Peurto Madryn: Are You For SCUBA?

We are now well into our PADI Open Water Diver Course. We have accomplished over half of the program and should be complete in one day if the weather cooperates.

We were supposed to be able to complete the course in four days, but the weather did not cooperate yesterday, and we were not able to complete our first dives. So, we had to book an extra day here (that means one less day in Buenos Aires).

Today we managed to complete three dives. Our first was in 2.5m of water and was our first experience breathing underwater. The key is supposed to be controlling your breathing, which is harder than it sounds especially when it is your first experience doing something that feels so unnatural. During this first dive, we practiced the basic skills that are necessary incase there are problems, like getting water in your mask, or loosing your regulator.

From there, we went off to practice these same skills in 6m of water. We also had the opportunity to work on obtaining neutral boyancy, which is necessary to explore the deep, neither floating on the top, nor sinking to the bottom. After that, we did a dive at 6m.

Neither of us claim to be totally taken with the sport at this time. The dives were great, but not amazing. First off, you spend a lot of time in this first dives concentrating on the skills, and breathing, and remembering all the things you are supposed to be doing, so you do not actually take the time to enjoy your surroundings. Secondly, there was only 3m of visibility, so it was fairly murky down there. This said, we did see aquatic life down there. We had the opportunity to hold a live starfish, hold sea urchins (small ones), and hand feed fish at the bottom of the ocean.

Tomorrow, we are supposed to complete our other two dives necessary to be certified. These dives are to take place in around 12-15m. then we have to learn about dive tables (nitrogen in our bodies) and write and exam. Then we will be all ready to explore the deep.

All technicalities of our dive training aside, it is at first a sport that requires some mental battles. There is something strangely hard to swallow about breathing air from a tank while the top of the water is so far above you. Remaining calm, breathing and in control is key, and is suprisingly hard to do at times as you practise loosing your regulator and other activities. There is somewhat of a mind battle that goes on as your eye level slips below the waters surface and the sound of your breath echoes in your head. There is a hint now of the peace and calm that the underworld can hold, but for now just the act of thinking of breathing and the realisation that the safety and ease of the life above isn´t right at your fingertips, can be an exercise in mind control.



On a seperate note... Chris upon furthing his melting rampage ( he got ahold of Justine´s socks in Ushuaia) decided to leave his ripped, torn, discoloured, stinking and otherwise rotting Merrell shoes (we have now tested a few Merrell shoes and would recommend to you other brands) on the bus and now plans to complete the rest of our time in SA shoeless. Plans had been in the works to post pictures of his disintegrating shoes in a ¨Shoes for Africa¨campaign.. but it seems like the replacements will have to come sooner as he is now a sandals only man and no stories can live up to the pictures of his trail worn sieves-Merrell-called-shoes. Here´s hoping for some cheap Hi Teks in Buenos Aires.

We should note for Merrell´s posterity that Justine´s almost identical (isn´t it cheesy when couples wear nearly the same shoes) shoes are somewhat fine, if not the Gortex waterproofing.