PilotGimbal
Registered
Hey everyone, I'm a total noob to scuba but figured I'd go ahead and register and start digesting all the information I can. I was exposed to diving last week at advanced space academy. We had about a two hour block which included the initial donning of equipment and training. I was a bit scared, but mostly just very excited. My team had six people diving, and there were three instructors so we partnered up and learned the basics: just going under and breathing, clearing a partially filled mask, then taking our masks off completely, replacing them and clearing them, two ways of retrieving a lost regulator, signalling that we were out of air then using the instructor's 2nd regulator, and hand signals. The hardest part for me was reminding myself that I could actually still breathe even with my mask off. That took me a few seconds, and it was still intimidating while I tried to put my mask back on and clear it. But I did it! Anyway...we learned the basics then got to start our descent. I was afraid my ears or sinuses would hurt, but relieved to find that equalizing my ears wasn't hard at all. We would go down two steps on the ladder, then stop to equalize, then continue. The tank was 27 feet deep but it didn't take long to get down.
Once at the bottom, we got to play around with bowling balls (there's a basketball hoop attached to a structure that some camps use to assemble PVC structures during simulated spacewalks), rubber torpedo things, and golf balls. The toys were fun and all, but I was really just enjoying the freedom of relaxing in the water and exploring the new sensations. I had a leaky mask, so I got a lot of practice clearing it and found it became quite comfortable.
In summary...I'm hooked. All I can think about is how awesome the experience was. Now I'm looking at becoming certified. No one I know is certified, so I've been looking up local places to go and have started doing some research on my own. I can't wait to dive again! I wish it hadn't taken me 32 years to discover this, haha.
Once at the bottom, we got to play around with bowling balls (there's a basketball hoop attached to a structure that some camps use to assemble PVC structures during simulated spacewalks), rubber torpedo things, and golf balls. The toys were fun and all, but I was really just enjoying the freedom of relaxing in the water and exploring the new sensations. I had a leaky mask, so I got a lot of practice clearing it and found it became quite comfortable.
In summary...I'm hooked. All I can think about is how awesome the experience was. Now I'm looking at becoming certified. No one I know is certified, so I've been looking up local places to go and have started doing some research on my own. I can't wait to dive again! I wish it hadn't taken me 32 years to discover this, haha.
