Gee, I'm having problems writing my opening sentence for this post. The tail and paws of a chocolate tip tabaching siamese cat is competing for the same space on the keyboard. Hang on just a second......
Ok. Its been close to two months since I last posted that I was going to learn how to dive and you may want to know how I fared since then. Well, I already know how to do the following:
- Assemble and disassemble scuba gear
- Clear the regulator two ways (either you blow or use the purge valve)
- Retrieve the regulator two ways in the event it gets yanked off your mouth (sweeping method or reaching out at your back)
- No mask breathing (in case the mask gets ripped of your face...I'm still having wee bit problems with this one, I end up gasping air and getting water into my nose)
- Mask clearing (when Mask leaks and water goes inside)
- Manually inflating BCD (Bouyancy Control Devise)
- Removing inflator hose in case BCD suddenly starts to fill up with air while at depth
- Entering the water sideways, giant stride and back roll
- Equalize Equalize Equalize
- Removing a cramp at depth
- Towing another diver
- Sharing air
What I still can't get the hang off are the following:
- Finning. I just can't. The Fins still feel awkward making me swim clumsy. I can't even turn properly thus I have to use my hands to turn me around when I reach the other end of the pool.
- Pin Pivot/ Hovering (Bouyancy exercises). The pool is 15 feet deep. Every time I complete one turn on the pool at 15 feet, I find myself touching bottom pool tile.
The Pin Pivot exercise is Bel having me lying face down on the pool tile supported by my hands. Then, as I inhale and exhale, I let go of my hands, and my upper body should rise up and down with the right amount of air on my BCD. SO NOT HAPPENING.
Hovering is when Bel makes me remove my regulator from my mouth to blow air into my BCD until I rise a couple of meters and then staying put (not sinking nor rising) while breathing normally. SO SO SO NOT HAPPENING AT ALL.
Bel is a good dive instructor and I am the classic studyanteng pasaway. Countless times he has warned me to never never never ever break surface too fast, and countless countless countless times I have broken it. Suffice to say, we're not yet finished with our pool session and though Bel is clearly eager to do a check out dive already, he's still not comfortable bringing me anywhere near saltwater. Maybe next month, ok na.
A little footnote on Bel naman para hindi puro ako. Hehe. Bel's been diving for the past 16 years and a dive instructor for the last 11. He tried to be a part of the corporate world but he realized it wasn't for him. I never asked, but he volunteered recently that he's having problems with his girlfriend and that the relationship appears to be headed for splitsville due to communication problems and personal issues.
Eh well, I'm not comfortable enough with him to ask follow-up questions like, "yeah, but do you still love her, or baka you just don't get to spend time together?, maybe you just need time to spend alone, etc etc blah blah blah, coz he might start asking me about my own personal thing and I don't want to answer any of that (besides, I'm presently in a "neither here nor there" kind of set-up, and why I allow it, I don't know, making me the last person on earth to give advise to someone bout such things). He showed me a picture of a very pretty girl and I said something like, "Uuuy, she's very pretty! Sayang naman, try to fix it, bring her with you when you go on your dives", and moved the conversation back to my bouyancy problem.
I looked over at Pitchet who looked straight right back at me with his blue eyes and showed me a big yawn. Time to call it a night for both of us.