Scuba in the Pool

Remember when I told you that I passed the Scuba written test?  Well, the next step was to begin actually learning the Scuba skills in a swimming pool.

When we first arrived at the pool, we had to prove that we could swim.  This was the hardest part of the whole class.  I didn't think it was very fair, because when we go diving we'll be able to breather underwater which means we can just relax.  Nonetheless, they made us swim the length of the pool ten times and then we had to tread water for 10 minutes.

Treading water was the worst part.  Robyn totally floats.  If I'm ever drowning, I'll just grab onto her because she is the best flotation device around.  I sink like a rock.  So that was the longest ten minutes of my life.

Next, he asked if we remembered what we had learned about how to setup all our gear.  We kind of looked at each other and said, "Ya, we prolly remember."

He told us we'd better remember because we need to setup our gear now.  Setting up Scuba gear is kind of like setting up a computer.  It's not that hard, you just make sure that every hose (or wire, in the case of a computer) is connected to something.  Then you put the regulator in your mouth and make sure if it gives you air.  Robyn and I both got ours connected backward at first, but we corrected it before he inspected, so that's our little secret.  (Just don't tell, okay?)

Finally we got to do actual Scuba stuff.  The first thing we had to do was figure out how much weight we needed.  He said that we should be able to kneel on the ground in 4 feet of water.  If you float at all, you're too buoyant.  Robyn needed to add somewhere around 1000 pounds to be able to kneel.  I needed to add nothing.  At least I could tell her I wasn't crazy when I was working so hard to stay afloat a few minutes earlier.

After getting our gear and weights all set up, we went over some of the same skills we had learned in our Scuba Discovery class.  We practiced getting water out of the mask while still underwater.  We practiced finding our regulator if it ever comes out of our mouth.  We learned how to equalize the water pressure in our ears.

Finally, after practicing our new skills for an hour or so he gave us some free play time.  He let us swim to the very depths of the pool.  That's right, we did a real bona fide dive to the extreme depth of about 9 feet.  We also had a photo shoot during our free swimming time.

It's precious to hold hands underwater.

Swimming backward is a special skill.  It's like swimming forward, only it's backward.

This is Robyn's superman stance.  But she's better than Superman because Superman can't breathe underwater.

Aren't Dave and Jen so precious?  I mean, not as precious as us, but still pretty precious.

This is our instructor.  He likes headstands.  He also likes peace.

So that was our first experience with Scuba in a swimming pool.  This Saturday is our second class in the pool, then we get to start our open water classes.  Won't that be fancy?