

   I know I said this about skydiving, I know I said this about bungy-jumping, but I HONESTLY mean it when I say that if I can scuba dive, ANYBODY can! Would definitely recommend Phoenix Divers as well…free accommodation, free breakfast, cheaper than anywhere else, but just as good and safe!
   Still on Ko Tao at the moment…moving on to Ko Pha-Gnan soon, when we feel like it! Maybe not today though…it’s raining again! Although that would provide perfect symmetry considering our arrival…but no, we’ll probably just head to a beach-side restaurant to eat some ‘200% spicy’ laab (similar to Laos’ ‘laap’) and watch the turbulent sea. Until next time!

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