Blowing Bubbles...
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:45 pm
Just call me a follower. I tend to rely on others to guide and watch over me on every dive we do… and I am tired of being a liability to them. I want to be an asset and resource underwater. I want to be like my buddies, and I knew that without some training, it just wouldn’t happen. So I’m re-taking AOW. And things are changing…
It’s weird to love a sport that can potentially be fatal. Every dive I’ve done that’s hit 50-80 feet has heard the same mantra ring through my head.. “We’re almost headed back.. I’ll be back on the surface soon. Just keep focused on the others and we’ll be done soon..” The fun only seems to come after reaching the shallows - where my comfort level returns. Even after 70 dives, going deeper has always scared the hell out of me. I panicked during my very first open water dive and bolted from 30 feet, and a sick part of me hangs onto the illusion that as long as I‘m not too far down, I could always “make a swim for it“ and have a chance...
So… I was asked to perform “out of air drills” this weekend, where you actually have to spit your regulator out (Yes - on purpose!) in order to receive and breathe off of your buddy’s in return. Saturday was ugly. I was able to donate my alternate just fine. (Not using the long hose…yet.) But even contemplating ME being out of air and having to spit out my own reg? Bubbles everywhere - wide, bulging eyes, nearly hyperventilating when I finally got the thing back in my mouth. Felt just like my first time in open water all over again - after 70 freakin’ dives! (Granted I hadn’t practiced an OOA drill since Open water either…)
Sunday, when asked what I needed to feel more secure during out of air drills, I described that panic. I joked about how it would be simple in a bathtub. Then thought for a moment, and realized I might not be far off. So, I knelt in 5 feet of water and practiced taking the reg out of my mouth, holding my breath, blowing bubbles, replacing it and breathing again. For a couple of minutes, I repeated this seemingly inane task. Like learning how to blow bubbles with my face in the water during swimming lessons when I was 5. Must have looked awfully silly to anyone on the surface. But it worked like magic for me.
We went to 15 feet and tried it. It felt the same at 15 feet as it had at the surface. Every time. I could do this. Next was tossing it over my shoulder and recovering it at 30 feet a few times. I even missed the first couple tries and had to breathe off of Bob’s before finding my own again. But it was no big deal. Then came orally inflating the SMB. Every time felt the same. No reg in my mouth, and no panic in sight. What a difference a day (and a few bubbles ) made.
When next we dive together, Bob is going to ask me to perform an Out of Air Drill at about 100 feet. The deepest I’ve ever been, and he wants me to spit out my reg. HA! Sound like fun??
Actually, it kinda does. (Ok.. Maybe not entirely FUN.) There’s still some “going deep” uncertainty there, and it isn‘t something I’d do without an instructor with me, yet. But all of the sudden, I‘m looking forward to trying. Maybe there’s hope for my six-gill-sighting aspirations yet…??
It isn’t swimming for the surface that is going to save me underwater. It’s trusting in the buddies around me, and knowing we know how to help each other. I have to spit out my regulator before I can receive the air source that will rescue me. I can take “hits” off of a buddy’s reg while we fix the problem. And not being so scared makes me more available to help them if they ever need me, too. And I guess, less of a liability now, doesn’t it. Cool!
If anyone out there is feeling stuck or looking for something to help build their diving confidence, try “blowing bubbles” and/or an OOA drill with a trusted buddy in the shallows before you both descend. It might make a difference. It has for me.
(PS… Thanks, Grateful Diver. - both for your patience, and for the tag line...)
It’s weird to love a sport that can potentially be fatal. Every dive I’ve done that’s hit 50-80 feet has heard the same mantra ring through my head.. “We’re almost headed back.. I’ll be back on the surface soon. Just keep focused on the others and we’ll be done soon..” The fun only seems to come after reaching the shallows - where my comfort level returns. Even after 70 dives, going deeper has always scared the hell out of me. I panicked during my very first open water dive and bolted from 30 feet, and a sick part of me hangs onto the illusion that as long as I‘m not too far down, I could always “make a swim for it“ and have a chance...
So… I was asked to perform “out of air drills” this weekend, where you actually have to spit your regulator out (Yes - on purpose!) in order to receive and breathe off of your buddy’s in return. Saturday was ugly. I was able to donate my alternate just fine. (Not using the long hose…yet.) But even contemplating ME being out of air and having to spit out my own reg? Bubbles everywhere - wide, bulging eyes, nearly hyperventilating when I finally got the thing back in my mouth. Felt just like my first time in open water all over again - after 70 freakin’ dives! (Granted I hadn’t practiced an OOA drill since Open water either…)
Sunday, when asked what I needed to feel more secure during out of air drills, I described that panic. I joked about how it would be simple in a bathtub. Then thought for a moment, and realized I might not be far off. So, I knelt in 5 feet of water and practiced taking the reg out of my mouth, holding my breath, blowing bubbles, replacing it and breathing again. For a couple of minutes, I repeated this seemingly inane task. Like learning how to blow bubbles with my face in the water during swimming lessons when I was 5. Must have looked awfully silly to anyone on the surface. But it worked like magic for me.
We went to 15 feet and tried it. It felt the same at 15 feet as it had at the surface. Every time. I could do this. Next was tossing it over my shoulder and recovering it at 30 feet a few times. I even missed the first couple tries and had to breathe off of Bob’s before finding my own again. But it was no big deal. Then came orally inflating the SMB. Every time felt the same. No reg in my mouth, and no panic in sight. What a difference a day (and a few bubbles ) made.
When next we dive together, Bob is going to ask me to perform an Out of Air Drill at about 100 feet. The deepest I’ve ever been, and he wants me to spit out my reg. HA! Sound like fun??
Actually, it kinda does. (Ok.. Maybe not entirely FUN.) There’s still some “going deep” uncertainty there, and it isn‘t something I’d do without an instructor with me, yet. But all of the sudden, I‘m looking forward to trying. Maybe there’s hope for my six-gill-sighting aspirations yet…??
It isn’t swimming for the surface that is going to save me underwater. It’s trusting in the buddies around me, and knowing we know how to help each other. I have to spit out my regulator before I can receive the air source that will rescue me. I can take “hits” off of a buddy’s reg while we fix the problem. And not being so scared makes me more available to help them if they ever need me, too. And I guess, less of a liability now, doesn’t it. Cool!
If anyone out there is feeling stuck or looking for something to help build their diving confidence, try “blowing bubbles” and/or an OOA drill with a trusted buddy in the shallows before you both descend. It might make a difference. It has for me.
(PS… Thanks, Grateful Diver. - both for your patience, and for the tag line...)