Scuba Newb - Learning to Breathe Underwater

The Women Divers Hall of Fame, home to such renowned divers as Dr. Sylvia Earl and Dr. Eugenie Clark, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. To commemorate the occasion, the group is awarding training grants to 20 ambitious women, enabling them to enhance their careers through scuba diving.  These $1000 grants will pay for classes and equipment, and include a complimentary one year DAN membership, as well a one year terms as a Junior WDHOF Associate. photo courtesy of Sebastian Pena Lambarri via Unsplash  The recipients of these grants come from all over the world - Croatia, Senegal, Canada, the USA, and more. These women also have a wide range of backgrounds, from marine biologists and conservationists, to underwater archaeologists. Read the full story below by tapping the link:  https://www.divenewswire.com/women-divers-hall-of-fame-awards-22-learn-to-dive-training-grants-in-2020/

originally published October 11, 2017 While Irma has come and gone, the impact from her 130 MPH winds is still being felt. Big Pine and Cudjoe Keys were among the hardest hit areas in Florida. A month later, piles of debris still line the streets, evidence of the homes destroyed and despair left behind. The Lower Keys were cut off from the mainland in the wake of the storm. The only road into the chain of islands was closed pending inspection by structural engineers to ensure it was safe. Electricity was out and cell service was down. Residents wandered the blasted landscape in a daze, wondering when help would come, when they might be able to reach their loved ones to tell them they had survived.  Indicative of this close knit community, residents began to reach out to help each other in any way they could. A local radio station was still able to broadcast and spread the word about a store which had a working land line. People lined up out the door for the cha...

originally published August 12, 2017 Come on. You really didn’t think you could get rid of me that easily, did you? So the ScubaNewb, despite a rocky start, managed to master the required skills and achieve her goal of becoming a legit scuba diver. Now what? Is that it? Will she just swim off into the sunset? Of course not! Yup, I’ve already signed up for my Advanced Open Water course. Open Water dive training focuses mainly on skills: learning when to expect underwater and how to deal with difficulties without panicking (or, ya know, dying). Handling your equipment and regulator, what to do if your mask comes off, maintaining good buoyancy - learning and practicing all of these skills set you up for success as a diver. Advanced Open Water is where you take your newly acquired diving tools to the next level. One of the most popular advanced classes is Nitrox certification. Nitrox, also called Enhanced Air or EAN, is a blend of oxygen and nitrogen wherein the oxygen percenta...

originally published July 18, 2017 My Confined Water days were officially behind me and I had just two dives left to complete. I was poised to make my entry into a wider world, but there were still a few obstacles to overcome. The other students arrived - a guy in his 30’s and a teenage boy - both finishing up their Open Water certifications - along with the teen’s dad, who was on hand to get a refresher. While scuba certifications are valid for a lifetime, it’s recommended that you take a refresher course if you’ve been out of the water for more than six months. While Will, Isabelle, and I took a short break (snack time!), Will reviewed the plan for the rest of the day with the whole group. The guys had a few skills to run through first, then we would all be able to move on through the rest of our training together. The menfolk hit the water, leaving Isabelle and me to hang out in the shade and gab for a bit. She is new to Florida, from a place nowhere near the ocean. The ...

originally published July 17, 2017 Well, here we are. I’ve made it as far as Confined 3/Open 1. It had been moderately exasperating. I had almost quit but Will kept me on course. Now we were in the home stretch. Will had a class coming up that I could likely slide into, depending on how the other students did on their first day. If all went according to plan, I could join their class in progress and complete the course alongside them. I was a bit anxious. Up until now, due to my schedule, it had been just me in the water with either Chris or Will. I was concerned about lagging behind and slowing the others down. But, it was do or die now. Maybe having others depending on me getting these skills locked down would motivate me to push past my apprehensions and put my trust in my training and abilities. Only one way to find out. Back to Lake Denton! Will and I were to meet about an hour before the rest of the class to get me caught up to the others. He brought along Isabe...

originally published July 14, 2017 Since this blog is geared towards my personal experiences as an older woman entering the world of scuba diving, let's focus on some of those specific challenges for a bit. Carrying your gear: As previously mentioned, scuba gear can be heavy. A full kit can run upwards of 35-40 pounds, and this can increase depending on the amount of additional weight each diver needs to control their buoyancy. Use caution when lifting and lowering your equipment, and don't be afraid to ask for a helping hand from your dive buddy. Don't be shy about talking to your instructor or dive master about any special needs you may have in this area. Seeing the sights: If you wear glasses, you have a couple of options. I myself am very nearsighted but, due to the refractive properties of water, I can see about 6 to 8 feet underwater with my mask on. You can wear contact lenses when diving, through may wish to opt for the disposable, daily wear type. That wa...

originally published July 3, 2017 Saturday had been great! I had a renewed sense of confidence in my ability to breeze through the rest of my training.  On Sunday, I hit the pool for some more practice, even trying the “manually inflate your BCD underwater” skill, which seemed all kinds of awkward but wasn’t that hard. I watched loads of YouTube videos on scuba training. I’m a kinesthetic learner: I need to actively do a thing in order to fully comprehend a thing. Watching the videos at least gave me an idea of what I was in for. I. Was. Ready. Monday afternoon I would be meeting with a different instructor from the shop, who I’ll call Will. Chris was booked into another class but Will had an Advanced Class in the morning and could meet with me in the afternoon. Destination: Lake Denton, which is tucked away far from any Florida city you’ve probably ever heard of, about 90 minutes southwest of Orlando. It’s another diving hotspot for those who don’t live on the coast, ...

originally published April 24, 2017 As my lessons have begun, I’ve oft been asked “what got you into diving?” Dating a scuba diver is the obvious answer but there’s more to it than that. The more complex answer is… I don’t want to live a life in fear. Take a little walk into the past with me. 1982: The year my mother turned 50, the age I am now. Remember how old 50 seemed when you were a teenager? I was 16 when mom turned 50. I was youthful, immortal, courageous. This may sound harsh but...I don't want to be like my mother. My mother never properly learned to swim. She is afraid of the ocean and the deep end of the pool. When she was a teen growing up in New York, going to Coney Island was all the rage and, one day at the shore, an errant wave knocked her down and pulled her under. She never went past her knees in the ocean ever again. She’ll only go up to her waist in the pool. She doesn't eat popcorn. Why? Because she once got a kernel stuck in her throat and thought ...

originally published April 10, 2017 So. I'd met my knight in shining Aqualung. I'd had my first taste of breathing underwater. I was ready to pull the trigger and get my Open Water certification. But, as they say, life is what happens while you're busy making other plans. Let's go with the Reader's Digest version, shall we? There's an old saying among dive professionals: if you want to make a million dollars in the scuba industry, start with two. Guy's shop was forced to close unexpectedly and thus began a two year adventure of address changes and road trips. His work took him to North Florida, the mid-Atlantic coast, back to Central Florida, the Southeast Florida coast and, ultimately, back to North Florida.  All the while, I had been dealing with my own challenges - a house full of kids & (gulp) a grandkid, taking care of my elderly mother, working full time as well as being a part-time freelance writer. Guy, who wanted me in the hands of so...

originally published April 3, 2017 When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a fighter pilot. How badass would that be, buzzing around up in the air like Maverick in Top Gun, blasting the Bad Guys and saving the world? By the time I was a tween, I had to accept that this would never happen. My eyesight was far too poor to ever qualify. Contact lenses and 5 G’s just don’t mix. Not to mention that this was an era in which women weren’t even allowed in combat, much less flying fighter jets. Still, I wanted to soar...somehow. Swimming was kind of like flying. Finning across the pool, somersaulting and cartwheeling through the water - it was a freedom I didn’t have on land. Here in the Present, Guy offered to give me my first taste of diving through a “discover scuba” experience. Many dive shops offer these introductions to scuba and it’s a great first step that requires little to no investment. Guy brought all his gear to my pool - masks, fins, snorkels, BCD, cylinders, regulators, weig...