Scuba Class Journal
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Currently, we have several members who will be participating in training courses 12/16, 12/23 and 12/30 through One World Water Sports. The pool sessions start at 3 and last until 6PM. They will be doing their certification dives on Jan 5, 6 in Tacoma!
REMINDER! Yakima Dive Club Meetings are held every 2nd Tuesday of the Month at 6:30 at EL Porton!
If you are interested in taking lessons talk to Teske!
Below you will find a journal of the classes taken by our students who were certified in the past. The entries outline the events of each of the classes.
Jan. 13, 2007
Shelby, Megan, Karlen were all certified this past weekend at the Yellow House in Hood Canal. The first dive didn't really work out too well due to poor visibility. We began getting ready at 3:00PM for our second dive. At 5:30 we were out in the water, but it was getting pretty dark. We stirred up the ocean floor, which worsened our visibility. Megan had a panic attack and sucked in a bunch of sea water, but still had a good time. The top layer of water appeared to be a kind of cloudy freshwater, but when we went deeper visibility improved. We saw a several large starfish, jellyfish, spider crabs, and sea anemones. With several new members certified, the West Valley Scuba club is ready for another adventure.
Log of what we did in class (January-April 2005):
Jan. 9
This was our first day of scuba training. We got our gear, dive buddies and dive masters. We watched the PADI video that introduced basic dive skills. After that we headed down to the pool. At the pool we dressed into our swimsuits then jumped in after a few minutes of preparing our gear. In the pool we learned about many things and most of them were taught with simple visual communication. We got to swim around the shallow end a few times before got to enter the DEEP END. This was the most fun part of the night. We descended to the bottom of the pool equalizing our ears as we went. Once at the bottom, we repeated our previous training. Then we got to swim along the bottom, which was the best part. If you had an exciting experience, please share it with the other club members at our next meeting.
Jan. 23
As soon as we arrived at One World Watersports we got our scuba gear ready for the pool. When we were all packed up, we went into the classroom to go over Units 1 and 2 and ask any questions that we had. We everyone finished reviewing and make shark jokes for Teske we went down the Lion's pool. This time we were given exposure suits to keep us warm. I brought my own wetsuit this time, so I was a lot more comfortable in the water. This Sunday we were put to the test. We had to swim 3 miles just to prove we could swim! I'm just kidding. We only had to swim 8 laps without touching the bottom. Then we had to tread water for 10 minutes. Treading water for 10 minutes was boring, so Teske and I played I-spy. After we were done treading water we started the snorkel/regulator exchange. Upon completing this task we descended to the bottom of the pool. At the bottom we had to take off our masks (don't call them goggles) and replace them. Teske and I then were allowed to swim around the pool at our leisure. There was some more training, but I don't want to waste all my time typing it.
Jan. 30
In our third pool session we use our buddy's alternate air source (octo). First we just did the exchange at the bottom of the pool, then we did the exchange before we started our ascent to the surface. After we did that we performed a simulated controlled emergency ascent, but we did not swim vertically, we swam horizontally with one hand on the regulator and out in front of us. We took our weight belts off and replace them underwater. After practicing the skills, Teske and I were allowed to swim around the pool and do what we wanted to do. The first thing that we did was control our buoyancy. I got it down in a few minutes, but Teske was having some trouble. After we were done playing with buoyancy we swam around the bottom of the pool playing with various objects I found. I saw the other group that was with Dan taking their BCD's off and putting them back on. I guess that is what Teske and I get to do next time.
Feb. 13
This time we didn't do much. First, they impaired our dexterity by making us where gloves. Also, we wore hoods. We review some of our other skills while wearing the gloves, which made everything a little harder. The other skill that we learned was taking our BCD's off underwater and putting them back on. I found this to be difficult. The actual task was not that difficult, but trying to stay on the bottom without any weight was a chore. I got a cramp in my leg when I was trying to keep my knees on the bottom of the pool. After learning that skill we were allowed to swim around and do what ever we want.
Feb. 27
This was our final day of scuba training. In class, we went over the previous week's knowledge review. Then we spent time some reviewing for our test. I thought that the test was easy. Later at the pool, we were given time to practice any skills that we felt necessary.
Mar.12/13
This was the most fun of my diving experiences so far. On our first day, we dove at Sunnyside Beach in Tacoma. After getting all of our gear out of the cars and onto our backs, we headed out into the water. There was not much to see on the first day, but there was still some stuff. Between our dives, there was the girl who shot up out of the water screaming. At first, when I heard the girl I thought that it was just someone over exaggerating the temperature of the water, which was freezing. Then after she was noticed by our dive group, some of them quickly put on their gear and swam out to assist. Turns out that she had trouble breathing 40 feet under the water and decided to swim to the surface as fast as she could. This was very dangerous because she could of had her lungs over expand or ruptured ear drums. An ambulance came for her and right after Teske and I went on our next dive. Some of the things we saw other than sand included a spider crab, gooey duck, starfish, and crabs. The next day when went to Les Davis. On these dives we saw a lot more than the previous day. Some of the things we saw were shrimp, starfish, crab, hermit crab, sea anemone, flounder, and lots of gooey ducks. After we completed our skills and the second dive we were open water certified.
Apr. 16
These were our first dives after receiving our certifications. Brian Mcguire invited Matt, Teske, and myself to join him on a trip to the San Juan Islands. We dove at two different sites. One was Broken Point and the other I cannot remember. On the dives animals such as sea urchin, lingcod, sea cucumbers, jellies, and a few others were seen. Broken Point was a good location because of the rock face that extented into the ocean. An abundance of life made their homes in and on the rocks. We used flashlights to give color back to the sea critters.