A Refresher Dive For Me
Well, Mom recently went out for a refresher dive before coming out to see me, and in turn I too went out for a refresher dive. Granted my last dive was only 10 weeks ago and I am sure Mom's was much longer but... well... yeah.
I miss getting wet, but I still confess I like being a seasonal diver if only because in the winter its the only time I get to do stuff above the water! It was such a nice day out today it was almost a shame to spend it under water.
We went out with Justin and a friend of his to Onna for two tanks and had a pretty good time over all. The water is now about 74 degrees and so Jason and I had to sport the shorty 2.0mm, though Justin was in his long half dry 5.0mm. The vis was decent, but not the 100 feet you can sometimes get on Okinawa.
The dives we short due to Justin's friend having not dive in a while so each was about 30 minutes. Onna is a nice place though only accessible with 4 wheel drive so Jason and I can only go when some one else is going to drive. It can also get a bit hairy sometimes, so its a dive site to be careful at.
Today was yet another example of how things can go a little wrong sort of fast. I don't think we have ever had an 'uneventful dive' at Onna yet. Today our last dive started at low tide and so we started to come in with the in coming tide. This leads to a bit of a current and lots of wave action.
So on the way in we even found a very expensive fin, fin strap, sneaker and snorkel (we almost wondered where the diver was). This shows how bad it can get out there, if your willing to leave $100+ of gear at 30ish feet your having a rough time. This is also where several friends of ours have lost gear.
So with the current and wave action we were getting rolled around quite a bit. I surfaced, and after cursing out my mask for leaking underwater and swearing I was getting a new one finally (Thanks Mom and Dad, its done its job, but I hate that thing!) a wave ripped it off my face.
Super pissed I decided now was the time to breath through my nose... just as I got swamped with another wave. I am glad I did not panic, kept the reg in my mouth and sputtered out all the water and, well, stopped breathing through my nose. Fuming I wondered how I was gonna make the last 200 feet with out a mask in this water... but Jason found it. After much staggering I got it back on, and not filled with water and then came the long haul to get in.
It was quite a swim in and it didn't help that I was swimming hard because I was worked up and pissed about my mask, holding it on with one hand and fighting the current with out thinking. Needless to say I blew almost 500 PSI on a 200 foot swim, though I always have plenty of air to spare so no worries.
But other than the eventful exit on the second dive, it was a nice day today. Even the exit wasn't all that eventful, just enough to make me pissed. I already purchased my new mask, or well Jason did, as a Christmas Present. Hopefully this one works out a bit better for me personally than the last. Like I said, it did its job for a long time and me and it go way back. But as of late I just curse the thing, it was time for it to go. It will be the new 'back up back up mask'.
Okay, now to call my mom and get off to bed for Geocaching tomorrow.
I miss getting wet, but I still confess I like being a seasonal diver if only because in the winter its the only time I get to do stuff above the water! It was such a nice day out today it was almost a shame to spend it under water.
We went out with Justin and a friend of his to Onna for two tanks and had a pretty good time over all. The water is now about 74 degrees and so Jason and I had to sport the shorty 2.0mm, though Justin was in his long half dry 5.0mm. The vis was decent, but not the 100 feet you can sometimes get on Okinawa.
The dives we short due to Justin's friend having not dive in a while so each was about 30 minutes. Onna is a nice place though only accessible with 4 wheel drive so Jason and I can only go when some one else is going to drive. It can also get a bit hairy sometimes, so its a dive site to be careful at.
Today was yet another example of how things can go a little wrong sort of fast. I don't think we have ever had an 'uneventful dive' at Onna yet. Today our last dive started at low tide and so we started to come in with the in coming tide. This leads to a bit of a current and lots of wave action.
So on the way in we even found a very expensive fin, fin strap, sneaker and snorkel (we almost wondered where the diver was). This shows how bad it can get out there, if your willing to leave $100+ of gear at 30ish feet your having a rough time. This is also where several friends of ours have lost gear.
So with the current and wave action we were getting rolled around quite a bit. I surfaced, and after cursing out my mask for leaking underwater and swearing I was getting a new one finally (Thanks Mom and Dad, its done its job, but I hate that thing!) a wave ripped it off my face.
Super pissed I decided now was the time to breath through my nose... just as I got swamped with another wave. I am glad I did not panic, kept the reg in my mouth and sputtered out all the water and, well, stopped breathing through my nose. Fuming I wondered how I was gonna make the last 200 feet with out a mask in this water... but Jason found it. After much staggering I got it back on, and not filled with water and then came the long haul to get in.
It was quite a swim in and it didn't help that I was swimming hard because I was worked up and pissed about my mask, holding it on with one hand and fighting the current with out thinking. Needless to say I blew almost 500 PSI on a 200 foot swim, though I always have plenty of air to spare so no worries.
But other than the eventful exit on the second dive, it was a nice day today. Even the exit wasn't all that eventful, just enough to make me pissed. I already purchased my new mask, or well Jason did, as a Christmas Present. Hopefully this one works out a bit better for me personally than the last. Like I said, it did its job for a long time and me and it go way back. But as of late I just curse the thing, it was time for it to go. It will be the new 'back up back up mask'.
Okay, now to call my mom and get off to bed for Geocaching tomorrow.
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