Long Reef Dive
Did this on 34% Nitrox as I just finished my TDI Nitrox certification the night before. In fact the plan was to dive the wreck, but the water was too rough for the boat to anchor, so we did the reef. This was my longest dive to date.
Long Reef Dive
Well, I’ll keep the dives listed here.
Went diving on Friday. To Qaruh island, finally!
The conditions were quite good, we went out to explore the reef and after a few minutes I had a small leak in my pressure gauge. So I went up, though I should have found my buddy then went up, but on a scan of the water I didn’t see him. It was in fact because he was so close to me that I didn’t see him. A good buddy!
Then I want back to the boat and say it was a minor leak in the swivel to the pressure gauge so I went out again with the same gear for a conservative dive on the reef with another fellow. It was a fun dive, good visibility, I saw more variety of fish than I’ve seen yet. No sea turtles, though they do show up sometimes.
Got a nice view of a lion fish. You don’t touch them the spines will give you a nasty sting. What is very beautiful or ugly generally stings or bites so do not touch.
Then a second dive. Saw sea cucumber which looks like a big blob of poop on the bottom and more varieties of fish and several types of coral. Fun.
Then I changed regulators, to be safe and it was time for the deep dive.
Then the biggie. Dive three was the deep dive at the wreck. The wreck is about 2 km from the island in deep water. It is a Coast Guard boat that Iraq took in the Gulf War and then the Americans shot down and sank. The top of the mast is at about 24 meters and the bottom is at about 32 meters depending on tides. Lots of interesting things around the boat, lion fish again. You certainly need to be careful around the boat, lots of things sticking out as you go down the cable that is fixed on the top. The top of the boat is the top of the mast where all the antennas etc. are sticking out. So a short tour around the boat and then time to surface. We stopped on the bottom to look at a couple of plastic bottles. One was sealed at the surface and was completely crushed on the bottom. The other had some water in it, and you could see on the bottom how the entrapped air in it was compressed. Also we had a snack. I took a bit, 26 meters down. It looked like an apricot but was a tomato a bit shriveled up. Of course red is the color first lost as you descent. Took a bite and didn’t need salt! You can eat underwater, though it would need some practice, as I still had some in my mouth after surfacing!
After a tour around the conning tower we surfaced along the guide wire took our safety stop at 5 meters then surfaced at the boat, and I got a piece of jellyfish on my wrist. Immediate blisters and mild pain. Vinegar took the blisters away and that was that. Tonight, 24 hours later, there is a vague feeling of it, but nothing to bother me.
Water temperature was around 24 degrees so I was happy with the wetsuit, 3 mm thick, more than adequate for these conditions.
I now notice that in my logbook, I didn’t log three dives only two. Not to worry.
I’m heading diving on Friday. Thursday is preferred but this is the day it is planned by the dive center.
It will be my first deep dive down to 30 meters. Stay tuned for new. We plan to go to Garo Island and do two fun dives then the deep one.
I am taking a Lifeguard course now! In part as it is necessary to get a Rescue Diver certification.
The pool is at Dive Caroline. And the weather turned cold on the weekend, so tonight used a wetsuit and still was chilly! Mostly due to the wind.
We went out in the boat. The water had swells of up to about 1 meter. So the going was slow and the boat was ploughing up and down the swells. Dive Caroline has an older smaller boat and a larger newer boat. We went in the smaller boat, departing at 8:00 am. Then we got to Kubbar Island and tied off the boat to the anchor buoy.
Well, as it is near full moon and the tides are strong the current was strong and also the water was rolling the boat quite a bit side to side. Everyone started to gear up, but before long, someone was seasick over the side. This started a chain reaction through the people on the boat. Three of us got in the water and avoided the heaving boat.