Underwater Wakulla
By RUSTY MILLER
Well, the sore I had on my stump left foot has completely healed. That means I can get back to my side mount training. During my down time at the shop, I have gotten a new side mount harness and a couple of 50 cubic foot steel tanks, and I serviced my regulators and set them up for side mount tanks. With the new harness, I can put weights on the inside of the back to help with my horizontal position. The key to being a good side mount diver is to be able to control your positioning while on your dive.
I know I might have mentioned in one of my past articles that I tell my students that if you purchase a new set of scuba gear you should try your new gear in a pool before you use it in the open water. Well, as you might have guessed, when I let my instructor know that my stump was healed we set a date to continue my training. I was truly excited to try out my new equipment and to see if it worked as I hoped it would.
We met at Emerald Springs around 10 a.m. and we got our gear unloaded to set it up. I put weights in the spine pockets of my harness, about 12 pounds, then I anxiously put the rest of my equipment together and put my wetsuit on; we carry our tanks down to the water. If you have never been to Emerald Springs it has a double staircase down to the spring so it was a little difficult for me to carry my 50’s down to the water even though I carried one at a time. My instructor entered the water first and on our way down to the spring we noticed it was a bit tannic but we entered anyway.
I was able to connect the 50’s one on each side relatively OK, then I connected the low pressure inflator to the harness and situated the second stages properly around my neck. It was time to slide into the water and check to make sure that everything was in its proper place and working. I inflated my harness and situated myself so the instructor could let me know what we were going to do next. She said we will go to the underwater tree to start our descent to about 30-feet down.
When we got to the required depth, we would swim around so I could get comfortable with my new rig. We made it to the tree then started our descent. Things were going pretty good, then I started swimming using the frog kick and that’s when it got fun. Remember the 12 pounds of weight I put in the harness, well I put a bit too much in and as soon as I went horizontal and bent my knees about 90 degrees up that’s when I got a big surprise. I went almost vertical in a head down position. I didn’t panic because I let my feet down and arched my back and I became horizontal again.
This time I inflated my harness bladder a tiny bit and I turned my feet up but not quite 90 degrees and actually started frog kicking pretty good because I was able to move a distance each kick. I wasn’t as relaxed as I hoped I would be but it was a step in the right direction. Remember I stated the water was a bit tannic, well when I looked around and lost sight of my instructor for a moment. The water was getting darker by the minute and in my excitement I didn’t notice it. When I finally saw my instructor she motioned that we need to surface. We surfaced and I explained I felt like I had a little too much weight in my harness and that I need to remove a few pounds. We headed to the ledge and while I was removing the excess weight she would run a line around the spring basin at a depth of 30 feet. Just as I got my harness on she reappeared at the surface holding what is described as a birds nest in the line she used to set the trail with.
The water had gotten so bad in such a short time that it was hard for her to set the line. I don’t mind dark water because I train law enforcement in search and recovery and you train to look for bodies in such dark water and my instructor is used to diving in caves but when you have a student with new equipment you need to be able to see them well. So we decided to not finish the dive and that we would meet at the pool in a couple of weeks to let me get my gear balanced and then we can practice the remainder of the skills. Then we can reschedule the open water portion to finish my certification on side mount diving. I will keep you posted on how the pool session goes. Until then, keep making bubbles.
Russell Miller is the manager at Wakulla Diving Center in Medart. NAUI Instructor #59999