As crazy as this sounds this is exactly what I was up to on Sunday. The day started with all sorts of confusion (which should have been a sign), Ward was still sick and as such would be unable to dive. He was still coming to the site as the instructor and to make sure the day went well but since he wasn't going to be in the water we were being joined by Chloe Boone as the Dive Master for the day and another friend of the shop who would be assisting in the water. The boats were at the shop, unfortunately we couldn't find pumps... Finally we got a hold of two of the divers who were already on their way to the site and found out they had a manual pump from the shop and also had an electric pump for air mattresses. So it was just a matter of throwing all the gear in vehicles, mounting up and heading out to the site.
Once on site it was evident it was going to be an interesting day, as we pulled up we could see the white caps on the waves rolling into shore and feel the wind and see it bending the branches. Now if you've ever been kayaking or in an inflatable boat in waves you know that going up and over and crashing into the waves is not the easiest thing when attempting to move a fair distance and secure to a buoy.
As mentioned fortunately one of the divers had his electric pump along which aided greatly in the inflation of the boats and then the manual pump was used to top up the boats. A tank attached to an adapter was used to inflate the back-rests and with a little "chain gang" process all of the boats were completed and ready for use. The next step was getting kits built, it was at this time that it turned out one of the divers had forgotten to check his gear and was missing his fins... normally an issue but ta da... I had a rental set and my force fins which meant I could loan out my rentals and we were back on track. Now, with all the kits built and accessories gathered up it was time for the briefing. Standing at the top of the stairs and viewing the water we went through our plan and groups for the first dive. The plan, originally, was that Chloe as lead would be with me and my typical team and the other DM joining us for the day would dive with the father / son team. The whole group of us would stay together as a soft team but each of us had our hard team partner that we were not to get separated from. With the plan in place as far as which buoy we were tying to, and how best to stow, release and don your gear, we headed off to grab our boats and start moving gear down to the beach.
Now once your gear is strapped in and you have waded out far enough and then jumped onto your boat and grabbed your oar and started paddling you can easily see who has done this before and who was not so experienced...lol. I spent so much time trying to get the boat through the waves and pointed in the right direction I could feel myself getting tired long before reaching the buoy. Meanwhile one of my typical dive team and my direct partner for this dive was able to pull far ahead of the group and easily reach the buoy before the balance of the group. Now to add humor to the day my partner, the first one to the buoy, the one who was supposed to get us tied to the buoy, was also the diver on my Search and Recovery dives who had some issues with tying the knots, so as you can imagine this just added to the confusion and entertainment.
What we looked like from shore I can only imagine... six boats and seven divers all trying to stay clustered together around a buoy while scrambling to tie the boats together and tie one end onto the buoy.... Needless to say, despite the added excitement, we ended up tied together and secured to the buoy. With that step completed it was time to get our gear on... the idea for this is to unstrap your kit and (after ensuring air is in your BCD) slide it into the water and tie it, clip it, hold it, close to your boat while, with your fins on, you slip into the water and put your kit on. Now for a few people on Sunday this turned into quite the spectacle and was even worrisome for me, but after a deep breath and with flashbacks to my days with Virpi in my open water class (Seals to Emergencies) "I went one step at a time, pushed my tank down, sat on it, spun it around behind me, put my arms in the straps and slid off letting the tank and BCD rise to my back... bing, bang, boom... straps done up and I was done..." Smiling probably almost as much as I did the first time I put my BCD back on in the water, I established buoyancy, secured my accessories and headed over to where Chloe was getting the group all together. With my team in place, and group two assembled (wow, starts to sound like a military operation...lol) we signal to descend and meet at the bottom. After a beautiful slow and relaxing descent with eyes on my partner we settle in just above the bottom and wait.... and wait.... and wait... after a few minutes we conclude that the rest of our group is not joining us and must have had an issue so we start our very slow and relaxed ascent... back up to the surface. On the surface is where all of the real excitement was happening. Apparently with the switch from Neoprene suits to the Bare Nexgen suits and from steel tanks to aluminum tanks, two of the divers had dropped too much weight and were now not heavy enough to get down. So, with the aid of our guest DM who stripped his weights and split them up amongst the under-weighted divers so that they were be heavy enough. Of course without his weight his dives were done for the day so he became the surface manager, and the two divers that were supposed to be with him, now more heavily weighted, got to join up with the rest of us as one big group. Now to try it again... Descent attempt number two... after a bit of a struggle with fins, which were switched out with our guest DM's, as he wouldn't be needing them, we managed to get down a fair way towards the bottom, but unfortunately due to a couple more issues one of our previously under weighted divers returned to the surface and needed to call off that dive. So down a diver and a DM it was off for the third attempt of dive number one...lol. (Welcome to the circus) Now that we were all (with the exception of the two on the surface) making our descent to the bottom together the dive had officially begun. Descending down to 80 feet and swimming just a short distance off the bottom we started looking for the sunken Sailboat the Nakaya, it took only a few minutes to find it and start our swim around it. We had discussed some of the dangers of the Nakaya while on the surface and decided to make a hard rule about no one closer than 10 feet to the boat, it's rickety condition did not bode well for any kind of in depth exploration nor the safety of any diver who tried. I did manage to get off a few pictures but the water was pretty murky and I'm still not very good with the lighting underwater. But before I could get off too many shots we got to the next phase of "fun,"as I rounded the corner of the sailboat, my main focus on capturing a picture while my partner was just ahead and to the right of me, when something caught my eye. One of our divers was almost right upside down facing towards the bottom with Chloe holding him down and trying to reach something in her pocket. Quickly dropping my camera to my side I cut down beside her along with one of our other divers and at her indication, forced open her pocket (by the way neoprene sucks under water, it condenses with the pressure and makes neoprene pockets next to impossible to open.) With my hand wedged into Chloe's pocket I managed to pull lose the weight she had stowed in there and pass it to her to be secured to the diver in issue. Unfortunately with all the activity I had burned through more air than I planned to and needed to signal to ascend. As I signaled it became apparent that the additional weight added was still not enough and the diver with Chloe close behind slowing his ascent went straight to the surface. With only the three of us still down at depth (my usual team that I have been diving with for a while) we each signaled and very slowly and collectively made our way to our three minute safety stop then on to the surface to end dive number one. Once on the surface confirmation was received from Chloe that everyone was fine just a quicker trip to the surface than they would have wanted to. Now with the dive complete, it was time to strip off our kits, ensuring air still in the BCD (I can only imagine the results of forgetting to do that and dropping your tank and fully weighted BCD into the water...lol. Guess I'd be making good use of my search and recovery skills learned in Hide and Seek! and Arrrr' We be searching for yer burried treasure! then...lol). With kits off and floating in the water close to your boat, it's again time to practice skills from Open Water to use fin kits to assist with getting back on board your boat. Then haul up your kit, secure it in place and head for shore.
Now before anyone gets the wrong idea, yes this day could have gone better, but it also could have gone WAY worse... I learned a lot on these dives and felt so much more confident as a diver after the day. You see unlike many of the dives before where much of it could be done without thinking, today really made me pay attention to not only myself, and my buddy, but also learn to pay close attention to what other divers are doing around me as I experienced in dive 2.
Now with Ward sick and unable to dive, one DM without weight and fins (loaned out to one of the under-weighted divers) and Chloe having just made a quicker than planned ascent, we were without staff divers looking at one more dive on the day. This is when the true skills of the OPD staff shone through and why I will always be proud to say I am an Ocean Pro Diver (maybe even one day honored enough to join the elite divers pictured on their website). While enjoying our surface interval Ward posed the question and challenge in saying: "Ok, you're all Open Water certified so you don't need in water supervision, you are here to learn and practice the use of the boats and the staff will be present for that but for the actual dive you don't need us with you so tell me what your plan is." and at that he just looked at us. Though it took only a second, I saw divers grow in confidence ten fold. Suddenly we were responsible for the dive, we had signed up for Boat Diving lessons and were getting everything we paid for. We were learning how to load and secure gear and dive off boats, that's Boat Diving, but we were also learning so much more. We were divers, we didn't need our hands held, we knew how to dive, it was the boat part they were there to supervise. So after that quick second (and some prompting from Ward) it was decided to do the fire hose, a simple dive, fairly close in and not very deep. This would allow us a short row, conserved energy and due to the delays on the first dive this would help us recover a little time so that we could be out of the water and on our way back before dark. The second thing that happened that absolutely made my weekend, was when Chloe pulled me aside and asked if I would partner up with the diver who had experienced some challenges on his first dive and perhaps as a result could be feeling a little more stressed than normal. Well... this shot my confidence (and my ego...lol) up about 14 notches... a Dive Master... and Ocean Pro Dive Master... was asking me, to keep an eye on one of her students. WHAT A DAY!!!
Well... I have discovered the fastest way to take a guy (me) who over-thinks everything and make him a better diver... give him someone else to worry about...lol. On dive two we rowed out the short distance to the first buoy, now practiced with our tying techniques we were tied up and ready to don gear in just a few minutes. With gear in the water and all of us functioning as a team we all got our kits on, gathered around the buoy, partnered up, signaled and descended. Now I don't know whether it was because I was so intent on not letting anything happen to my team or what it was, but I seemed to have no issues with anything. My descent was perfect, just before bottom I added a short puff of air to my suit, and slowed to an almost dead stop. My buddy... not so lucky... he decided to take a close (VERY CLOSE) look at the ocean floor...lol, no problems with being under-weighted this time...lol. Readjusting his buoyancy and finding his "hover" we were ready to go. With the other two divers in the lead, my partner just in front and to the right of me and me bringing up the rear, we headed out along the fire hose at a very relaxed pace enjoying the scenery. With our plan in place to turn back at 2000 psi, my buddy signaled me, and with a quick signal to the divers up front, we circled and headed back to the ascent line, back to the boats, kits off, resecured and paddle back to shore. to stow the gear and head back to the shop.
Now some people will read this and see the issues on the day, or comment on the potential dangers of diving. But those who see it from my stand point, those that understand and accept that no course just like no dive, is ever perfect. It's not about perfection... at least not for me. If you learn Navigation in 30 feet of water with 40+ feet of clear visibility, did you really learn to navigate or did you practice opening your eyes and swimming...lol. For those of my long time readers you will have noticed that nothing ever goes exactly as planned and that is when the "real" learning happens. We finished the night with Ward having us go around thr room to list off what we learned in the day, not surprisingly, no one mentioned learning to dive from a boat.... everyone learned something else whether it was to always check your weighting, or always check your gear before leaving for the site or in my case, ways to be better prepared to tie up the boats... everyone learned something... and that is what made it such a success!
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