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Published: March 19th 2009
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We would like to say Thank You Very Much!! to everybody sending messages & comments on the blog. We enjoy all you precious words a lot and it makes us feel closer to home. Keep it up! Sunday, March 15th
Today is the big day, the first day of our scuba course! We met with the manager, Simon, and our instructor Amanda. Simon is an Englishman with a quirky sense of humor, lots of tattoos and gold teeth who's been living here for 8 years. Amanda is Canadian, fresh from the snow (she only moved here a week ago - She started with a milky white skin but it's rapidly turning red). We watched the first three DVD's and both got full scores on each of the three tests.
After a break for early lunch we headed to a nearby Olympic size pool where we assembled, disassembled and reassembled our gear, entered the pool and breathed underwater for the first time. It was awesome and came naturally to us both.
We spent the afternoon doing the first five contained water dives where we learned the basics of scuba diving. Ferdi had some problems equalizing his ears because water
Talita checking SPG
'out of air' scenario easily gets in his ears but not so easily out again. He solved the problem by equalizing more often. He'll also need to shave his mustache because the mask doesn't seal properly against his face.
Amanda was a great instructor and we both got the hang of scuba diving easily. It was an awesome but exhausting afternoon.
After returning to our hotel we needed to study the next two chapters (100 pages) of our manual for tomorrows dive.
Today's highlights:
1. Aced our theory tests.
2. Breathing underwater for the first time.
3. Scuba diving coming naturally to both of us.
Monday, March 16th
The sea was rough and our dive-boat was tossed up and down in big swells and choppy water. The morning started out looking perfect but it deteriorated as we made for the dive site.
At the dive site the water was calmer as it was in a bay and we made our first open water dive. It was cool to do a proper dive in the ocean and we saw some beautiful fish and coral.
After our first dive we went to pick up some divers that was diving at
another site but we couldn't find them. The water was very rough and Talita was starting to feel ill. We returned to water that was a little calmer (but still quite rough) and waited for a while. When we returned to the area where the other divers were supposed to be one of the crew spotted them (through a channel) on the other side of the island.
Talita felt really bad by that stage. By the time we arrived at the next dive spot she wasn't ill anymore but while trying to control her sea-sickness she had hyperventilated, which led to a bit of an anxiety attack. We prayed together for calm and peace and she started feeling better immediately. We discussed not continuing with the second dive since we were afraid she might get hurt but after chatting a bit we agreed that to "get back on the horse" was the best thing to do. She had also calmed enough so we felt confident to safely continue.
Our second dive was a success and we really enjoyed it. We headed back, did some studying, watched our last two DVD's, got our heads confused with dive tables and
chart, then we went home for more studying.
Today's highlights:
1. Our first open water dive.
2. Talita's instant recovery from anxiety attack after praying.
Thought for the day:
Don't wait till things get extreme, ask God and you shall receive. Also, don't breathe too much.
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Leon
non-member comment
Congrats!
Baie geluk met die begin van julle duik kursus! Teen die tyd wat julle hierdie lees is julle seker al qualified Open Water divers. As jy sleg voel in die boot, kyk maar net vir land en sit ver weg van die petrol enjins, daai fumes kan hectic wees.