Scuba Diving Class - Day 1

So last night was the first day of scuba glass. We started off filling in some forms and then moved on to some discussion of key points from the instruction manual. Before getting into the pool, we did a quiz which asked very similar questions to what was asked in the instruction manual. Yours truly got a perfect score

I wasn't able to resist questioning the explanation that air in a scuba tank takes up less and less volume as you descend. I'm of the impression that since the scuba tank is sealed and rigid, changes in pressure do not affect the contents. My instructor, the dive master, and the rest of the class are more accepting of what they read the PADI instruction manual. I'm hoping a Google session will clear things up one way or the other.

The part of the night that was the most fun was getting into the pool with scuba tank and regulator. Almost immediately I was underwater and breathing. Awesome! But of course the instructor wanted to actually teach us some stuff so I had to surface and pay attention. As an introduction, the first confined water dive wasn't particularly tricky, but we did go through breathing, recovering the regulator, clearing the regulator, and emptying a flooded mask while underwater. All good things to know when you're 60 feet below the surface, no?

Speaking of breathing, a couple of the students had a little trouble getting comfortable with the whole underwater breathing thing. No outright panicking or anything like that. Just a strong reluctance to stay underwater and breath in and out through the regulator. Fortunately, by the end of the class these folks seemed to have conquered their fears.

That's it for now. Today's confined water dive starts in just over an hour so I've got to go and get ready!

Note: One night isn't long enough for wetsuits to completely dry. Bummer.