It was my second dive day, and we had car problems. The front tier was soft, and it was a Sunday, so it was really hard to get air without going to town. I don't live far from town, but it sure did take up alot of time, since I had to drive for at least 45 minutes to my place of training. I was nervous, because I remembered my instructor telling me, that he told the boat captain a specific time, and the captain won't be happy if we started late, because most likely he has other things to do.
All in all, I got there around 9:50am, 20 minutes pass the scheduled time.
I rushed to the back to put on my wetsuit and get my gear, and saw all my other dive buddies sitting, ready and waiting. I was already nervous for the second day, because it meant that we were going to do more challenging skills, and to dive deeper.
I got ready relatively quick, and was still somehow on time.
I must say I am forever grateful for Keywell Mapp. From my first day, practicing to set up equipment, he was there looking on; and when my instructor asked him how I was doing, he said, 'GREAT.' My instructor shook his head, to show that he agreed; and their facial reactions and expressions surely made me feel great.
On this day, just like my first, we had alot of equipment to carry to the boat, and guess what? I didn't have to lift a tank! I literally only carried the less weighted stuff, like the fins, BCD, small weights and the emergency kit. Keywell, my instructor and my other dive buddies (who were men), did most of the heavy lifting. I was extremely grateful, because carrying dive gear on land is one of the hardest things ever!
After making two to three small trips, Keywell called me on the boat to sit, even though there were more stuff to carry. It was a privilege really, to sit and look on, while they carried most of the heavy items.
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Just like day one, while sitting on the boat and enjoying the morning breeze, I was insanely nervous. Going to deeper depths, frightened me most, maybe for the simple fact that I cannot make a silly or panicked reaction at deeper depths, because my safety is greatly implicated, the deeper I go. As we drew nearer to Pirate's Bay, my instructor called me to start gearing up.
As I sat on the edge of the boat in my gear, looking on at my other buddies who were all geared up as well, we gave the signal for okay, ensured it was clear behind us, then rolled in, into the water.
Our instructor, Andreas, gave us a briefing on what we would be doing that day, namely;
1- Inflate and deflate BCD at the surface
2-Partially Flooded Mask- Clearing
3- Buoyancy Control
4- Snorkel to Regulator exchange
5- Regulator removal and recovery
From the time I heard regulator removal, my mind stopped for a minute and I exclaimed, WHAT!" in my head. I couldn't fathom why we had to remove our regulator underwater. I was truly bothered, and there was an instant burn in my stomach. I literally questioned giving up, but then I said, 'Naww, my mother already spent a fortune on this course," (lol not literally), but yea, alot was already given into this course, no backing down now. I slowly swallowed my fear, and looked over at my instructor as he continued briefing us as to how we would go about the skills. Soon after he gave us the signal okay, and the signal to go down.
"Here we go," I said to myself, slowly releasing the air out of my BCD.
Slowly descending underwater, there were alot of fishes around that day. It took away the nervousness for a while, but once we sunk to the sandy bottom, it was time to do our skills. I breathed a huge sigh, and looked at my instructor as he demonstrated the first skill. He gently pulled on the top of his mask so water would come in; this was the Partially flooded mask skill. When some water got in, he lifted his head upwards, held tightly at the top of his goggles, leaving a tiny opening at the bottom of the mask by the nose; he then exhaled through his nose, making a sound and all the water left his mask. I looked on in awe, thinking about the Physics behind that action. Soon he pointed to my other buddies to do it, and then it was my turn. I did the same thing, and when water started flowing in, it was so uncomfortable. I looked at my instructor through the top of my goggles, and he swinged his hand in a circle showing me that I should add some more. I added some more, and then tilted my head just like he did, and exhaled. I did really great on my first attempt, I was surprised really. In one exhale my goggles was cleared, and my instructor showed me the okay sign and gave me a fist bump.
That skill was followed by buoyancy control; my instructor placed us in buddy groups, Kai and Joseph and myself and Keywell (who already received his underwater certificate and was only assisting). As we swam along the reef, I found myself going up alot to the surface, to control my buoyancy was definitely a challenge. Keywell had to pull me down in the water about five times, before I slowly got the hang of it. My instructor told us many times, that breathing plays a key roll in controlling my buoyancy, so I played with my breathing a bit and he was very right. About 4 minutes into our little swim, I was getting the hang of it, sometimes going up to the surface but not as bad as before. Soon enough we circled back to shallow depths (just about 3m) and my instructor pointed at the sand, for us to sit/kneel and look at him.
Our next skill was regulator removal and recovery. I'm sure you all know I was extremely nervous for this skill, just as when he first mentioned it. I don't think I would have ever been prepared for it. However, seeing Kai and Joseph do the skill, I said to myself, "I can do it too." I ensured to take a deep breath before removing my regulator and throwing it to my side, ensuring that I had enough air to play with, to sweep and find back my regulator. My first time was actually great, I can't believe how well I did. My instructor showed me the okay sign and then circled back to the others. I was over the skill, but I was very sure I had to do it many more times; this certainly wasn't the end of my most feared skill, thus far!
Soon enough my instructor showed us the sign to resurface, and we resurfaced slowly. He took his regulator out once we've all established positive buoyancy and commended us on a job well done. Now it was time for some surface exercises. We had to let air out of our BCD until half of our head was in water and then kick hard and stay up and orally inflate our BCD. This skill was also very hard, because I was some-what in panic mode, trying to grab enough air for my body, plus enough to quickly inflate my BCD. Thankfully, four kicks later, and five large breaths I was able to float again.
Each skill I did made me realize, that somehow, this diving course was made for me; and that I would pass every last one, once I put my mind to it.
Our last skill for the morning session was, switching between the snorkel and regulator on the surface, with our head in the water. This was by far the easiest skill for me thus far! Within seconds, I had already switched between my regulator and snorkel about five times. I was doing it so much that my instructor had to tap me on my shoulder to cut the exercise. When I was through he said superb! and gave me another fist bump!
Despite those skills that I fear and those skills that may be a bit more challenging than others, I still did great in my morning session and I awaited what other skills we had to do in the afternoon.
Thank you I in joyed this