My eldest daughter and I started training to become certified in scuba diving on Sunday. We were at the Scuba Shop at 7:45 am and in Lake Ramsey by 10 am. With a short break around noon, we finished up at 2 pm. It was intense and hurt my brain, but after three hours of instruction, we took a dive with the instructor and saw a large bass and a school of perch. That was a completely different vista than anything I have experienced before and was utterly amazing.
My daughter picked up on the instruction far easier than I did, and my incompetence resulted in fits of laughter underwater…not recommended. For example, I offered my daughter my snorkel underwater instead of my octo, which again resulted in peals of laughter. Water up my nose, water up my daughter’s nose, and the ever-patient instructor Jason rolling his eyes while we regained our composure. It was an incredible mother-daughter experience.
The hardest part, by far, was putting on the wetsuit. Like a second skin, it took elbow grease to pull over our legs. Once we had it up to our torso, it became easier, although stripping it off in between to go to the washroom was a struggle. The BCD (Buoyancy Control Device, otherwise known as the jacket) contained weights to keep us from floating to the surface, and getting the right balance resulted in a lot of tipping underwater. The fins felt like an extension of our legs and we adapted easily to them, but the concept of breathing through your mouth and exhaling through your nose took a few hours to gel. Lake Ramsey was warm and we were able to continue through a bit of rain because there was no thunder or lightning.
The wetsuits drying on the hood of the truck reminds me of how we felt after diving. We were completely wiped out and starving. It took a total of seven hours, but the intensity of the underwater experience made it worth it. After dropping our tanks to the Scuba Shop, we headed straight to Wendy’s for cheeseburger combos. I am already counting down the days to the next dive.
