vjongene
Contributor
Just wanted to share some good feelings from this last week-end. Moderators, please kick this to another forum if it fits better.
Saturday. Spent the afternoon at an indoor pool in a mountain valley about 1 hour's drive away from where I live. They had a special "vacation start" event, of which the highlight was that kids could try out scuba. Half a dozen guys from our club were there. We took kids between 6 and 12 on little excursions under water. The small ones were breathing from a secondary outfitted with a small mouthpiece. The older ones got their own BC, small tank and reg. Amazing how well most of these kids take to the water! Not a single one got scared or gave up, and many were swimming around in their gear within minutes, much more easily than just about any adult I have known. We managed to take over 50 kids, and stayed in the water for over two hours. One of us took pictures of everyone under water. Really a great feeling to have this opportunity, and maybe to bring a few kids to the sport. They sure appreciated it. Besides, it was also great buoyancy training for us, constantly hovering about 5 feet below the surface...
Sunday. Crystal clear weather, bright blue lake, green montains surrounding it... I meet three other club members for a dive around the castle of Chillon (picture attached). Only negative note, I have left my gloves at our other house, so will have to endure cold hands. Two of the guys are recent graduates of our 2-star course, and are gradually working on feeling comfortable with depth. We decide to descend to 36 m (120 ft), and to follow the wall below the castle at that level. Viz is rather poor as we descend, but clears up at about 30 m. The sheer wall is spectacular as we are lighting it up with our torches. Very few fish, though. They tend to stay deeper during the summer. Water temp is 6C at depth, so I am feeling my poor fingers. One of the guys signals that he is going through his air rather fast, so we gently ascend as we continue along the wall. We are back up to about 25 m by the time he reaches half-tank, so everything is OK. The dive takes us all around the castle, with the exit point just below the footbridge that can be seen on the picture. There is a perfect area for doing the safety stop just near the exit point.
Japanese tourists look at us incredulously as we exit. We do look a little weird among the crowds coming to visit the castle. After we remove our gear, there is time for a glass of local wine in the parking lot, and time to head home. All in all, a good way for a diver to spend the week-end.
Victor J.
Saturday. Spent the afternoon at an indoor pool in a mountain valley about 1 hour's drive away from where I live. They had a special "vacation start" event, of which the highlight was that kids could try out scuba. Half a dozen guys from our club were there. We took kids between 6 and 12 on little excursions under water. The small ones were breathing from a secondary outfitted with a small mouthpiece. The older ones got their own BC, small tank and reg. Amazing how well most of these kids take to the water! Not a single one got scared or gave up, and many were swimming around in their gear within minutes, much more easily than just about any adult I have known. We managed to take over 50 kids, and stayed in the water for over two hours. One of us took pictures of everyone under water. Really a great feeling to have this opportunity, and maybe to bring a few kids to the sport. They sure appreciated it. Besides, it was also great buoyancy training for us, constantly hovering about 5 feet below the surface...
Sunday. Crystal clear weather, bright blue lake, green montains surrounding it... I meet three other club members for a dive around the castle of Chillon (picture attached). Only negative note, I have left my gloves at our other house, so will have to endure cold hands. Two of the guys are recent graduates of our 2-star course, and are gradually working on feeling comfortable with depth. We decide to descend to 36 m (120 ft), and to follow the wall below the castle at that level. Viz is rather poor as we descend, but clears up at about 30 m. The sheer wall is spectacular as we are lighting it up with our torches. Very few fish, though. They tend to stay deeper during the summer. Water temp is 6C at depth, so I am feeling my poor fingers. One of the guys signals that he is going through his air rather fast, so we gently ascend as we continue along the wall. We are back up to about 25 m by the time he reaches half-tank, so everything is OK. The dive takes us all around the castle, with the exit point just below the footbridge that can be seen on the picture. There is a perfect area for doing the safety stop just near the exit point.
Japanese tourists look at us incredulously as we exit. We do look a little weird among the crowds coming to visit the castle. After we remove our gear, there is time for a glass of local wine in the parking lot, and time to head home. All in all, a good way for a diver to spend the week-end.
Victor J.
