The day I was to become a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver!
Up
bright and early and heading down to the marina, ready for 2 dives in the
morning. We were joined by David from last week, who was fitting in one last
Tenerife dive before heading back to the UK.
Teide Divers were also present with Phil, his intern Lauren and Mark, Neil and April, all there explore Poco
Naufragio and Pequeno Valle with us. Melissa had also joined in with the added
privilege of boat duties.
The first dive
at Poco Naufragio was the setting for my Deep Dive adventure dive.
We descended down to a depth of 16 metres, then a little bit
further until we reached 29 metres. Pete had previously got me to complete some simple maths
equations before getting on the boat, as well as the gruelling challenge of
putting different shaped plastic blocks into the matching shaped slot of a basic
child’s toy. I was timed doing both of these things on the surface and down at
29 metres, to get to grips with the effects that deep diving has on people. I
was slower with both things underwater but did relatively well if you ask
me!
On the dive we
were hoping to interact with some Rays. We
saw a Ray but he left us and unfortunately didn’t come back. The dive
was great though and everybody enjoyed. Our second dive to Pequeno Valle, and also my Boat Adventure dive, was
equally enjoyable and provided lots of life and diversity in the reefs, including an Angel Shark.
That
particular area is popular with fishermen, which meant there was some ropes and
cages to see, along with some old, lost equipment that I would be keen to get
down there and clean up as it is a fantastic dive site.
Zippy and I had
a go at setting a time for the 100m tired diver tow back at the marina, I chose
a technique that didn't work well for me and managed a time of 03:48. I can and
will do better next time! A late breakfast capped off the morning nicely thanks
to the Aberdeen restaurant, then it was back to the shop for the
afternoon.
The next morning
saw Pete, Alice, Zippy and I popping down to the marina for some confined water rescue scenarios. Practicing the rescue techniques for tired and panicked divers
at the surface and at the bottom was educational and quite good fun in between
serious times. We were joined by Ducky (the little yellow rubber duck from the
dive shop) who kindly volunteered to pretend to be missing, only to be rescued
by local heroes Zippy and Bungle. This all went relatively well and Ducky was
returned safe and sound. Pete treated us to a couple of hours of boat cleaning,
then it was time to attempt a 800m snorkel. It was much harder than I had
previously thought. 800m is a long way, especially when you own fins that are a
touch too small for your feet! A disappointing 2 out of 5 is another thing that
will be beaten next time I try.
Whilst down at
the marina, there was a strange object floating in the water. It appeared from a
distance to be a Jellyfish and when we questioned Pete about its identity, he
confirmed it was a Portugese Man’O War. Naturally this sparked slight panic! As
it got closer it became clear that it was nothing more than a harmless plastic
bag floating on the surface and Pete had been winding us up! Having been scared
of the bag for a few minutes, we named it the ‘Portugese Bag’O War!
Note to self;
DON’T BE SCARED OF HARMLESS PLASTIC BAGS!
Monday was soon
knocking at the door, with Melissa, Zippy and I off to meet Phil from Teide Divers,
Lauren, Kepo and Mark at Abades. Before we left the shop, Zippy was loading up
the car with cylinders and decided to carry them about 100m down the road rather
than asking Melissa to move the car closer to the shop,. This provided some
quality morning laughs to start the day with.
A bit of shore diving (entering the water from shore as opposed to a boat)
was excellent at Abades. Its one of Melissa’s favourite sites and I can see why.
There was plenty of life, including a Common Ray and an Octopus, as well as
great reef to explore. Zippy and I took notes about the site, so we would be
prepared to lead other divers around one day soon.
Later that
afternoon, Pete took us out for some Open Water Rescue Scenarios at Yellow
Mountain. We were again joined by Ducky and Alice. Some tired diver scenarios
went well between Zippy and I, then it was time for Ducky to be hidden and
recovered by us again. Unfortunately Ducky was hidden much further away than he
should have been which made our search pattern unsuccessful. Alice had to buy a
round of beers later that evening to compensate.
Tuesday morning
we were joined by Hannah who had joined us for a PADI Discover Scuba Diving
(DSD) session. We were down in the pool for a few skills and some kit
familiarisation, with Alice leading the session and Zippy and I there observing
and supporting when needed. I had my first shot at using the underwater camera
in the pool, which resulted in some quite bad photos! Hannah enjoyed herself and
completed the skills she needed to do, then It was time for a couple of dives at
Yellow Mountain. I was on boat duties for the first dive and then observing down
below on the second.
In the afternoon
we went back out to finish the Open Water Rescue Scenarios. Ducky was ‘missing’
but Zippy and I made short work of finding and recovering him to the boat. He is
now back at home and in a stable condition! The scenarios that involved me
rescuing Zippy from the surface and underwater and vice versa went well and I
was relatively pleased with my efforts. When It was my turn to be rescued and
lifted back on to the boat, Zippy and Alice had a tough time lifting me out of
the water which I found quite funny! I’m not exactly the smallest or lightest
person to be dragging onto a boat !!!
After getting
back to the shop, some more swimming stamina training awaited. Down to the pool
for a 400m non stop swim, which I have been practicing for, resulted in a time
of 7 minutes. I am really pleased with the times I am getting at the moment as
when I first arrived I was worn out after 100m!! I only need to get my time down
another 30 seconds and I’ll score a 5 out of 5.
Note to self;
SWIM A LITTLE BIT FASTER.
On Wednesday
morning we had another opportunity to finalise mapping details for Alien Rock
and Crocodile Rock. Off to Yellow Mountain with clean writing slates and armed
with pencils, details were taken aswell as more mental notes. I think I could
lead a dive round both of the sites (ish), but I wont know until I give it a
shot soon. I also had to demonstrate my first dive brief before dropping in
which I enjoyed doing, but need to work on a little bit.
Before the dives
it was another try at the 800m Snorkel. I went without a wetsuit to see if I
could get a faster time but it failed. I actually managed to get a slower time
which was a bit rubbish. After the dives, Zippy and I had some more practice at
the 100m Tired Diver Tow. I tried a different technique and managed a faster
time than last. I am still aiming to be quicker in both tests when they get
officially timed.
Note to self;
SWIM A LITTLE BIT FASTER.
More from me next week!
Chris (Bungle)
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