Catalina Island: The Dive

As you probably know, I spent this past weekend on beautiful Catalina Island. When we found out my cousin was getting married there, we simply knew we had to attend. It was the perfect excuse to finally get in our first ocean dive.

We got certified back in July 2011 in MN. Obviously, there was no ocean available, so all of our certification dives were done in lakes. While in MN, we also dove Lake Wazee a couple times and did a dive at SeaLife in the Mall of America. Since moving to Vegas, we've only gone diving once - an eco-dive last June at Lake Mead.

An ocean dive was definitely the next step!

And our New in 2014 for May.

Becoming a certified diver was an immensely difficult and emotional accomplishment for me. You can read more about that here.

I'm still a pretty nervous diver.

World Oceans Day

Did you know that Saturday, 6/8 was World Oceans Day?

Living in the Las Vegas Valley, I'm not exactly close to an ocean. Unfortunately.

But it's not only oceans that need our attention, so it seemed a perfectly fitting day for an eco-dive at Lake Mead.

Jeff and I joined a meet-up scuba group when we first settled in Vegas, but this was the first chance we had to dive Lake Mead. We packed and organized all our gear Friday night, so that Saturday morning, we'd just have to load the van and head out to meet our group at Fiesta Henderson.

Not sure why we thought this would be a gas station - not a casino.

We met our group around 7:45 and convoyed out to Placer Cove at Lake Mead. It was a great spot to stage a shore dive.

I'm in the back with the orange floppy hat and the pink shirt;
Jeff is in the yellow shirt. :)

After going over a few hand signals and some other things, we donned our gear and descended under water.

I was shocked at how cold 74°F water felt. My head was freezing around 17'. We foolishly left our dive hoods at home. Never again.

I was cold and the water seemed very murky. I started getting an uneasy feeling, so I signaled to Jeff that we should ascend. Back at the surface, I calmed my nerves and asked some basic refresher questions that I should have asked before we started. Oh well.

After a few minutes, we tried it again. Picking up that first piece of trash changed everything. Well, Jeff actually picked it up while I attempted to dig the dive bag out of my pocket. I was hooked after that. My eyes were peeled looking for other trash to put into our bag. It was so much fun! More fun than I would have imagined.

We stayed down for a while and got to a depth of 30+ feet. We needed a break, so we returned to the surface for a break couple of donuts.

Feeling rested and ready to get back under, we donned our gear for a second dive. This time we made it to 45' depth. Woo! I wasn't really concerned with any of that. I was having too much fun looking for trash for my bag. LOL.

We didn't really see anything too crazy, but here's a pic someone else took of a couple larger items that were retrieved.

There was a pile of bones found next to that carpet. Yikes!

These were our first two dives since Oct 2011. I did surprisingly well for not doing it for such a long time. I only freaked out a tiny bit the first pop down but was calm for the rest of it.

I did okay with my buoyancy for the most part. The safety stop at 15' was a bit tricky. Oddly, it was a little trickier on the 2nd dive, when we were close to an embankment. I felt like I was having a little more trouble resting my knee on the ground at 15' than I did when we were just hovering on the first dive. Weird.

All in all, it was a great way to celebrate World Oceans Day. I had a lot of fun diving with a purpose - even if I only saw one teeny tiny fish.

Maybe next year, we'll actually be able to do something in the ocean.
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Phew! It's O-V-E-R!

Well, I'm shocked. Awed. Amazed.

Proud.

I did it. I completed my SCUBA training and am now a certified PADI Open Water Diver.

We did two dives on Saturday and two dives today. All four dives were in Square Lake near Stillwater. Visibility was only so-so. Maybe 6-8 feet. Apparently it's normally much better. Oh well.

Dive 1 was simply an orientation dive. There a little diamond-shaped course that we were supposed to follow. I had some buoyancy issues (getting to the bottom and staying down). And then my fins came off a couple times. I was totally able to keep calm and put them back on and adjust them without a hitch. I did get to see some fish, though. That was pretty neat. And all the plant life that's so annoying when swimming? It's kinda pretty when diving.

Dive 2 was mostly done out at a platform. We did a couple exercises to get out there. Tired diver tows. Snorkel/regulator exchanges. Once we got to the platform and descended, panic started to set in. I felt claustrophobic. I knew I was getting air, but I didn't feel like I was. It's an adjustment switching from nose breathing to mouth breathing with something in my mouth. I just wanted to get that thing out of my mouth. I did manage to remain calm, though. When the instructor came by, I signaled that I needed to go up. One of the other instructors ascended with me and talked me down out of my panic. I descended again and completed all the exercises. Fin pivot. Regulator recovery and clearing. Flooding and clearing my mask. Alternate air exchange and ascent.

I was so proud of myself for working through my anxiety and having a successful first two dives. I was really excited to go back today. I familiarized myself with the remaining exercises and discussed with Jeff the best way to accomplish them.

Dive 3 was back out at the platform. Before getting in the water, though, we reviewed the basics of using a compass. This time our descent had to be without holding onto the line, but using it as a visual reference. The panic/claustrophobia did begin to set in a little once at the platform, but I successfully worked through it. We had to do another flood/clear of my mask. This time was not as successful as the day before. I ended up taking in water and had to cough my way through it before I could clear my mask. In the end, I was successful though. We did another fin pivot exercise while on the platform and then a controlled emergency ascent. I had to repeat this exercise, because I forgot to do some basic preparation before heading to the surface. My second attempt was flawless. We returned to shore with a surface swim using compass navigation.

Dive 4 was the final dive for the certification. This time our descent was supposed to be without a visual reference. I wasn't quite able to descend perfectly straight down. Good thing everything is done in the buddy system, so Jeff stayed near me, and we made it to the platform A-OK. We were supposed to do a complete mask removal and replacement. I was unable to psych myself into doing this exercise. Fail. We did a hovering exercise and practiced a safety stop (hovering at about 15 ft for 3 min) before getting to the surface. I really was apprehensive that I would be successful at these exercises, but I did surprising well. We surface swam back to shore and then did a little more navigation work. Many of the others in the class swam out to find a sunken boat; I had to work with the instructor on mask removal and replacement.

Check out my super cute SCUBA hair
as I work on disassembling my scuba unit.

I'm still not 100% comfortable being underwater, and there are a few skills that I definitely need to improve on, but I'm certified and can now practice whenever we feel like renting tanks of air.

We already have most of the gear (yeah, that's now confident Jeff was that I would pass. Best. Husband. Ever). Including full face masks with communication units. I got the one in emerald (lower right) and Jeff got the white. These will be great because I won't actually have a regulator in my mouth and will be able to breathe more naturally through both my nose and mouth. The extra bonus is that Jeff and I will be able to actually talk with each other. I'm kind of excited to get in the water with this baby.

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My next dive will probably be at SeaLife Minnesota (an aquarium at the Mall of America). Jeff scheduled us to go on July 17th, but I want a little more time to work on buoyancy and simply get more comfortable being submerged in water first. He'll do this first dive with a different buddy while I observe from the top of the tank. Luckily, we have access to a deep, 14' pool across the street on campus for me to practice in, so I can feel more comfortable and prepare for Scuba with the Sharks.

I'm excited!

Thankful Thursday #9

Day 9

Ok, so the first 8 TT weren't numbered, but I thought it might be fun to start numbering them, so here we are to #9 (pathetic considering I started this over a year ago) and my first numbered post.

Today I am grateful for:

Band-Aids - They help heal, and more importantly, they keep me from getting blood all over the carpet at work (see yesterday's post).



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Pop-Tarts - Ok, so these are actually Wal-mart's brand, but they are so tasty and quick and easy and just perfect for when you're in a hurry and don't have time for an actual breakfast.



My husband - He has got to be one of THE most supportive, encouraging husbands out there. I am so grateful every.single.day. BUT I was especially grateful at how understanding he was during/after our first scuba lesson. He helped calm me down and even helped me not to give up but to get back in the pool the next day. He is nothing short of amazing. Last night, he helped me get ready for my Pedal & Paddle this weekend by finally installing the computer he gave me for my birthday last Aug on my bike

and attaching a mirror to my helmet.

I figure a 45-mile bike ride will be a good time way to get used to riding with a mirror. So, we'll see how that goes.

What are you thankful for today?

Being Super Excited About Something

Day 4

Doesn't mean you'll enjoy it.

Last night we started our scuba training.
Last night was review of what we learned during our self-study prior to the class.

I was super excited about all the possibilities that scuba could bring.
The feeling of weightlessness.
The fantastic sights to see - the fish, the coral.

This morning we were in the pool.

And.
It.
Was.
Trau-
matic.

I'm not very comfortable under the water, and I've never been able to do anything under water without physically plugging my nose. The first exercise we had to do under the water was breathe through the regulator without wearing a mask. For a full minute.

This was extremely difficult for me.

I did not like it.
It put me into total panic mode.

I was able to finish most of the other requirements during today's pool session, but I did have to skip one entirely. No mask-buddy drag.

It was all just a bit too much.

I've been on an emotional roller coaster ever since. I can't even count how many times I've fought back tears. ok actually cried.

Way too much stress!

Jeff and I have spent hours discussing this. What could have been different. How my reaction was normal/justified.

Now, I'm totally torn. Do I continue working toward my certification or do I quit? Most of what we're learning are emergency procedures that most likely I'll never need to do. Most likely, once in open water it will be a much easier, more enjoyable experience.

I've pushed myself immensely in the past year at riding a bike, so I'm *nearly* convinced I can push myself at this, too.

It will just take time.