Musings of a barefoot traveller

We finally made it! We were officially saturated as of this morning, and are now full fledged aquanauts. Took a little while to get in yesterday, as the ARB crew were prepping the Habitat, so we hung out on the Research Diver and breathed in as much surface air as we could. Finally got the go-ahead at 12pm, and splashed in. This was my very 1st time inside the Habitat, so it was pretty cool stuff. Otter gave us the grand tour, ate our first packs of freeze-dried Mountain House gourmet entrees (I had the Chicken Polynesian), and set off for our first 5 hour dive to the Deep S4 site. With much efficiency (haha), we hammered in 80 bases, and cable tied on most of the cages, taking care to stay above 95ft. Came back with the fading twilight (no shiny vampires anywhere) to a hot shower and more MH goodness. If you're watching on the creepy mainlock cam, you'll think we are a bunch of pigs. We're always eating. Not much nightlife here, though the 'live TV' was pretty inte...

160 Vexar cages later.... Far from a relaxing pre-mission weekend. We had to cut and build 160 1x1x1ft cages out of 3 rolls of Vexar. Now with hotspots on hands and sore fingers. Not as bad as Steve though. He cut from 11am to 6pm, and might have strained a tendon in his hand. Also had to cut an additional 80 bases, and make 4 2x2x2ft cages. That's probably enough Vexar for the year. Tomorrow, we stage them all at the 2 sites we'll run the growth experiment, and drop other stuff off at the Habitat. On the plus side, there is (part of) a delicious chocolate cake in the fridge, and Chris made a delicious and authentic Italian dinner for us all.

Dives: 90ft 47min, 51ft 55min We're done with training, and on our way to moving from Candidate status to fully fledged Aquanauts (only when we step through the wetporch and start the mission). The last two days have actually been relatively light, compared to the beginning of the week. Yesterday we were briefed on the living and working space within the Habitat, and did an orientation swim to our work sites. Only one mask off exercise while sharing air with our buddies, and not too long! Probably less than 10min. Today the ARB crew carried out an emergency evacuation drill from the Habitat. We sat in the gazebo breathing 'oxygen' while the Habitat was on 'fire', and were all safely escorted to the surface and put on more 'oxygen'. Up next- more mundane stuff. We have 160 Vexar cages to make, laptops to prep, clothing and gear to pack. One more drill on Tuesday, and in we go!

Dive: 42ft 65min I've always considered myself a pretty calm diver. The one time I got entangled in rope underwater I managed to take off my BC, keep the regulator in my mouth, untangle myself and get on with diving. Which is why it was a strange feeling to find myself fighting the impulse to flail in the water all bug-eyed and bolt to the surface today. What happened? Let me explain. Part of saturation diving means we don't ever touch the surface as long as we are saturated. In fact, the shallowest we could go is 40ft. Which means, no matter what happens, or how uncomfortable we feel- lost buddy, overenthusiastic BC inflator, headache, mask kicked off by buddy, etc, we DO NOT surface to reorient and regroup before going down. A new concept. Today we find ourselves facing the one of the worst case scenarios that could happen underwater- my buddy and I have somehow lost both our masks, and also deviated from the excursion line and are lost on the reef. Argh. Instead of surfacing...

Dive: 40ft, 56min Was a humbling day today. The combination of 5-7ft seas, diesel fumes from the boat engine, surge underwater and the mild claustrophobia I get from strapping into the doubles rig caused me to hurl violently underwater just as our instructor signalled for me to begin the 'I'm out of air, time to buddy breathe drill'. Which is probably a good thing for my buddy! I figured better to let it out than try to keep it in and hurl through Steve's regulator. To avoid me choking on my own sick, we cut short the dive and ascended, where I promptly threw up some more, and laid down in the boat with my eyes closed until we got back. Not too fond of the feeling of uselessness but didn't want to hurl over anyone or their gear... Oh, and today we did line drills. How to use the reel without tangling and lost buddy procedures. Lots to catch up on, 2 dives tomorrow! And back on the Gatorade/strawberry diet. Booo.

We rolled in last night not sure what to expect, but humming with expectant energy. Briefing this morning, and then plunged headlong into aquanaut training. So this is what it feels like to be an awkward gangly student again. We got acquainted with our gear- 100's Al doubles, 50lb lift wings, and a steel backplate with Halcyon webbing, hip pouches that wrap around our upper thighs, 2 regulators. Definitely felt very strapped in during the fitting! The swim test made me realise that I really need my regular swim sessions again. Heard that UNCW is building a new rec center with a pool, and hoping for better hours there. The swim was fine, the treading water was passable, the holding breath and swimming the length of the pool made me want to pass out. Steeled myself to open my eyes underwater (hate doing that) after looking at the training schedule and seeing all the mask off drills we are doing, i.e. every day every dive. It wasn't too bad today, didn't sting as much as I tho...

What's the point of enduring a 17 hour car ride down to "sunny" Florida to be met with chilly gusts and cold cold nights? Gah! No respite from the colder waters of winter when I'm blasted with frigid winds upon popping my head out of the water. And though I brought my Goretex (thank heavens), I sorely miss my fleece sweater, and maybe even fleece pants and a beanie. No pay-off at the end of two weeks of tolerance too. Back to frosty Wilmington and scraping ice off car windshields in the morning...Pffff... Well, I don't want to complain too much. Though it's gusty out, and there are white caps at Conch Reef, we have been getting our (cold) dives in, and getting work done. The vis at Conch has been pretty too, and I miss having my camera with me. I think I shan't fuss about the heat and humidity once I get to S'pore. Best to soak up all the warmth I can.

Yup ladies and laddies, today I bid goodbye to a tumultuous and eventful decade. and herald a new one. Though as I expected, it kinda feels just like any other ordinary day, like I should wake up, read (scientific) papers, and perhaps pop into the lab to measure coral skeletal linear extension in the afternoon. Something to ponder while I'm 50ft under at the Liberty wreck. Yeah, my little birthday present to myself. Crossing fingers for a shark sighting. Damn, what am I going to do without a camera???