Again, warning this contains graphic descriptions of my rather unfortunate scuba experiences.
The dive master asked if I would like to climb into the water. Apparently getting into the water can sometimes relieve the feelings of seasickness. I was up for anything at that point. My stomach felt like it couldn't take any more. So, I took of my outer clothes and walked to the dive platform. I jumped into the water. Just me, my swimsuit, and the ocean. For a short time I started to feel better. Then I realized that all that vomiting had left me as weak as a day old kitten.
The seasickness was gone, but I wasn't sure I could continue to swim against the current to stay near the boat. It was a fair current. Actually, it probably wasn't that strong at all but with as bad as I was feeling it felt like the current was ready to pull me away. I stayed in the water for 20-30 minutes using my feet to hold on to the dive buoy. Thank goodness for my monkey like toes.
I climbed out of the water and back onto the boat, ready to watch the video. I knew the sickness was going to come back, but I sat below deck and watched the whole video, nursing an ice cold glass of water and taking small measured bites of bread.
Then the yacht moved to the shallows so that we could try to practice the skills that we had learned. Before getting out the gear, we went through the usual gear lecture and a review of all the things we needed to do during this dive. Then we geared up. I have to be honest, seasickness is the one time that I tend to run hot.
Usually I run cold. You can ask my friends. When they are hot I am comfortable, and when I am cold they are comfortable. But not when I am suffering from motion sickness. Then I run hot. Really hot. So trying to put on a wet suit and wait for my turn to get in the water was torture. I felt like I was totally on fire.
I did the giants stride and got into the water. What a relief it was. But I was still feeling poorly. They signaled us to use the line to go down. So we slowly worked our way down the line. I had to stop part way because my buddy was having mask issues. That was fine with me, I prefer to equalize for a while anyway. I like my ears and the way they work. I don't want them to get hurt, so taking my time was just fine.
Then we sank to the bottom. We were suppose to do our skills, but the bottom was completely covered in spiny black sea urchins. No place for us to try our thing. Not unless we wanted to be stuck. So instead of the skills practice, we ended up doing a short exploring swim. I realized that I was much better at scuba when I did it last time. Of course, I was also doing Tai Chi at the time and my breathing was in much better control.
Anyway, it was a lovely swim. The brain coral and the little fish were wonderful. I really enjoyed myself. Finally relaxing and having some serious fun. I loved it.
One of the divers started having bouyancy problems, so we had to cut it a little short.
The ascent was fine, the swimming was fine, but when I got to the top of the water it hit me like a ton of bricks. I carefully filled my bcd with air so that I would float, then took my regulator out of my mouth and puked as hard as I could. I quickly placed it back in my mouth and took a long breath. Then I pulled it out again and puked hard. I could feel that there was nothing left and the dive master told me to go ahead and puke into the regulator, just leave it in my mouth. So I put the regulator back in my mouth and had the dry heaves at the top of the water. It was quite a horrible experience.
I swam over to the dive bouy line off the back of the boat and as the others were getting out of their gear I lay floating on my back holding on to the line and trying to stay centered. I took off my weight belt and handed it up. Then I took of my fins, carefully one at a time. Then I took off my BCD and tank. Of course, through it all I still had the regulator in my mouth. I kept it in my mouth until I handed up the BCD. Then I climbed slowly and carefully out, shaking the whole time. When I got to the platform, I sat down on it. I was just so uncomfortable and shaky. It was really hard to climb into the hold to take a shower. The water felt good, but being inside when ill is so much worse than being on deck.
I got dressed and went back on deck. We had our after dive debriefing and made our plans for the following day. Then we went to have dinner. I sat down at the table and a beautiful plate of soup, this lovely lentil and vegetable soup, was placed in front of me. I took one look and knew it would never get passed my lips. SO I apologized and told them I could not eat it. They brought out the second course, the salad. I nibbled lettuce, took a taste of tomato, and ate two pieces of cucumber before my stomach said it was bordering on unhappy. So I sipped ice cold water. Then came the final course, a delightful little fish with this beautiful side of vegetables. It was absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could have tried it. The dive master asked if I was going to be able to eat it. I told him no and he asked if he could have it. I said "please, nothing would make me happier". So he did.
And I know it was good.
They cleared off the table and I spent the ride back with my head on my hand slightly tipped to the right side staring hard at the horizon. As we headed back to the shore I laid my head down on my arms, still staring at the horizon line. And I fell asleep. It was a lovely ride in. I woke up about 15-20 minutes later and we were almost to the dock. We tied up and disembarked.
It was a lovely trip.
I highly recommend Arabian Diver in Ras Al Khaimah for diving training classes.... and taking your motion sickness medication BEFORE you go!
And that is what my first day of diving was like.
The second day was much better, I had fun and no real problems. I am back into scuba and loving every minute of it... just not the before and after...
The dive master asked if I would like to climb into the water. Apparently getting into the water can sometimes relieve the feelings of seasickness. I was up for anything at that point. My stomach felt like it couldn't take any more. So, I took of my outer clothes and walked to the dive platform. I jumped into the water. Just me, my swimsuit, and the ocean. For a short time I started to feel better. Then I realized that all that vomiting had left me as weak as a day old kitten.
The seasickness was gone, but I wasn't sure I could continue to swim against the current to stay near the boat. It was a fair current. Actually, it probably wasn't that strong at all but with as bad as I was feeling it felt like the current was ready to pull me away. I stayed in the water for 20-30 minutes using my feet to hold on to the dive buoy. Thank goodness for my monkey like toes.
I climbed out of the water and back onto the boat, ready to watch the video. I knew the sickness was going to come back, but I sat below deck and watched the whole video, nursing an ice cold glass of water and taking small measured bites of bread.
Then the yacht moved to the shallows so that we could try to practice the skills that we had learned. Before getting out the gear, we went through the usual gear lecture and a review of all the things we needed to do during this dive. Then we geared up. I have to be honest, seasickness is the one time that I tend to run hot.
Usually I run cold. You can ask my friends. When they are hot I am comfortable, and when I am cold they are comfortable. But not when I am suffering from motion sickness. Then I run hot. Really hot. So trying to put on a wet suit and wait for my turn to get in the water was torture. I felt like I was totally on fire.
I did the giants stride and got into the water. What a relief it was. But I was still feeling poorly. They signaled us to use the line to go down. So we slowly worked our way down the line. I had to stop part way because my buddy was having mask issues. That was fine with me, I prefer to equalize for a while anyway. I like my ears and the way they work. I don't want them to get hurt, so taking my time was just fine.
Then we sank to the bottom. We were suppose to do our skills, but the bottom was completely covered in spiny black sea urchins. No place for us to try our thing. Not unless we wanted to be stuck. So instead of the skills practice, we ended up doing a short exploring swim. I realized that I was much better at scuba when I did it last time. Of course, I was also doing Tai Chi at the time and my breathing was in much better control.
Anyway, it was a lovely swim. The brain coral and the little fish were wonderful. I really enjoyed myself. Finally relaxing and having some serious fun. I loved it.
One of the divers started having bouyancy problems, so we had to cut it a little short.
The ascent was fine, the swimming was fine, but when I got to the top of the water it hit me like a ton of bricks. I carefully filled my bcd with air so that I would float, then took my regulator out of my mouth and puked as hard as I could. I quickly placed it back in my mouth and took a long breath. Then I pulled it out again and puked hard. I could feel that there was nothing left and the dive master told me to go ahead and puke into the regulator, just leave it in my mouth. So I put the regulator back in my mouth and had the dry heaves at the top of the water. It was quite a horrible experience.
I swam over to the dive bouy line off the back of the boat and as the others were getting out of their gear I lay floating on my back holding on to the line and trying to stay centered. I took off my weight belt and handed it up. Then I took of my fins, carefully one at a time. Then I took off my BCD and tank. Of course, through it all I still had the regulator in my mouth. I kept it in my mouth until I handed up the BCD. Then I climbed slowly and carefully out, shaking the whole time. When I got to the platform, I sat down on it. I was just so uncomfortable and shaky. It was really hard to climb into the hold to take a shower. The water felt good, but being inside when ill is so much worse than being on deck.
I got dressed and went back on deck. We had our after dive debriefing and made our plans for the following day. Then we went to have dinner. I sat down at the table and a beautiful plate of soup, this lovely lentil and vegetable soup, was placed in front of me. I took one look and knew it would never get passed my lips. SO I apologized and told them I could not eat it. They brought out the second course, the salad. I nibbled lettuce, took a taste of tomato, and ate two pieces of cucumber before my stomach said it was bordering on unhappy. So I sipped ice cold water. Then came the final course, a delightful little fish with this beautiful side of vegetables. It was absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could have tried it. The dive master asked if I was going to be able to eat it. I told him no and he asked if he could have it. I said "please, nothing would make me happier". So he did.
And I know it was good.
They cleared off the table and I spent the ride back with my head on my hand slightly tipped to the right side staring hard at the horizon. As we headed back to the shore I laid my head down on my arms, still staring at the horizon line. And I fell asleep. It was a lovely ride in. I woke up about 15-20 minutes later and we were almost to the dock. We tied up and disembarked.
It was a lovely trip.
I highly recommend Arabian Diver in Ras Al Khaimah for diving training classes.... and taking your motion sickness medication BEFORE you go!
And that is what my first day of diving was like.
The second day was much better, I had fun and no real problems. I am back into scuba and loving every minute of it... just not the before and after...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.