First course!

Tuesday and Wednesday were set aside for the first Open Water dive class that I was scheduled to assist! Open Water is the basic scuba certification through PADI, the international dive organization I
m certified through, and it's the cert that the VAST majority of "certified divers" hold. It allows divers to descend to 60 ft. below the surface on dives and teaches them the basics so they don't kill themselves. Jack and I were both scheduled to help with this class, so imagine our surprise when there were only 3 students on the course! One dropped out RIGHT before it started. And then we were even more surprised when another dropped out while filling out initial paperwork because he had a medical issue that had to be checked by a doctor before he could begin. Down to two. Number three made it through the pool dives (to only about 7 ft. of water) but couldn't get his ears to equalize when we made it out to the Open Water dives off the coast in Rockingham, so we ended up with just one student, a German journalist from Berlin. What a mess. Fortunately, that student was great, both as a human AND as a diver, so he passed with flying colors and Jack and I were only mildly completely unnecessary!

The instructor on the course, Simon, is a British ex-pat which put me decidedly at a disadvantage: 3 Europeans vs 1 American. Being the only woman/American//political progressive in a group of boys could have been an absolute disaster, but I'm quickly learning that it's totally pukka (some Welsh I've picked up from Jack) to just say "I absolutely don't want to hear about your feelings on the American President" and they just laugh and we move on. This is a cool country. People are way chill.

I made a big purchase yesterday and bought myself a dive computer! Simon told me I was silly to buy a computer based on looks and I should get this monster that's like 4 inches long and sits on your arm, so naturally I bought one that's totally sleek and sits on my arm like a rather large watch and can be WORN as a normal watch. Ideal for right now, when I'm constantly in and out of the water, dunking my hands in buckets to wash gear at the end of the day, and generally wearing myself out in this class. I love it so far!!!

Stacey, Simon, me, Jack, Stephen today on the Blue Destiny!

Today was a day off so, naturally, I went diving! There was a boat trip on the Blue Destiny (affiliated with the scuba shop I'm doing my DM at) going out to Rottnest Island (just off the coast of Fremantle, juuuust south of Perth) to dive at a site called Shark Cave. My dive buddy, Stacey (the Canadian from an earlier cohort of DMs), and I were the only ones on the whole boat to not see a single shark or stingray at the first site (go figure), but we saw a cool Wabbegong (shark) at the second site so I didn't feel too heartbroken. Jack, Stacey, Stephen (the German who finished his cert yesterday) and I paired up as a foursome and we had a blast. Simon came along for the day, too, and I'm deliciously tired tonight from the day's activities.

Didn't find sharks on Dive #1 but I did find some of their shed teeth!

Thank goodness I actually went grocery shopping last night. This will sound ridiculous to anyone who knows me, but I've been too tired to eat. When I get home at night I'm not hungry so I've been forcing myself to eat a pb sandwich or some pasta or whatever, but it's FAR from a balanced diet. Got myself some lettuce, frozen veggies, fresh veggies, and I'm ready to go. Gonna eat something practical tonight. Maybe avocado and tomato sandwich on this lovely ciabatta I got...

Tomorrow starts the second OW course I'm helping with (my schedule calls for me to sit in on two OW courses, one Advanced Open Water (AOW), one Rescue, one day as part of the boat crew, and helping with a dive in the club that runs out of the shop - basically a chance for local folks to go out to new shore diving sites with someone(s) who've been there before). There are actually two separate classes going tomorrow so Jack and I each get to help with a full class of 7 (rather than sharing 1.5!). Terry, one of the instructors teaching this weekend (Fri/Sat/Sun), was out on the boat today and I haven't met the other guy yet... we'll see who I get. Early to bed tonight to make sure I beat Jack to the shop and get my pick of instructors!