Existential Punk

Dive Within Your Limits!

Katryna showed me the following video. It is a disturbing example of the complacency some poorly trained and/or stupid divers can have when diving. They not only jeopardize their own lives, but those who rescue them along with risking traumatizing the entire dive boat. Divers SHOULD ALWAYS DIVE WITHIN THEIR LIMITS! Diving is a safe sport if taken seriously, every precaution and preparation is adhered to, and you listen to the dive master giving the dive briefing. ALSO, ALWAYS CONTINUE TO BREATHE, CHECK YOUR GUAGES CONSTANTLY, AND DO NOT DIVE DEEPER THAN YOU ARE CERTIFIED FOR AT THE TIME OF YOUR DIVE! These two people, one being a 12 year old, could have died and the guy who braved it to rescue them could have gotten the bends.

My First Official Ocean Dive Trip!

It's official, we have FINALLY booked our dive trip with Ocean Divers in Key Largo, Florida! Katryna dived with them last August with her underwater photography class with Stephen Frink and really enjoyed diving with them. i went out one day to snorkle and had an enjoyable day despite getting a fish hickey on my left knee from a chub fish who mistook me for some fish food! This is my official 40th Birthday gift from my beautiful and awesome wife! Thanks, honey!

We will be heading out to drive down to Key West first for a couple of days on July 16th, where we will be staying for two nights at Pearls Rainbow, a resort for women! We head to Key LArgo on Sunday, July 19th and begin diving in Key Largo July 20th - 24th. FIVE DAYS OF GLORIOUS DIVING! WOO HOO!!! i am REALLY stoked!

Here is some info about the Florida Keys i just learned today, thanks to Ocean Divers:

WHAT IS A KEY?

'A "key" is an island where there is no natural source of fresh water.

 The Florida Keys are "islands" formed by ancient coral reefs. At one time, all of what is now Florida was beneath the surface of the ocean. During that time, massive coral reefs were formed. As the water level on the whole planet subsided, the tops of these reefs were no longer covered by water. Over time, sediment, seeds deposited by birds, and "nature"  produced the tropical paradise of the Florida Keys.'

PADI Open Water Chapter 4

Chapter Four is divided into five sections:

1. Dive Accessories
2. Health for Diving
3. Breathing Air at Depth
4. Dive Tables and Dive Computers (Introduction)
5. Confined Water Dive Preview

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Four on Dive Accessories:
* You use a surface float to support your dive flag, for resting and to carry accessories.
* Use an appropriate dive flag when diving where boats may be present and according to local law.
* Don't attach a full collecting bag to your gear.
* Underwater lights have both day and night uses.
* A spare-parts kit can help you from missing a dive.
* Start and maintain a log of all your dive adventures.
* To communicate with an underwater slate, you have to have one.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Four on Health for Diving:
* Don't drink, smoke or take drugs before diving.
* Don't dive when you don't feel well.
* Stay in good health.
* Have a physical examination at least every two years.
* Keep tetanus and typhoid immunizations current.
* Pregnant women should NOT dive.
* Review your dive skills and knowledge after a period of inactivity.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Four on Breathing Air at Depth:
* Air is 79 % nitrogen and 21 % oxygen.
* Contaminated air symptoms include headaches, nausea, dizziness, unconsciousness, and cherry red lips and nail beds.
* Don't have your tank filled with oxygen, and don't use enriched air unless certified in its use.
* To avoid nitrogen narcosis, avoid deep dives.
* Decompression sickness is caused by excess nitrogen forming bubbles in the body after a dive.
* Stay well within dive table and dive computer limits, especially if secondary factors apply to you.
* Signs & symptoms of DCS include limb & joint pain, tingling, numbness, paralysis, shock, weakness, dizziness, difficulty breathing, unconsciousness and death.
* Decompression Illness (DCI) is a clinical term for BOTH decompression sickness and lung over expansion injuries.
* A diver with DCI should receive emergency oxygen, rescue breathing and CPR if necessary, and will require treatment in a decompression chamber.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Four on Dive Tables& Dive Computers Introduction:
* Dive tables& dive computers use mathematical models to estimate the theoretical nitrogen in your body before, during and after a dive.
* People vary in their susceptibility to DCS, so no computer or table can guarantee you'll never get DCS, even within its limits. So, dive well within table/computer limits.
* A dive computer has some use advantages and disadvantages compared to tables, but it is neither more nor less valid.
* Recreational divers only make no decompression (no stop) dives.
* The RDP is the most popular recreational dive table, and it is the first one developed and tested exclusively for recreational diving.
* The wheel and dive computers offer you more no decompression dive time when making multilevel dives.
* You must account for nitrogen you absorb on a dive if you make a repetitive dive before your nitrogen levels return to normal.
* Stay within the depth limit of your training and/or experience. Generally: Scuba Divers - 12m/40 ft.;Open Water Divers - 18m/60 ft; General Recreational limit - 30m/100 ft.; Max. limit - 40m/130 ft.
* Be a SAFE Diver: Slowly Ascend From Every Dive.

Confined Water Dive Four Skill Requirements:

Skin Diving Skills

1.Demonstrate the use of proper hyperventilation when skin diving.
2.Dive vertically headfirst from the surface in water too deep to stand up in (without excessive splashing or arm movement).
3.Clear and breathe from a snorkel upon ascent.

Scuba Skills

4. Swim underwater without a mask for a distance of not less than 15 metres/50 feet, and replace and clear the mask underwater.
5. Using buoyancy control only, hover without kicking or sculling for at least 30 seconds.
6. Buddy breathe sharing a single air source for a distance of at least 15 metres/50 feet underwater both as a donor and a receiver. (optional skill)

PADI Open Water Chapter 3

Chapter Three is divided into seven sections:

1. The Dive Environment
2. Dive Planning
3. Boat Diving
4. Problem Management
5. Confined Water Dive Preview
6. General Open Water Skills
7. Open Water Dives 1 & 2

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Three on The Dive Environment:
* Temperature, visibility, water movement, bottom composition, aquatic life and sunlight affect dive conditions.
* A thermocline is an abrupt transition to colder water.
* Plan your dive accounting for the water temperature at your planned depth.
* When possible, use a visual reference for descending and ascending.
* When diving with a current present, HEAD INTO the current during the dive.
* IF caught in a current, DO NOT fight it. Swim ACROSS the current, OR establish buoyancy and signal for assistance.
* AVOID bottom contact by staying neutrally buoyant.
* MOST aquatic life injuries RESULT from carelessness - watch where you put your habds, feet and knees
* Wear gloves and an exposure suit to reduce likelihood of aquatic life stings and cuts.
* Sunburn IS entirely avoidable.
* Surf diving requires special training and techniques.
* IF you get caught in a RIP CURRENT, swim PARALLEL TO SHORE until you're out of it.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Three on Dive Planning and Boat Diving:
* Planning your dive plans your fun.
* A dive plan doesn't have to be complex, nor take a lot of time, nor be inflexible, BUT you do NEED to follow it.
* Boat diving has many benefits that make it popular.
* Inspect and pack gear appropriately before a boat dive.
* Different parts and areas on a boat have nautical terms you should know.
* Be careful when moving around on a rolling boat with your gear on.
* Listen to crew briefings about procedures, where to enter and exit water, and other techniques and emergency considerations.
* Don't get under another divers who's climbing the boat ladder.
* You may choose to avoid seasickness by taking seasickness medication.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Three on Problem Management:
* MOST problems occur at the SURFACE.
* You PREVENT most problems by staying relaxed and diving within your limits.
* If you have a problem at the surface, ESTABLISH positive buoyancy and call for help IF you NEED it.
* A diver with a problem who is IN CONTROL tends to respond to instructions, and to establish buoyancy
* A PANICKED DIVER tends to spit out the regulator, push off the mask and to not establish buoyancy.
* When assisting another diver, establish buoyancy, calm the diver, help the diver reestablish breathing control, and IF necessary help the diver back to the boat or shore.
* IF you watch your SPG, it's HIGHLY UNLIKELY you'll run out of air.
* Using an alternate air source is your BEST all-around option when you're out of air.
* You can breathe from a free-flowing regulator by NOT sealing your lips on the mouthpiece.
* Entanglement is not a big deal IF you react calmly and carefully7 untangle yourself.
* Bring an unresponsive diver IMMEDIATELY to the SURFACE, CHECK for BREATHING & PULSE, and BEGIN RESCUE BREATHING and /or CPR as NECESSARY.
* Ask for help when you NEED it.

Confined Water Dive Three Skill Requirements:

1. Independently establish neutral buoyancy under water by pivoting on the fin tips, or, when appropriate, another point of contact (both oral and low-pressure inflation).
2. Swim at least 10metres/yards underwater while maintaining neutral buoyancy.
3. Demonstrate the cramp removal technique.
4. At the surface in water too deep to stand in, perform a tired diver tow for 25 metres/yards.
5. React to air depletion by signaling out of air, then securing and breathing from an alternate air source supplied by a buddy for at least ONE MINUTE while swimming UNDERWATER.
6. Breathe effectively from a free-flowing regulator for NOT LESS THAN 30 SECONDS.
7. Stimulate a controlled emergency swimming ascent by swimming HORIZONTALLY UNDERWATER for AT LEAST 9 metres/30 feet while continuously exhaling by emitting a continuous sound.

PADI Open Water Chapter 2

Chapter Two is divided into five sections:

1. Adapting to the Underwater World.
2. Respiration
3. Dive equipment
4. Buddy System: Communication and Procedures
5. Confined Water Dive Preview

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Two on Respiration:
* For MAXIMUM efficiency, breathe SLOWLY and DEEPLY.
* Overexertion symptoms include fatigue, labored breathing, a feeling of suffocation, weakness, anxiety, headache, muscle cramping and a tendency to panic.
* Prevent overexertion by staying RELAXED and KNOWING YOUR LIMITS.
* If overexertion occurs, STOP all activity & REST.
* Airway control lets you breathe past small amounts of water.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Two on Dive Equipment:
* Wet and dry suits insulate you, but differ in that you get wet in a wet suit and stay dry in a dry suit.
* Avoid wearing an excessively tight hood asa tight hood will constrict the blood vessels in your neck.
* Wear gloves for thermal protection and to avoid cuts, scrapes and stings.
* Remember the environment is NOT protected from you so use care to avoid damaging aquatic life.
* Be cautious not to overheat in exposure suit.
* The MOST important feature in a weight system is the QUICK RELEASE.
* Locate alternate air source (octo) in the triangle formed by your chin and corners of your rib cage.
* Look for a dive knife with both SMOOTH and SERRATED  edges and a sheath.
* Need dive instruments that tell DEPTH, DIRECTION, TEMPERATURE, TIME, and AIR SUPPLY.

Confined Water Dive Two Skill Requirements:

1. Perform 5 step predive safety check
2. Demonstrate appropriate deep-water entry(s).
3. Clear snorkel of water by using blast method and resume breathing through it without lifting face from water.
4. Exchange snorkel for regulator and regulator for snorkel repeatedly while at the surface without lifting face from water.
5. Swim a distance of at least 50metres/yards at the surface, while wearing scuba and breathing           through snorkel.
6. Demonstrate a descent using appropriate five step method.
7. Completely remove, replace and clear mask of water while underwater.
8. Breathe, using the regulator, underwater for NOT less than one minute while NOT wearing a mask.
9. Demonstrate the response to a leaking low pressure inflator by disconnecting the low pressure hose from the inflator mechanism.
10. At the surface in water too deep to stand in, orally inflate a BCD to at least 1/2 full & then fully deflate it.
11. Adjust for proper weighting, which is defined as floating at eye level at the surface with an empty BCD and holding a normal breath.
12. React to air depletion by giving the out-of-air hand signal in water too deep to stand up in.
13. Demonstrate an ascent using the appropriate five step method.
14. Remove weights at the surface with minimal assistance using the weight system's quick release mechanism.
15. In water too deep to stand up in, remove the weights, scuba unit and fins (if necessary), then exit using the most appropriate means. (Buddy assistance may be provided.)

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i worry that with my cognitive abilities impaired at times that i will screw up and forget things. Katryna assures me that it is easy and will come with practice and time. We will take as long as i need and go as slow as i need to successfully accomplish ALL these goals! i am REALLY excited and looking forward to getting into the pool to start working on these skills! i trained for and ran two marathons, so i know i can do this! Three more chapters to go!

PADI Open Water Chapter 1

Katryna is a PADI certified Scuba intructor who is taking me through my classroom, confined water, and open water dives to certify me as an open water scuba diver. This is the very first class one takes to become a scuba diver within PADI's curriculum. In this post i will be sharing what i learned in Chapter 1. i will have followup posts on the subsequent chapters, which are five in total. So far it has been an interesting journey and i cannot wait until i am FINALLY certified and i get to swim in the deep blue sea with all the fishies and other beautiful and interesting aquatic life. It's A LOT to learn and take in, but so far i am really enjoying my class. Yesterday Katryna and i completed the classroom lecture part for Chapter One. Sunday we will cover chapter Two. i am nervous about putting all into action in the pool for the confined water dive skills though! Katryna says i will do just fine but i am always insecure and nervous!

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Chapter One is divided into five sections:

1. The Underwater World
2. Dive Equipment
3. Scuba Systems
4. The Buddy System
5. Confined Water Dive Preview

Here are Summary Points from Chapter One on the Underwater World:
* Whether an object sinks, floats or does neither in water depends on its weight & its displacement.
* Use lead weight and a BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), as well as lung volume, to control your          buoyancy
* The body is made up mostly of incompressible liquid, so you only feel pressure on the air spaces, which hold compressible air.
* There's a proportional relationship between pressure, air volume & density.
* You can use one of three techniques every metr/few feet to equalize your ears to prevent a squeeze while descending.
* You exhale into your mask through your nose to prevent a squeeze.
* NEVER continue to descend if you can't equalize.
* The MOST IMPORTANT RULE in scuba diving is to NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH!
* Don't dive with a cold or allergy congestion, even with a decongestant.
* The deeper you go, the faster you use up your air supply.
* When scuba diving, breathe SLOWLY and DEEPLY, and AVOID getting out of breath.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter One on Dive Equipment and the Buddy System:
* Comfort and fit are the two most important criteria in purchasing dive gear.
* You can't use goggles for scuba diving because they don't enclose your nose.
* You need to rinse your equipment in FRESH WATER after each use.
* The jacket BCD is by far the most common BCD used by recreational divers.
* Your scuba tank needs an annual visual inspection, and periodic pressure (hydrostatic) testing.
* You NEVER leave scuba tanks standing unattended. You block/secure them when transporting so they can't FALL or ROLL.
* Regulators reduce tank pressure in two stages to breathing pressure.
* A regulator's most IMPORTANT feature is EASE of BREATHING.
* You need to have your regulator professionally serviced annually.
* Have the dust cap in place and don't push the purge button when you rinse your regulator.
* You need an SPG (submersible pressure or contents guage) so you can tell how much air you have at any time during the dive.
* You ALWAYS dive with a BUDDY for safety, practicality and fun.

Confined Water Dive One Skill Requirements ( i will be doing ALL of my confined water dive skills at Dolphin Scuba while in Sacramento at the end of the month. Katryna used to teach scuba at Dolphin. i will hopefully be doing my Open Water Dive Skills in the warm waters at Key Largo this spring!):

1. Don mask, fins, snorkel, BCD, scuba and weights with the assistance of a buddy, instructor or certified assistant.
2. Inflate/deflate a BCD at the surface using the low pressure inflator.
3. In shallow water, demonstrate propper compressed-air breathing habits, remembering to breathe naturally and not hold the breath.
4. Clear regulator while underwater by exhalation and purge-button methods, and resume breathing from it.
5. In shallow water, recover regulator hose from behind the shoulder while undewater.
6. In shallow water, clear parttially flodded mask while under water.
7. Swim underwater with scuba equipment while maintaining control of both direction & depth, properly equalizing the ears and mask to accommodate depth changes.
8. While underwater, locate & read the submersible pressure guage & signal whether air supply is adequate or low based based on the guage's caution zone.
9. In shallow water, breathe underwater for at least 30 seconds from an alternate air source supplied by another diver.
10. While underwater, recognize and/or demonstrate standard hand signals.
11. Demonstrate the techniques for a proper ascent.

Underwater Photography

Katryna is a certified PADI Scuba Instructor and is working on perfecting her underwater Photography. i think she is quite talented but she is really critical of herself. i think where she is at she is wonderful, but like her, i want to see her grow and mature into the kind of photographer who can get published and make some money from one of her many passions! Thanks to Katryna, i got hooked on to one of her favorite underwater photographers, Tony Wu. Check out his BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS!!!!

i was ok'd by my Lyme Doctor a few months ago to get certified to scuba dive as my asthma has cleared up and i am no longer on any asthma meds nor do i have to see my asthma doctor again. It was a result of the Lyme, so i am glad one big thing out of the many is gone! So, i had been putting it off after i starte reading chapter 1 of the Padi Book in August while Katryna and i were in Key Largo for her underwater photo class with another of her favorite underwater photographers, Stephen Frink. NOW, i am back with Katryna giving me a schedule and i finished chapter 1 yesterday.Today i will work on chapter 2. Then i will have 3 chapters to go. While we are in Sacramento at the end of January i will do my pool skills at Katryna's old employer, Dolphin Scuba. Hopefully come spring we will head back down to Key Largo where i will do my checkout dives! i am REALLY EXCITED about becoming a full-fledged diver rather than a 'bubble watcher' as snorkelers are so affectionately known by scubal divers! Maybe scuba diving will be another way i can keep my sanity with my illness! i can only HOPE!