“Welcome to Open Water Diver course...” and so started my adventure with SCUBA diving. SCUBA stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. This makes sure that I can breathe underwater hassle free. Usually the amount of air depends upon how deep I go and how fast. Hence, the time when the oxygen supply runs low depends on these factors. The most basic rule in SCUBA Diving is ‘keep breathing regularly’, and also equalise pressure in body’s air pockets like ears, sinuses etc.
The equipment for this includes BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), a jacket like device which can be inflated/deflated for floatation at various depths; Weights (Believe it or not, our bodies can float to some extent in sea water) for sinking down (usually its 4 kg); Regulator which regulates the air supply and alternate regulator (redundancy and for emergencies); Submersible Pressure Gauge for depth, air pressure in the tank and compass for bearing; and the most important of all-air tank, which is made of aluminium and is of 12 litre capacity. The air is filled at 3000 psi (pounds per square inch) in the tank and on land it is very heavy. For comparison, the air in the tyre of the car is to be filled at 30 psi. Lastly, Fins (for using the powerful leg muscles for propulsion), Snorkel (for surface breathing) and mask (for underwater viewing and not breathing through nose).The total weight of equipment is around 20 kg. To top that, I have to carry that equipment from the dive centre to the shore through porous hot milky white sand.
My instructor for this course is Mr. Sikander Hussain who has been the dive instructor to Vijay Mallya. At first he taught me how to use the equipments. Even small regulation and protocol have a sound logic and reasoning to it and hence diving cannot be attempted by everybody. At the outset, I had to sign a medical health questionnaire which is exhaustive in its details. In the dive course, I have to complete my proficiency in confined water (i.e. inside the lagoon) and then move on to actual Deep Ocean. My first dive was exciting as it can get. Small colourful lagoon fishes were swimming all around me and the water was crystal clear for about 20 metre. All around me a world opened up which was quite different from the world we know yet oddly reminiscent of it...
The equipment for this includes BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), a jacket like device which can be inflated/deflated for floatation at various depths; Weights (Believe it or not, our bodies can float to some extent in sea water) for sinking down (usually its 4 kg); Regulator which regulates the air supply and alternate regulator (redundancy and for emergencies); Submersible Pressure Gauge for depth, air pressure in the tank and compass for bearing; and the most important of all-air tank, which is made of aluminium and is of 12 litre capacity. The air is filled at 3000 psi (pounds per square inch) in the tank and on land it is very heavy. For comparison, the air in the tyre of the car is to be filled at 30 psi. Lastly, Fins (for using the powerful leg muscles for propulsion), Snorkel (for surface breathing) and mask (for underwater viewing and not breathing through nose).The total weight of equipment is around 20 kg. To top that, I have to carry that equipment from the dive centre to the shore through porous hot milky white sand.
My instructor for this course is Mr. Sikander Hussain who has been the dive instructor to Vijay Mallya. At first he taught me how to use the equipments. Even small regulation and protocol have a sound logic and reasoning to it and hence diving cannot be attempted by everybody. At the outset, I had to sign a medical health questionnaire which is exhaustive in its details. In the dive course, I have to complete my proficiency in confined water (i.e. inside the lagoon) and then move on to actual Deep Ocean. My first dive was exciting as it can get. Small colourful lagoon fishes were swimming all around me and the water was crystal clear for about 20 metre. All around me a world opened up which was quite different from the world we know yet oddly reminiscent of it...
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