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| Lesson 3 |
| 18 June 2011, 17:12 |
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So us divers love spending time in the ocean, right? Well while we're down at 30m there is another group on the surface, with tans and bleached hair, posing on the waves and speaking a whole new language using words like 'grom' and 'knarly'. What's all that about?
We decided to find out, so we took a random dive instructor and enrolled him in a surf school. And to balance it out we found an equally random surf instructor and booked her on a PADI open water course. This is what happened in week three:
Kevin Murphy, PADI dive instructor
So I hope your all anxiously waiting, wanting to know weather or not I finally succeeded in standing up. Well I`m going to keep the suspense going for a bit longer just to keep you informed as to the structure of our lessons. Lesson 3 started out with the class doing our stretching exercises, or me just trying not to fall over. Which, come to think of it, is most of what my surfing entails. We headed out into the surf to practice our skills from the previous lessons, namely pushing yourself up with your arms once you've caught a wave. Once back into the groove you would then try standing up and once comfortable with that, the idea would be to try and steer yourself along the wave. So clearly for me as I had not exactly been the star pupil I was finished my warm ups in oh.... about the time it takes to fall off a surfboard! Michelle set the rest of the class off on some more advanced techniques and my remedial instruction started. Finding ones balance on an ever changing medium is exceptionally hard. Every wave is slightly different from the preceding one, and with every new wave I feel my strength slowly waning bit by bit as I slowly get more tired. It also doesn't help when the rest of your class mates come flying by, especially those who vowed to honour and obey, through sickness and physical ineptitude.
Moment of triumph!
Slowly as time passed, under Michelle's experienced instruction, I started to feel the beginnings of some small form of stability trying really hard to come through. Even though I was constantly falling off, I just knew that it was so frustratingly close each and every time. I would either be just a little to far forward on my board, or having over compensated to far back. Which left me pitching nose first down the swell or dropping of the back of the wave. Words are inadequate when trying to describe my levels of frustration; or more likely my lack of the correct words, as those who know me know that I am fairly competitive. Michelle just kept on giving me advice and trying to get me to calm down all the while just suggesting an alternative aspect to think about on the next wave. And that,s the great thing about surfing that there will be a next wave filled with hope and possibility. Finally the call came from Michelle for the class to catch there last waves and so this was my last opportunity for the day. I selected my wave, turned around and paddled furiously waiting for the moment when you can feel that the wave has you in it's grasp. I pushed up with arms while sliding my knees forwards and then slowly brought my right foot forward to between my hands. I pushed up with my right leg and slowly rose to sort of semi squatting position, but I was balancing on just two feet!
The dive crew heading back after a session!
This was it, this was the moment that I had been trying to get to for the last three lessons. I looked around for somebody else to witness my magnificence, when that all to familiar feeling once again swept over me and I pitched forward doing a spectacular face plant. I came up beaming I think I was probably glowing as well. Michelle gave me a huge cheer as I made it out of the water. Gushing like an expectant bride I asked my wife if she saw me stand up. She looked at me for quite a while in silence before she slowly said ' There was definitely a pause before you fell"
Good enough for me, I'll take it!!
Michelle Davy, 'The Stoked school of surf''
I had been somewhat apprehensive about venturing off into the big blue. I had only just become comfortable with the pool environment and my new friend, the creepy crawly. But at some point chlorinated water and the mechanical creatures of the underworld had to be replaced with the ‘real deal’.
It was a calm beautiful day down at Long Beach, Simonstown. The ocean conditions, I was told, were perfect for diving-calm with good ‘vis’. The colour of the water was alluring and appeared deceptively warm. Well accustomed to Cape Town waters, I knew all too well that clear water usually couples with rather frigid water temps. As we entered the water from the shore, the bits of water than managed to sneak in through the seams of my 2 wetsuits was exactly as predicted- a freezing14 deg C. We started with a quick breathing exercise before venturing off for my first open water dive.
Left: Getting ready for the dive
Right: Michelle looking relaxed
Before I knew it, we had moved off from the corrugated sandy bottom of the shoreline to a beautiful kelp forest that gracefully swayed to and fro with the current. It reminded me of one of my favourite tanks at the aquarium-only now, I was swimming inside the ‘tank’. As we finned along, Kevin pointed out various strange creatures that I had never seen before from nudibranches to weird looking insect-like organisms. The ‘klipvis’ that chameleoned to their environment left me amazed as did the colours of myriad of anemones that covered the submerged wreck. A seal came out to play and frolicked around us inquisitively-a definite highlight of the dive. We spotted a family of puffadder shy sharks that lurked beneath a kelp bed. The menacing look in their eyes left me feeling a little uneasy as to what may have been hiding in the depths of the kelp forest. Had they been just a little bigger I may have opted for the uncontrolled ascent.
After a fantastic 45 minute underworld exploration, we emerged to the sound of the canon fire from the naval base. A rather dramatic end to the dive, but I will surely never forget my first open water experience.
Left: Where has he gone?
Right: Surfers are comfortable with this size of shark.
We warmed up in the sun and then headed back out to do the skills portion of the day. I can’t say I was too excited for this part of it as by then my hands were still cold and after experiencing what diving was really about, I just wanted more of it. Having already done all the skills in the pool twice already, we got those out of the way quickly. The compass swim was the only new challenge. Kevin had very clearly explained during the land briefing what I was expected to do for this skill, so when the signal came, I headed off at 90 degrees for 30 fin cycles, thinking Kevin was right next to me all the way. I stopped, spun around and then realized I was all alone. No Kevin. No kelp. No’ klipvis’. Only a blanket of blue. I panicked momentarily, shakily held the compass out in front of me and swam back at roughly 270 degrees in the hope that the blue expanse would not engulf me forever. Just as I began losing hope, the kelp and Kevin came back into visibility.
For someone who spends almost ever day in the ocean, I have been surprised whilst doing this course, at how quickly I seem to panic whilst fully submerged. I’m not sure if it’s the limited field of vision, being adorned in all the heavy equipment, breathing through a respirator or perhaps just not feeling entirely in control that heightens the state of panic. Whatever the reason, diving has surely been a mental challenge thus far. The next dive we have planned is a dive with sharks. I have a feeling that after that experience, I’ll be feeling far more comfortable under water than bobbing around on the surface…
Make sure you follow Kevin and Michelle's blog every week. After they have qualified we are all going to head down to Sodwana for a weekend of surfing and diving! And we'll be running a competition for two lucky readers to join us. All to be revealed soon...
Thanks to our sponsors:
Amanzi instructor development
PADI
Pisces divers
The Stoked school of surf
Da Blu Juice dive surf adventures
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