Well Day 4 of my class fell on Veteran's Day and the pool we swim in happens to be on a Naval base. So the pool was canceled and we drove to the store location for the classroom portion of the certification.
I was bummed not to be able to dive again, but honestly I was also thankful that I didn't have to come home soaking wet and cold before jumping in bed that night. We went over oceanography in the class. Talking about tides and how they effect visibility, and the important topics of currents and surf. It was really interesting and something I'm going to have to learn to pay better attention to. Class finished up when we were handed a take home exam with 85 multiple choice questions.
DAY 5- So You're Diving and Your Buddy is Unconscious.
Day 5 we met back at the pool and got our gear situated. It is much easier routine to manage now, grab a regulator, BC, tank, mask, snorkel, fins, and wetsuit. You've got to dunk the BC in a bin of water to make the strap that goes around the tank have a little give.
The last skill left to learn in the pool was the unconscious diver rescue. My buddy and I submerged to the bottom of the pool and he simulated laying on his stomach being unresponsive to my shaking his tank. I had to flip him over, remove his weight belt, lock arms in what is referred to as a do-si-do hold and control our ascent to the surface while supporting his neck with my left hand and holding his forehead back with my right hand to maintain the airway. When we reached the surface I had to inflate his BC and inflate my BC, drop my weights and remove our masks and regulators. Next I had look, listen, and feel for breath and when none was found, you are supposed to administer two initial breaths, call for help and start swimming while administering CPR with a breath every five seconds. It is an awkward way to swim (on your side while locked arm in arm, supporting someone's head and breathing for them) and very tiring.
We had about 15 minutes of free time where I decided to work on buoyancy control underwater. I really enjoyed myself just floating freely underwater and they turned the pool lights out so we got to play in the dark a bit. Super fun.
In class, we talked about local marine life and first aid. We also got to watch a DVD about the local marine life so we could see what to expect. I was the expert in this case
. We saw all kinds of pipe fish, sting rays, catalina gobies, octopus, crabs, lobster, nudibranchs, all kinds of cool stuff. It was time to go home and get ready for the early morning dive at 7am the next morning!
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