October 24 - Thailand: Koh Tao
Rescue Diver Course - Day #2
We had breakfast at the restaurant - another gorgeous day - and then met the gang at 9:30 for the morning session. Today was basically a discussion about the proper procedures for an unconscious victim. So we spent 1.5 hours talking about the theory and the moves that we'd be practicing in the afternoon.
At 11:00, we broke to finish our chapter summaries and to have lunch. Jon and I went to the room
At 1:00, we picked up our gear and boarded the long boat to go to the dive boat.
Dive #1: Rescue Diver Session #3
Depth: 0 meters
Bottom Time: 0 minutes
Visibility: 15 meters
Our first "dive" wasn't a dive at all. We spent about an hour on the surface in full gear practicing the skills for an unconscious victim on the surface: the approach, the gear removal, the mouth-to-mouth, the tow to the boat. And we did this over and over again until we got it right. There's actually a lot to think about, and some interesting points to consider when dragging an unconscious person across the water. For example, loosening the BCD to allow the lungs to expand. Or positioning hands so that one hand can cover the victim's mouth if a wave comes. It seems instinctive, but it really isn't when you're on the water doing it.
We couldn't help but think of our good friends Sharon and Ray, who did the same course in Maldives during monsoon season. What was it they said? Something about how hard it is to do mouth-to-mouth when you're sea-sick and the ocean swells are knocking you around.
Oh yeah. Here's a funny part of the story. Because we're simulating a rescue, part of the procedures is to call to the boat for help after giving two full breaths to the victim. Of course, we can't actually yell "HELP! HELP!" to the boat because that would mean we really needed help. So instead we yell, "PIZZA! PIZZA!" and continue on with the rescue. Pretty funny!
In between the first dive and second dive, we practiced our rope-throws and observed different ways to get an unconscious victim from the water onto the boat. We also simulated a from-the-boat rescue. I was the first victim, so I swam out about 20 meters and yelled, "I WANT PIZZA! WITH PEPPERONI!" So Jon jumped in with a life jacket to "save" me, and - as instructed - talked to me to calm me down. What he said was, "Hello. We have pizza on the boat. Just grab onto this life vest and I'll pull you in and you can have all the pizza you want." Hmmmm. That doesn't sound as funny as it was at the time. Maybe we were punchy.
Dive #2: Rescue Diver Session #4
Depth: 0 meters
Bottom Time: 0 minutes
Visibility: 1 5 meters
For our second dive, we practiced more of the unconscious victim procedures that we did on Dive #1. Practice makes perfect, and after a while it became second nature to us. The only real notable factor of this dive were the itty-bitty-teeny-weeny jelly fish that kept stinging us. Nothing really serious, just little annoying pinches.
The boat took us back to its mooring, and everyone got their stuff together to climb into the long boat.
There are a few physical tests that must be passed in order to get Dive Master certification, and Jon and I had discussed these requirements with Flav and Thomas yesterday and today. One is to swim 400 meters without stopping in a certain amount of time, which is no easy task. I was actually curious to see how I'd do. They told us that 400 meters was the distance from the scuba boat's mooring to the shore, and we decided to swim it. So we threw our stuff onto the long boat and told them that we'd see them on the beach. Then we jumped in and headed out.
To do a swim this long, it's best to conserve energy until the end. So both Jon and I did most of it with the breast stroke. I, however, added a bit of back stroke to give my arms a break. As I was on my back looking at the sky, I couldn't help but notice the beautiful sunset over the water. It really was lovely, but there wasn't much time to linger over it because I needed to turn back and continue my swim.
Jon made it in 11:20, and I came in at 12:30. We did it in farmer-Ted-wetsuits that were less than aerodynamic, so maybe our time will improve without them. Regardless, we have some training to do if want to shave time off our scores.
Dinner at ACs
We went back to ACs for dinner and sat in the low-table-holes right on the shore. The beers at this place are so cold and incredibly refreshing. Now, I love a good Aprés Ski as much as the next person, but I don't think there's anything as divine as an Aprés Scuba beer. There's something about the tropics, the beach, and an icy cold beer after a long day of diving. Ahhhhh....
We didn't hang around for AC's "Movie of the Night" because we have to finish our homework for tomorrow's final exam. Here I thought I would never have to deal with homework again after school. I guess it never ends!