Diving Discoveries

What. A. Day. 

   Jeffrey invited me and Chris to assist with two Discover Scuba classes of Boy Scouts (17 kids!), and then a third class with a mom and her son, and another family of 5 Nigerian kids. The scouts were wonderful of course, and all did a great job. But I got to spend more individual time with and I especially enjoyed the final class of the day.

   The two girls weren't so comfortable in the water, so we had to get over that hurdle before teaching them to dive. At first, their instinct was to grab my arm and hold on for dear life, sometimes dragging me under water in the process, or nearly knocking my regulator out. But over the couple of hours that we were in the pool, I watched their fear melt away.

   By the end of the day, they each took me by the hand and wanted me to jump into the pool with them! Although they never dove in the deep end, it was magic to see them just playing in the water without a trace of fear. One even had me pull up a Rihanna song ("Stay") on my iPhone and the three of us sang it together in the pool as we were swimming around.

   What really impressed upon me about the five siblings was that none of them were especially confident in the water at first. But also, none of them were so fearful that they refused to try. It was like it never entered their mind to not try it--despite their clear trepidation. Their parents weren't here, and they had never met me before. They were in an unfamiliar and potentially risky situation, yet placed all their trust in a stranger. I think that's fairly remarkable for one individual, much less five all at once. It made me wonder about their parents and what amazing people they must be, raising such fun, joyful, confident young adults.

   I just about had tears in my eyes when the two girls came over to me and gave me big smiles and even bigger hugs as we were all getting ready to leave. It is so empowering and so fulfilling to not only have fun together, but also to help them try something they might not have otherwise.

   Cuties Sam and Tia, two naturals in the water!

   I don't know how on earth I had energy left after 5+ hours of diving and kid-wrangling to stop at the grocery store and then to come home and make dinner, but I hadn't eaten anything all day, so it was a good idea. Here's what I whipped up:

   Broiled miso black cod, sautéed brussels sprouts, and spiced, roasted carrots and sweet potatoes. I even cooked up some plain sweet potatoes just for the dogs, and they enjoyed them with a dollop of plain yogurt on top, like a real dessert. As my food was cooking I made up a double batch of Michele's special protein nuggets, which are a great breakfast on the go, or snack, or dessert, or anything you want!

   And you know what I want? To go to sleep!

Animal Olympics

   Taylor gold medalled in inverted stiff-legged couch surfing:

   Kismet is thinking of becoming a diver. Maybe. Maybe not. But perhaps. She's not sure really. Definitely curious though.

   For sure she's top of the podium for beauty and sweetness, in her extra-long winter-fur finery:

   Aki keeps bringing me the little plush moose that Sawako brought. It's her favorite.

   When I take it away and tease her, she makes it known that she is tops in the "awful demon face" race!

   Who will win the gold for maximum hibernation? It's going to be a close race... perhaps a four-way tie between us!

Diving Day

   Scuba Power! Christy snapped this goofball photo of me after our two Discover sessions. We had 18 more adventurers dive in, and several seem interested in becoming certified. Yay! I LOVE seeing people take to this amazing sport. That makes 45 people that Christy & I have brought in so far.

   Time to hop in! The water may look warm, but even with the new heater, it's only 77 degrees so far (better than 68 last time!). It really is amazing how much difference a few degrees makes. Water absorbs heat 20x faster than air, which explains why.

Remember these important rules:

Scott demonstrates deep-water entry for divers in a refresher class:

Time to walk on water!

   I'm still trying to get over this ridiculous sinus infection, so I only spent an hour shivering in the pool before I got out, showered and changed, and sat to observe and draw fishies. (See earlier post.) It was SO hard to resist staying in the pool longer, but I'm trying to fulfill my Divemaster code by knowing when to say when. I could not, however, resist having dinner and a Blue Moon with orange slice afterwards. Vitamin C is good for you, right?
   Then I headed home to watch the men's slopestyle finals and equally torture myself with wanting to be on a mountain again. NOW.

Dreaming of the sea

hour one...

   I finally finally made it to Mirna's lunchtime drawing session! Been wanting to go for over a year. Decided I'm making time for it this year. One hour a week is not too much to ask. Had a blast drawing with Mirna, Maya, Lyla, Amber, and Ken.

   Usually Mirna throws out a subject matter and visual inspiration. Today she threw out a poem, and it spoke to me. It was the perfect accompaniment to a drawing I've had in my head ever since my whale shark swims in September 2012. Need to finish the drawing (filling the page with creatures I've actually seen while diving), and then ink it. It's the last spread in my sketchbook before I start a new one. My favorite page so far because of the incredible memories it invokes... Just like it was yesterday.

   Here's an update of the drawing after hour two at the dive shop:

hour two...

MacDo

   I eat fast food mayyyybe 6 times a year. And I am in Filet-o-Fake-Fish a and greasy delicious French fry heaven at the Denver airport right now. #preemptiveregret #slimyyetsatisfying

   On a similarly unhealthy note:

Hahahhahhahahahahaha!!!!!

Drawing time: Three wetsuits

   I mentioned in an earlier post that the swimming pool was a scant 69° on Saturday while we were diving. So I actually wore three wetsuits: a full-length 3mm, and then two 3mm shorties on top of it. I felt like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! It looked a little something like this:

   I messed up my eyes in that first drawing where I am dipping my toe in the pool. I also meant to further exaggerate my size while wearing three wetsuits, for comic effect. That's the problem with drawing with pens, you can't erase. ;)

   This is the advantage to drawing old-school rather than on the computer. Sometimes things don't come out quite right, but often you surprise yourself with something you wouldn't have done in digital form, armed with the opportunity to make easy changes.

Drawing time: Shark and platypus

   Couple of new pieces to share: I drew myself diving with a friendly whale shark on Scott's dive slate while we were waiting for a couple of novice divers to finish up in the pool. (The funny thing is it's not at all to scale… I would be much, much smaller compared to a real-life whale shark, as I found out firsthand in 2012.)

   And let me just say, a sport that combines my love of swimming & my love of animals… & the ability to draw pictures underwater… Like, up to 100 feet underwater? Awesomest. Thing. Ever.

   I drew this guy for my friend/coworker, Charlie, because he's very unique--both in his personality and in his incategorizable role at work. So I call Charlie "the platypus". He's one of several true creative geniuses with whom I've had the pleasure of working. Our partner Amy is brilliant as well. I don't have a colorful nickname for her… Yet. (Unless she is simply the "tiny pies girl")  ;)

    I really enjoy experimenting by drawing with different instruments, like a pencil on a dive slate versus a nearly worn out Sharpie marker. It gives the finished pieces a totally different quality, and it also challenges me to draw differently to suit the media. Are the magic of the iPhone, I can crop and add filters to, to give them yet another dimension. (Ha! I just made myself think of "Intergalactic" by the beastie boys. "Another dimension, another dimension…")

Diving Day!

Dive Posse!

   It was COLD in the pool today. The shop's heater has been malfunctioning, so it was a crisp 69 degrees for our 6-hour rescue-diving pool session. There is a new heater on site, waiting to be installed, but that didn't help us. What DID help us was that Chris graciously ran out to buy hot chocolate for everyone! She single-handedly saved us all.

   We went through a ton of skills, including practicing demonstration-quality: removal, replacement and clearing of mask underwater, fin pivots, hovering for 30 seconds underwater, CESA, and breathing from a free-flowing reg. We did skin-diving skills using a snorkel to dive down without scuba gear, and clearing it at the surface. We led each other in swimming underwater with no mask, down the pool and back.

   Rescue skills included helping a panicked diver at the surface regain buoyancy while avoiding having them tow you underwater with them, helping a panicked diver underwater, providing a spare reg to a diver out of air, rescuing an unconscious diver at the bottom of the 10' pool and taking them to the surface, rescue breathing for an unconscious diver at the surface. Nick signed up to do his "tired diver tow" and pushed me around the pool for 5 or 6 minutes by my fins while I kicked back.

   I volunteered to play the victim as much as I could because it gives me a chance to keep improving my comfort in the water. Especially considering there's a good chance you'll get splashed or dunked a bit when your eyes are closed. That stuff used to FREAK ME OUT. And now... ?  Nope. :)

   Another wacky drill that I didn't even know I was going to have to do would have paralyzed me a year ago. We had to get a buddy and sit at 10', then exchange all our gear—everything but the wet suits. Poor Nick got to work with me because we were the closest in size... and Nick is 6' tall. We started by exchanging our regulators and BCDs, then weights, then fins, then masks. Even with all the extra weight I was wearing to compensate for my extra buoyancy (not one but THREE neoprene wetsuits because I was so cold!!!), Nick struggled to stay on the bottom. My BCD, which was tight on me, barely fit over one of his arms, much less two. He could scarcely get his toes in my fins. I was, pardon the pun, swimming in his BCD and spent half the time with my legs over my head, kicking to stay down. And... Our masks fit each other like a glove. (So at least we could see!) Good laughs all around.
   Today was the first day I can truly say that I wasn't even a little scared or nervous about doing all this. Not even the mask removal... and that part went slowwwwly. I was so intently focused on how on earth we'd accomplish this, and working so hard to get it done, and I had no fear. None. BEST. FEELING. EVER.
   Who knows what the rest of my life will hold and whether or not I'll ever use these skills professionally. What I do know is that now, more than ever, I feel like a mermaid. I LOVE diving. And if on my travels I ever run across a diver in trouble, I am this much more prepared to help them.

Gettin' Schooled

   This video reminds me of one of my favorite dives in Roatan, when I was surrounded by a large school of fish who peacefully and curiously drifted with me for a couple minutes. To be 50' underwater, soaring over rolling green mounds of coral and rippling sunlight, and accepted into their presence is an experience I shall never forget!

Divemaster training

   Today I officially began the Divemaster program through Sam's Skin n Scuba in Independence, with whom I traveled to Roatan last month. Who'd have thought back in the frigid Sarasota bay back in February 2010, when I became certified--and while the very idea of diving still terrified me--that I'd be here. KC divers have a saying, which is that Sam could sell ice to an Eskimo. That's true. Sam says, "I may be crude, but I damn sure can teach Scuba." And that is also true. What he does best, though, is assemble a group of fantastic people and talented instructors who make every experience so fun that you naturally can't wait to continue.

   And whatever it is about me that people pick up on that lets them know I'm a leader, Sam & his crew hit me up in Roatan and enticed me to cross the threshold into the professional track of diving. The first step is becoming a DM, which is a leadership role--your focus shifts from yourself to your companions at this level. It's estimated that less than 1% of the population dives, and fewer than 1 in 10 achieve the DM level, and probably even fewer than that in the good ol' landlocked Midwest. It's an achievement just to be asked to enter the program, a well as an honor and a responsibility.

   I know that I will learn critical skills to keep myself and others safe in the water--but more importantly, this is another step in my life's learning and leadership journey. Hard work in store for the next six months, but lots of fun too. And I'm excited to see where this new path will take me...

Back in KC 9/7

   I have a squeeze in my left jaw, possibly an infection in my left ear, and after running this morning, a rash on my stomach. I seem to have developed an allergy to life on dry land. Back to Roatan!!!!!!

Mobbed 9/7

I've been home for 10 minutes, and I've already been serenaded by Aki at the door, rushed by the kitty, and pinned to the couch by lover boy. Makes the transition home from vacation a bit nicer, I'd say.

   I treasure the few minutes that the animals go crazy over me. It doesn't last long, since Mary Ann spends so much time here while I'm gone. They definitely miss me, but it's clear that they aren't lonely. I'm SO lucky to have her looking out for them and me.

   Still, Kismet is making sure I never leave again:

New friends + new skills 9/6

   My trip to Roatan has been phenomenal. My goal for the trip had been to become a more confident diver, but it became so much more than that: the people have been the best part, both the locals & my fellow travelers. I felt at home immediately with the group of around 60 travelers; most hailed from KC, and a few from farther out: Liesl, Julia and Eric from Juneau, Alaska; Chad from Minnesota, Dave from Miami, and the brothers from Iowa.

   So many people from the group made a huge impression on me, and I hope to dive with them again soon, and to eventually connect with the people I didn't have a chance to spend much time with. I particularly hit it off with Dan, Jonathan, Ellen, Jackie, and the Alaska contingency--Liesl was my roommate in the fantasy over-water cabana. As one of the newest people in the group (many in this crowd have trained and/or traveled together previously), I was honored to be so welcomed and included.

   In part because I was traveling alone and we happened to be on the same boat, and in part because he was just so much fun to hang out with, I dove 26 of my 28 dives with Dan, a PADI instructor. We were all fast friends, and the bonus for me was that He was able to help me with my skills, and complete training exercises as part of our regular dives. I felt very safe with Dan looking out for me and hope to pass that on to another new diver someday.

   In all I earned several certifications (they will be official once I read the manuals and complete the written knowledge reviews): advanced open water, deep diving, underwater navigation, night diving, and (ship) wreck diving. While these are great to have in case I ever choose to dive professionally (I'm being steered toward Divemaster training by Sam, Dan, & Jonathan), the great thing is that all the practice make me a safer diver--and equip me to help others discover a sport that is quickly becoming one of my top favorites. I learned a lot from our Roatan Divemaster, Kirk, as well.

   This trip was the perfect blend of fun and education. I learned that I only need to dive with 5 lbs, not 16 (and I might be able to get to 4), I learned to use a compass, I learned to identify a bunch of fish, and I improved my buoyancy.

   I've come a long way from learning to swim less than four years ago and never dreamed all this was possible. Feeling very blessed to have had such a great trip on so many levels.

   

   

Sharktastic! 9/4

This morning my dive buddies were 9' long and toothy. We dived down 70' in the open ocean with at least fourteen 8-9' Caribbean reef sharks!

The dive operation is working on gathering and "taming" a group of hammerheads now...

Jellies! But not the delicious kind! 9/5

   Swarmed by a cloud of stinging jellyfish on tonight's dive... Hoping I will wake up with lips like Julia Roberts. #whenwilltheburningstop?

Roatan, 3 fantastic days in 9/2

   Great trip so far... Saw a nice big school of little squid yesterday, and a few more today--was able to get a video up close. A couple of large barracuda, one of which came close enough to make my heart pause for a second. Turtles, ocean triggerfish (much larger than I remembered), another adult spotted drum, garden eels, jawfish, nudibranch, trunkfish, lots of parrotfish and butterflyfish, a large gray angelfish, queen angels, trumpetfish, fairy basslets, snapper... And my best find to date: an octopus hiding in broad daylight. He was hunkered down in the seagrass shaped like an open umbrella. I saw the only thing moving: his gills. Then his eye.

   I was SO excited to show it to my dive buddy, Dan, who had saved my (very expensive) flashlight earlier on the dive. I was too low on air to dive down the 80' to retrieve it when it slipped right off my wrist. I felt lucky to be able to repay him, in a sense.

   Also excited because I was bummed to have not seen octopi on last night's 9:30 pm dive, or this morning's 4:45 am dive.

   Started my wreck diving certification today (mapping ships is HARD and requires strong on-land and in-water communication and teamwork!); also working on advanced open water. For that I've done a deep dive (it only has to be 61', but I went down to 90' today), a night dive, a wreck dive, a boat dive, and I think all I need to do is navigation Finished my night dive certification, which only requires two dives and an instructor signing. 

   It's like school but the studying is way more fun.

Roatan, 3 fantastic days in

   Great trip so far... Saw a nice big school of little squid yesterday, and a few more today--was able to get a video up close. A couple of large barracuda, one of which came close enough to make my heart pause for a second. Turtles, ocean triggerfish (much larger than I remembered), another adult spotted drum, garden eels, jawfish, nudibranch, trunkfish, lots of parrotfish and butterflyfish, a large gray angelfish, queen angels, trumpetfish, fairy basslets, snapper... And my best find to date: an octopus hiding in broad daylight. He was hunkered down in the seagrass shaped like an open umbrella. I saw the only thing moving: his gills. Then his eye.

   I was SO excited to show it to my dive buddy, Dan, who had saved my (very expensive) flashlight earlier on the dive. I was too low on air to dive down the 80' to retrieve it when it slipped right off my wrist. I felt lucky to be able to repay him, in a sense.

   Also excited because I was bummed to have not seen octopi on last night's 9:30 pm dive, or this morning's 4:45 am dive.

   Started my wreck diving certification today (mapping ships is HARD and requires strong on-land and in-water communication and teamwork!); also working on advanced open water. For that I've done a deep dive (it only has to be 61', but I went down to 90' today), a night dive, a wreck dive, a boat dive, and I think all I need to do is navigation Finished my night dive certification, which only requires two dives and an instructor signing. 

   It's like school but the studying is way more fun.

Let the cartoons begin! 9/2

   There's another cartoonist in the group! Guess which pogo-sticking manta I drew, & which Jonathan drew.

   Jonathan lives in Leavenworth and is a contractor for the army, taking photos and video (I never ever thought of that being a thing!) He'll be going to Korea soon.

   He plays a game with his artist friends: one will throw out a living thing, an adjective, and an activity. So I said, "manta ray, pogo-sticking, and... Joyful". And he said,"well obviously he'd be joyful!" So I said, "okay then--angry!"

   When he finished his drawing, I drew my version. My manta has ice cream. :)

Beautiful Roatan 9/1

   Gorgeous foliage and flowers everywhere. Our dive master, Curt, has lived here all his life and has only been to mainland Honduras a few times... And no where else in the world! Although I can't imagine staying put for so long, I am enjoying the tranquil beauty of the island. The staff leaves fresh hibiscus after cleaning our room each day. This IS the life!

Basilisk!!! 9/1

Spotted one of these guys next to the walkway this morning--a basilisk. Also known as a Jesus Christ lizard because they can spread their long toes & walk on water.