My Open Water Diver Theory and Pool Sessions

31 August 2009

Arrived early (actually on time) for my theory class and asked my instructor who my dive buddy will be out of curiosity.  He informed me that my dive buddy will be coming in later for the exams coz he’s retaking the exams! *Faint* Calmed myself down and rationalised “oh comeon, he may not be proficient in theory but may be like a fish in the water and drills!” When the door was flung open after our theory lessons, *MAJOR FAINTZ*!!

1 September 2009

Not looking forward to pool session at Outram Secondary School anymore! Plus, it was pouring right up to 5pm and it’s gonna be freezing in the water! Met Alynna in the changing room at the pool and she emphatised with my situation greatly. Her exact words: ” I know how you feel man!! I would be totally sianz if I were you!!” And the sweet gal “forced” one of her friends to be my dive buddy!!! Hahaha she’s a true life saviour!!

With the shorty wetsuit, most of us were shivering in the water and our teeth were chattering! Besides, the masks were leaky no matter how tightly we tried to adjust them to fit our faces and they were fogging up badly! Through a blurred view, I could vaguely make out what my instructor was doing in the pool as we had not been taught mask clearing drills yet. I would observe how my buddy does his drills and follow him. Water was always getting into the snorkle and causing me to choke whenever we were told to practice swimming with the snorkle.

To top it off, I simply keep floating and in diving, you need to sink! To say I’m like a floatation device is an understatement!! When I manage to sink down on my knees to kneel on the bottom of the pool, I will get lifted by an invisble force and float off! My buddy and friends beside me will always have to hold me down. The shorty wetsuit was also ill fitting and there were large air pockets in it when I’m submerged in the water.

3 September 2009

Most of us went to buy our own masks and snorkles before the next pool session and scrubbed it hard with a toothbrush and toothpaste to remove the protective film to prevent fogging! Tried on a smaller wetsuit but felt so restrictive that I switched back to the original one. Great effort was spent removing and donning back my Buoyancy Control Device (BCD) in water and orally inflating the BCD was so challenging that I thought I was going to drown!! My friends whispered to me: “Hey instructor gone, quick use the inflator hose!!”

While practising finning, my fins nearly fell off and it proved to be an enormous challenge in directional control, plus the fact that I was still FLOATING! HELP!! While performing the ascent drill, my floaty feet propelled me backwards instead of upwards and I crashed into another group! My instructor was nowhere to be found and the other group’s instructor had to ask me if I was ok and gave me a push in the right direction! How I wish there was a hole for me to hide at that moment…..

Felt downright miserable (and it happened to be my birthday!) and it occurred to me if I had no aptitude in diving at all. That’s a depressing thought as diving has always been something I wanted to take up! Was feeling more stressed than excited about the upcoming Tioman open water dives and I already had quite a few blue blacks on my knees, coupled with the fact that my instructor commented that I’m an odd size!!