The Australia Chronicles (Day 5)

Well, the alarms worked fine and it's off to the Great Barrier Reef!

The day before, at the end of class I bought my own fins (open heel), boots, mask and snorkel. If nothing else I can use the gear snorkelling!

We were in a 20-25 meter catamaran-type boat (named Reef Quest). About half full (we only had 30 people aboard!) This is the day boat; it goes out and comes back each day. We will be dropped off on Ocean Quest around 2:30 PM. First, though we have a 1.5 hour journey to the reef. Plenty of time for some good old fashioned sea-induced nausea! Yuck! Lots of rolling around on the ocean. A little nap put that feeling to bed.

There were the three of us in Dive school, the rest were the certified divers, introductory dive divers and snorkelers. The certified divers can get three dives in before the return trip. We only had time for 2.

The Introductory Divers get a quick lesson in all the gear and then go out for a dive or two. They can't dive on their own, nor can they go anywhere in the world and be qualified to dive with a divemaster / guide. Basically, it's a get-your-feet-wet kinda thing.

We park off the reef (my logbook says Norman Reef, Plate Top), gear up and jump in the water. Here are my log entries:

Openwater Dive 1
Location: Norman Reef, Plate Top
12 meters, 32 minutes, 3 minute decompression safety stop at 5 meters. 16m visibility, surface air temperature 28 C, surface water temp 24 C, bottom water temp 24C. Time In: 1015, Time Out 1105. Air in: 200 Bar Air Out: 50 Bar. 12 lbs of lead weights.

Tasks Completed: Cramp Removal, Tired Diver Tow, Snorkel / Regulator Exchange, Remove / Replace SCUBA gear on surface, Remove / Replace weights on surface.

Notes: Found Nemo (also known as a clownfish living in a Anemone)

Pressure Group at end: F

Bottom Time to Date: 00:00:32

Hopped out, dried off, drank some tea, rested...briefly, then...BACK IN THE WATER!

Openwater Dive 2
Location: Norman Reef, Plate Top
Surface Interval: 00:02:13 (days:hours:minutes)
Pressure Group at Start:A

11.3 meters, 28 minutes, 0 minute decompression safety stop at 5 meters. 16m visibility, surface air temperature 28 C, surface water temp 24 C, bottom water temp 24C. Time In: 1300, Time Out 1330. Air in: 200 Bar Air Out: 50 Bar. 12 lbs of lead weights.

Tasks Completed: Alternate Air Source Ascent.

Notes: This simulates an out-of-air emergency ascent; hence the lack of the safety stop. You go "sh*t! no air!" Shake your buddy, signal profusely and then grab their alternate air source! You latch on then make a controlled swimming ascent to the surface. Then, while your buddy is floating comfortably on the surface you make sure he has his regulator in, then you dunk him! :-) Yup, you dunk him, sit on top of him while you inflate your BCD (link life jacket at this point) manually. Once you are sure you will float, you can let your buddy back up!

Pressure Group at End: F

Bottom Time to Date: 00:01:00

At this point we are now certified SCUBA divers. That means we can dive with certified PADI dive instructors anytime, anyplace. Two more dives tomorrow and we'll be Certified PADI Open Water divers which means we can dive to 18 meters anywhere in the world, anytime!

Have I mentioned how much I HATE the taste of salt water! Yuck!

Oh, and I need to learn how to breathe less.....

For what it's worth, any dives on the Great Barrier Reef require, by Queensland law, a 3 minute safety stop at 5 meters depth even if you did not exceed or approach and decompression limits.

We survived the open ocean and then awaited transfer to our home for the next 3 nights!

We docked with Ocean Quest and on we go. This dive deck is HUGE! I think they can handle 30-40 divers and when dive time came I think they were fairly full! The boat used to be a deep-sea fishing boat.

Quad occupancy and I barely fit in the bed (hey! Just like college!). Some people had double occupancy but you have to pay for that. I was in with Andrew, Tomoko and an Italian guy named Daniele. Better pronounce the -le part of his name or he gets pissed. He has some issues to work through as he did nothing but complain about this that and everything else since day one.

There are four marine bathrooms on the dive deck. Hot water showers and a toilet. This boat runs 5 dives a day; 0800, 1030, 1230, 1530, 1900 (night dive). After dive one and two you realize getting completely clean is a waste of your time. You come back from the dive, peel the wetsuit off, hop in for a quick shower to remove the salt, remove your swimsuit and change into your normal shorts to be somewhat dry, put a hat on, hang the towl and swimsuit up over your dive gear, go inside, discuss the dive, drink some hot tea, log your dive, relax a bit before doing it all over again!

And the wind was whipping the whole time. 15-20 knots constantly. It was not cold outside, but with the wind blowing like that a) the boat always had a nice constant roll to it, b) it was too cold to lay on the sundeck and c) once you got out of the water and the wind hit you, you froze. Then you took off the wetsuit and froze a little more. The freezing was over in like 2 minutes and wouldn't return until it was time to jump in again. Then you put the cold, damp wetsuit on, froze for 20 seconds and then your body heat warmed up the wetsuit and all was right with the world. So long as we were in the water, we were warm!

That day, though we had to ourselves, so while everyone else was diving we took the time to do some of the Advanced course reading and "tests". That night was reltively clear so up to the sun (er, moon!) deck to see what we could see. Very windy and the boat kept rolling so stargazing would be problematic as it is real hard to hold the binoculars steady. Found the largest Globular Cluster in the Milky Way (Alpha Centauri) quite easily and under these partially dark skies (thanks to the half moon which was consipiring to drown out the "good stuff") still looked better than my telescope view from my patio when I first moved here. I guess dark, transparent skies really do make a difference!

Also saw the Veil Nebula (too much light polution and water moisture in the air in India) for the first time and the Lagoon / Trifid Nebula were the best I have evey seen them. I wish I had access to a fixed telescope under these skies! The center of the Milky Way galaxy itself was quite clear, well, as clear as it can be when there's a half full moon right in the middle of it!

Off to bed as the breakfast call comes at 0645. Yuck! Someone needs to tell these people we're on holiday! :-)