Rescue Class on the Beach

We went through the Missing Diver exercise.  Todd had problems and did not complete the exercise.  I was the victim for Leo and he found me at 9:38:27, not quite flat lined, but close.  Dianne confused the signals and did not complete the exercise.  

After the exercise, we worked through the in-water resusitation procedures with Leo and Dianne.  We also practiced exits. 

Then we went through the rescue scenario.  Dianne was the unresponsive victim on the bottom and Leo found her, brought her up and began administering rescue breaths.

 We were out past the swim buoy and he had to swim her back to the sand bar all the while simulating a rescue breath every 5 seconds.  It was tiring, but he did it. 

 The he played the victim for Dianne, but it did not go so well. 

 She found him and held his regulator in place as she arranged to bring him to the surface. 

She started up and was doing fine, but then got a cramp in her leg.  

I got a picture of her after she dropped Leo and grabbed her own cramping leg.  I went to help her and got her to the surface, then had to find Leo and let him know that the drill was over. 

Another Morning on the Big Coral Knoll

Excited by the shots I got with the +10 diopter, I tried a +2 and +4 together.  This allowed me better control of the camera and picture composition in the surge and current. 

It seemed also to have reduced the backscatter, though that may simply have been a functions of better visibility and my own decision to delete those pictures of which I could not be proud. 

 Could also be strobe placement.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to isolate the reason that these photos have so little backscatter. 

 I shot a number of shots of Knobby Sea Rods.  This one was the best. 

 I also shot a number of shots of Flamingo Tongues.  Can't seem to capture the animal, just the shell.

 This picture of a Sailfin Blenny came out so much better than the ones I took yesterday.  There is hardly any backscatter in the picture. 

 I like the texture of these Smooth Flower Corals.

I was getting more and more chilled and began shivering after an hour, so I went back to the beach.  The Lifeguards were coming soon, so I had a short surface interval and got back in. 

I was cold almost immediately upon getting in for my second dive, and shivering after half an hour. 

 I'm not sure how this Sea Pearl got embedded in the coral, but I like it. 

 This Saddled Blenny looks sad to me, but the picture is clear and tight.  Shortly after taking the shot, I went back to the beach.  I was just too cold. 

Solo Diving on the Big Coral Knoll

 Still windy, but the seas calmed down some.  I decided to shoot supermacro and loaded a +10 diopter on the 100 mm macro lens. 

 Got some nice shots of a Sailfin Blenny, but couldn't get him fully unfurled and had way too much backscatter in the picture.

 Did better with a Neon Goby on some Great Star Coral.  Problem here was holding the camera in the surge.

 The picture of the Amphipod was only partly the lens and diopter.  I also cropped the picture.  A lot.

I took the diopter off for the second dive.  It was just too hard to hold and focus the shot in the surge.    

Got some shots of a litttle green turtle on the Big Coral Knoll and a Hawskbill came by about 20 minutes later. 

 Found a Goldentail Moray Eel amoung the coral and got some nice shots of a Yellow Fanworm, but could have used the diopter on those shots. 

 Got a nice close up of some Great Star Coral.

 Also got a few shots of a Yellowtail Damselfish, but those shots are hardly closeups.  Headed West, back to the beach. 

Alone on the Big Coral Knoll

Yesterday was rough and I was tired, but today was just as rough.  East wind gusting to 25 knots.  Large breakers on the sand bar and poor visibility even out on the reef.

  I got some nice shots of a Seaweed Blenny

a Juvenile French Grunt

and Mat Zoanthid.  

I spent time tracking a Smooth Trunkfish, but just got some regular shots, no face-on shots.  

Found a group of Sergeant Majors and a Bluehead.

I was cold at the end of the dive, however, and decided against making a second dive. 

Olivia's Final Certification Dives

 Olivia was anxious about the boat dive, but relaxed once she got in the water.  She came down the line then dropped on the boat and took off exploring. 

We swam around the wreck several times, then entered the hold.  We had air, so I started through the skills and she did just fine.   

 Finally, at 1200 psi, we headed back to the line and she and I made an alternative air source ascent. 

 We made a 3 minute safety stop and I decided to go back down and do the buddy breathing ascent.  It all went well and she was all smiles on the surface.

 The second dive was a shallow drift dive on Barefoot Reet, which is North of the Hillsboro Inlet. 

 We saw several Harlequin Bass

 a Townsend Angelfish

 and a few Blue Hamlets.

 There were two Foureye Butterfly fish who followed us a ways. 

 I spotted a Bearded Fire Worm crawling up a Vase Sponge. 

 A small Atlantic Stingray gracefully swam by me as I hurried to catch up to the others. 

 We don't often see Spotted Trunkfish. 

 But we frequently find Pederson Shrimp amoung Corkscrew Anemone. 

Olivia was quite pleased to have gotten certified and we hope she comes back to dive some more. 

Samira and Oliva Make their First Open Water Dive

We got to the beach at almost high tide, which meant we had to fin up to get across the trench to the sand bar.  Laila, Samira and I went first.  I pulled Samira and the flag.  

 We had some trouble, but we did get out.  I left Laila and Samira beyond the breakers while I went back to get Olivia. 

 I got to the beach and pulled off my fins, when a wave pushed me face first into the sand.  The next wave moved me further onto the beach.  I crawled out the rest of the way.  Olivia was laughing.   

We got into deeper water quickly.  She finned up and we swam out to Laila and Samira, then continued out to the reef.  We got ready to descend, but Samira was nausous.  It did not pass quickly, so she and Laila went back to the beach. 

 Olivia and I descended into 3 ft visibility and continued East onto the reef, where the visibility  opened up to about 8 ft.  I thought we might be South of the Big Coral Knoll, so we headed North, but never found the Knoll or any familiar landmarks. 

 We ascended to regroup, then redescended to make our way back to the beach.

We swam SW with the current and saw a number of fish. 

 A French Angelfish, which was one of three that swam by us. We also saw an Orange Spotted Filefish. 

We had to get close to the beach before we could touch bottom and take off our fins.  I balanced on one leg and dug a small foothold in the step, then waited for the right wave, but I could not get my legs under me and splattered on the beach.  My fins escaped and I had to slip back into deeper water to retrieve them. 

Olivia went to her knees, but was much more controlled.   She got out intact.  I put myself together and tried again with almost identical results. 

Third times the charm, so they say, but I managed only to hold my fins as I splatted on the beach and crawled on my belly out of the surf zone.  We got a group picture once I got myself together.