Today is the first day we got in the water fully geared up, including cylinder tanks and regulators. Previously, we only had on weight belts and BC's (buoyancy compensators), which are essentially vests that you can inflate or deflate depending on whether you need to float or sink down.
If I had to guess, I would say that the cylinder tank is a good forty pounds. Combined with the BC vest and the 23 lb. weight belt I wear to sink (the neoprene wetsuits are filled with air bubbles), it's quite a heavy load. I originally thought gearing up and getting into the water in the morning would be miserable because of the cold, but truth is that by the time you're completely geared up in your suit and equipment, you're so hot that you're dying to jump in the water.
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| The cylinders attached to the BC vest |
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| Gearing up as usual |
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| Half geared up |
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| A group getting ready to get in the water |
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| Anddd fully geared up (minus fins) |
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| You can see the oxygen cylinder on Albert's back |
Today we went through training on how to use and clear our regulators, as well as how to adjust the weighting on our weight belts. We should be doing our first open water dives by Saturday.
By the time we were out of the water, it was lunch time, and we had some time to kill afterwards. A group of us kayaked out to the general store in Two Harbors, which is the town closest to us. At the same time, I don't know if town is quite the right word, considering you can walk the entire thing in about five minutes.
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Kayaking back
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The kayak trip probably took around 15 minutes one way, so not bad at all. I saw some sea lions on the way, one of which swam as close to 5 feet away from my kayak. There were also some picturesque scenes like the one of the seagull flock below.
Finished the day off with a lecture on dive physics and dinner, which leaves me the night for some e-mail catch up and netflix.
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