It took me an extra day, but I passed my free diving class today. Yesterday was a little rough. It was windy and the water was choppy when we went out to do the free diving class. I did several pretty successful dives, but toward the end of class, I started to feel sea sick. My instructor also waited until the end of class to have me do the rescue portion of the class. To pass Level 1, you have to be able to rescue another free diver who has blacked out under water. You have to dive below them, put your hands under their chin and on the back of their head, and push them up through the water. At the surface, you have to hold their head in a certain way, take off their mask, blow on their face, tap their cheek and tell them to breath. It takes an enormous amount of energy to push someone else to the surface. By the time I got to the surface, I was gasping for air, my technique was bad and I kept forgetting steps. We should have done that at the beginning of class before I was exhausted and sea sick. We finally gave up, and I agreed to come back today to finish that part of the class and one other part.
Today went much better. My dives were really good. I had some time to consider techniques for the rescue part of the class, and I just passed on the third try. I’m not sure how many more times I could have tried. It takes a ton of energy and is stressful. No one should depend on me to save them under water, it’s probably unrealistic to expect a level 1 free diver to perform rescue operations anyway.
I dove 20 meters (65 ft) without too much trouble. My equalization technique is really good. One of the guys who took the class with me couldn’t equalize at all and had to give up and the other one struggled but managed to do it if he went feet first. Apparently, it’s harder for some people to equalize if they swim facing down. My breath-holding isn’t great but not terrible either. To finish the class, I had to do a static breath-hold for 1.5 minutes and swim 30 meters without surfacing. Neither were too difficult, but I can’t hold my breath for much more than 1 min 30 sec. I’m surprised they don’t start the class with that. There is a sport where you put your head in the water and see how long you can hold your breath. That does not seem like a worthwhile activity to me.
I’m happy to have the free diving class finished so now I can use what I learned to snorkel more effectively. I should get to try tomorrow. I bought a new bright pink rash guard that works great at prevent my arms and shoulders from burning. It fits nicely and will be easily visible to any boats where I might be snorkeling. Bill rented a jet ski today while I was free diving and he managed to find me in the water from quite a distance because of the rash guard. I’m considering buying some fins at the Cressi shop, but I’m on the fence about that.
This is a good place for both doing activities but also having plenty of down time to read or nap. For the last 2 days, after spending 2 taxing hours in the water, I’ve come home exhausted and needed to sleep for a while. I’ve spent enough time in the water, that I constantly feel like I’m moving. It’s a weird feeling. I’m laying in bed but I feel like I’m floating on a raft.
That’s it for tonight.
Traveling with Emily! 