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Published: January 25th 2009
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What is the saying? When in Rome do as....
The saying here is: When in Thailand, do whatever you want!
It has been about 4 years since my last scuba dive. Since Por’s boyfriend is a dive instructor, diving seemed like the thing to do. About an hour boat ride from the island is a very famous 5 star dive site called Sail Rock (I don't know who decides how many stars to give but it was very nice). I have been diving in Thailand a few times but never to Sail Rock. I was admittedly a bit nervous when we started the dive but could remember the needed skills and Dex, Por’s boyfriend, gave me a short refresher on the boat.
Sail Rock is very nice, about 15 meters visibility and lots of cool fish to look at. Unfortunately the underwater cameras are out of commission so I will have to do my best to paint this picture for you. The rock of Sail Rock stands out of the water about 15-20 feet and is about 20 feet in diameter. When under water, there are millions of fish just hanging out, doing their fish thing. Groupers are
one of my favorite types of fish. If they had sea hammocks and Marijuana that grew under the water, those fish would never leave their hammocks; singing Rastafarian music with their dreadlocks swaying to the rhythm of the sea. By far the laziest of underwater creatures. They range from 12 inches to 4 feet in length and they are all lazy, lazy, lazy but beautiful anyways.
I also love the ‘non-fish’ animals in the ocean. The anemones are brilliantly colored and of course are much loved by the Groupers because they provide a cover so they can sleep without disturbance.
Finally, and probably the most fabulous, was the Blue Spotted Manta Ray. It wasn’t huge (only about 15 inches across and 2 feet long) but it was bright, bright blue and had eyes the size of quarters that followed my every move.
There are parts of this rock that are hollow allowing divers to swim through and in and out of natural chimneys. The life inside the chimneys is not as exciting as outside but it is sort of like the tubes and slides at a McDonalds Play Land, except under the sea of course. I had
been very diligent about keeping my hands close to my body so as not to inadvertently touch something that would rather I not touch it; however, it is difficult to maneuver in these chimneys. It was the second dive and I was about 70% done with my air supply when I moved my hand and barely touched some razor sharp coral. Game over….
I signaled to my dive leader that I was done and going up which of course caused some confusion as I had enough air for another 15 minutes of exploring. You may not know this (I certainly didn’t) but blood turns black in the salt water. The cut was on the palm of my left hand, just at the pointer finger joint (consequently a very ‘meaty’ part of the hand). From experience, seeing my own injuries usually makes me a little woozy and panicky so I promised myself not to look again until I was on the boat, still thinking that it wasn’t bleeding much but thinking that ‘fresh meat’ might awaken the Groupers (something has to!).
My friend Por has been training as a veterinary nurse for the last 5 years and I have
Fixed
Not bad, considering she has never stitched a human before! about 8 years of vet nurse experience. Between the two of us, we decided that stitches were necessary but that the somewhat questionable human hospital would not serve us well. I am sparing the graphic photos and only showing the ‘all patched up’ version. No blood, no guts, just a hand all put back together. Por’s training has paid off! A little local anesthetic (that I had to do myself), 3 stitches, and a 5 day course of antibiotics and I’ll be good as new. No open wounds in India for me!!!
I am sure there will be a scar and I am happy with that. I will be forever reminded to keep my hands down when I dive and will think about the bond of friendship that allows one friend to trust another friend at such a level to drive right by the human hospital, stop at the animal hospital, and make me right again! It’s good to have friends like that!!!
Still having a blast and learning to function with less than two hands.
This blog is dedicated to all the GOOD FRIENDS willing to sew me up!
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Rachel
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You are one tough chica. Enjoy the heat because I am living vicariously through you...