Being Prepared

I think divers have to always be on their toes. Always thinking ahead to what might happen. What might go wrong. By doing this, it helps you prepare for the dive.

It isn't a sport for those who are lax in doing what needs to be done to prepare.

But sometimes you don't know what it is you need to prepare for.

This post is about one of my very first dives AFTER my certification, about 10 years ago.

We headed down to the home of Superman! Metropolis (Illinois to be exact). They have a nice, large diving site down there called Mermet Springs. We were staying the weekend just for some diving fun, just the two of us.

The first day was great (we got there on a Friday). Lots of room and the weather was warm and the water was cold. Too cold to go too deep. (I like it like that, when you know how deep you are just by the temperature :)

The second morning was crazy. There were classes (large ones) every where. The heat was majorly intense (90*). We still had to wear our 8 mm suits because the water was so cold. With hoods. And gloves.

My poor hubby just can't stand getting so hot. He was ready to get in and saw a gap in the line of people getting in, so we went.

We got in and went right down to the school bus they have close to the main dock (we wanted to get out of the way of the classes). The bus sits at about 20 or 25'.

The next thing I know, he's asking if I'm ok and I'm shaking my head no vigorously. I KNOW there was a look of panic on my face.

I was getting ready to puke.

Here I am, 25' down, thinking, OMG how am I gonna do THIS?

I tried to calm myself down as I debated whether to head for the surface or just try to stay. I kept thinking back to my training and any stories I had heard about puking underwater and what to do.

I knew what had caused it. The massive sudden change in temperature. It hit my body like I had been dumped into a tub of artic ice, fully submerged.

As I stood on the top of the bus, debating, I began to get a bit more acclimated to the water temperature. The rushing nausea subsided bit by bit. I was NOT going to get sick :) Yeah for me!

I swam around a bit checking out the bus and trying to get my mind off it. It worked. We were able to continue on a nice shallow dive with no problems.

So my question is this. How do you prepare for that?? No one had ever told me about how that sudden change might affect my body. Maybe it doesn't happen to others. ?

Over the next few years, I asked others about puking underwater. All said it was possible, you gotta keep the reg in your mouth, and then you gotta have it serviced right afterwards for a good cleaning.

I would prefer for it just not to happen.

And I learned how my body doesn't like a fast temperature change, so I have subsequently avoided that.

Any other comments on if this has happened to you and such would be great. Tell me a good story :)