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Peart Adventures



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Welcome to Peart Adventures. Feel free to browse around by clicking on the page
links above. The pages contain words and pictures and links to photo
galleries. Enjoy and thanks for your  support



Webmaster Peart

 

My first exposure to underwater settings was the ‘50s TV show “Sea Hunt,”
starring Lloyd Bridges, seen in reruns during the ‘60s. I was fascinated by the
sea and what lies beneath the surface. Those Sea Hunt adventures where so much
fun, even in black and white. Perhaps it was the adventure and battles against
bad guys that was present in every episode. Admittedly, it was not the science
of diving but the adventure of diving that drew me in those early days. Even
though I loved the idea, I never had the opportunity to pursue the sport.

I lived on an island (Jamaica) for the first 10 years of my life but not close
to the sea. As a matter of fact, water was always associated with some fear or
frightful event. We never went to the water and I never learned to swim.  The
fear of water held tight in my mind because encounters with water were always
scary, real and imagined. When the opportunities came to learn how to swim, I
somehow managed to bluff my way through without gaining the benefit. Although I
was given a pass on those occasions, I never fooled myself into thinking I could
actually swim. Luckily, each incident where I was in literally over my head, I
managed to pull myself out. While in college, I took, at the time what was the
mandatory swimming course as a necessity for graduation. I got a B grade, but in
my heart, I knew that I was not very good and would not trust myself to survive
in any watery situation.

Years passed after college and I struggled with the idea that I did not know how
to swim. As I began to travel, I found myself in more and more open water
situations where my pride would not allow me to miss out on fun while I knew the
risks I was taking. The numerous times I flirted with disaster forced me to make
a concerted effort to at least get the basics right. Between the National
Capital YMCA pool and a DC public pool near work, I took informal lessons. These
instructions came from knowledgeable lifeguards who saw my plight and taught me
fundamentals. I grew more comfortable in the water but I still struggled.
However, my effort to learn the basics soon paid off.  





It was the summer of 2000 and a group of us went camping along the Shenandoah
River in Virginia. We all went tubing along a 2 mile stretch of the river. We
negotiated gentle flows and mild rapids along the way.  We had such a grand time
that we decided to repeat the trip. At the end of the second run, I found myself
on the opposite bank from where I wanted to be. In an attempt to cross the river
laterally, my tube was pushed further down river and was caught in a larger
rapid with swift churning water. I was overturned and pulled under repeatedly as
I fought to orient myself in the righted position. My fellow campers all watched
helplessly as I struggled against the river. I lost skin from both my big toes
where they dragged against the rocks in the rapids. I also lost some personal
possessions, all of which could be replaced, but fortunately, I pulled myself
out and saved my life. It was sheer strength and the knowledge gained from my
recent swimming lessons that saved me that day. 

A few years prior to the swimming lessons, I had traveled to the Great Barrier
Reef in Australia. On one of my excursions off the coast of Cairns, I took a
resort diving course for the opportunity to try scuba diving! What an eye
opening experience this was for me. Perhaps I should not have gone because I had
some congestion from the remnants of a head cold. This was dangerous and I saw
some of the side effects such as blood in the phlegm I expectorated later on the
surface. This was a direct result of the pressure and my attempts to equalize as
I dropped down to 33 feet. But I was determined and saw this as a perfect
opportunity. I was totally out of my element skill wise as I huffed away a full
tank of air in less than 20 minutes. There is video of my actions underwater and
they are almost comical to watch. Besides the blood, at the surface, I was
totally exhausted but happy for the experience. 

In 2001, about 4 years after the Australian adventure, I decided I would
vacation in Dominica, and while there, become a certified scuba diver.  I signed
up with Dive Dominica. I was introduced to my instructor, William Lawrence
(Billy). I told Billy that I could not swim. He then explained to me that
swimming is not necessary for being a certified scuba diver and that he had
certified other divers who were not swimmers. Because I was prepared to abandon
my quest if swimming was a rigid requirement, this was really good news to hear.
Without going into great detail, the class room instruction, the underwater
sessions and the constant encouragement from Billy, served as a great confidence
builder. Working with Billy one-to-one made the learning process so much easier.
The skills necessary to become a certified scuba diver were all new to me but I
grasped the concepts through the science and practiced execution. As I would
later come to realize, Billy had taught me so much in those several days of
classroom sessions and the “pool.”  The pool in this case was the Caribbean
Sea. 

The first rule of scuba diving is, “Never dive alone!” Because so many small or
large things can go wrong on a dive, your chances to overcome problems can be
helped by having one or more divers close by who can offer assistance. Once you
begin diving, one of the biggest challenges in learning to dive is to overcome
certain fears. Acclimatization to having the regulator in your mouth and a mask
on your face is some of the many things, but buoyancy is the key. Achieving
neutral buoyancy or being seemingly weightless in the water takes time. In the
beginning, I kept hearing things from other divers that it gets easier after 20
dives; then I heard 40, 50, 80, and 100. I cannot say exactly when it got
easier, but on each dive the skills improved: comfortable or effortless
breathing, controlled breathing, maintaining neutrality or buoyancy, gauging the
minor adjustments throughout the dive, being a considerate diver (don’t stir up
the bottom, awareness of fins and gauges), looking out for your buddy and others
and just a host of things that begin to become second nature after approximately
250 dives as I write this summary. And as recreational divers, there are times
when we forget to put on the weight belt or forget the mask, just to name a few
glitches when practicing a sport that we participate in once or twice a year for
a week if we are lucky. 

A typical dive trip lasts about 8 days and consists of 6 days of 2 tank boat
dives. This means that each day divers board a boat that typically leaves the
dock near the dive shop around 8:30 AM. Depending on the locale, the ride to the
first dive site averages 20 minutes. By the time we are briefed on the dive site
and a dive plan is explained, divers gear up and everyone is in the water, maybe
more than an hour would have passed since we left the dock.  A typical dive
lasts anywhere from 45-60 minutes depending on skill, conditions, depth and when
the first diver gets back on board. There is a mandatory surface interval of
about 60 minutes between dives. This includes the time we travel to the next
site and go through a new briefing routine. During the surface interval, tanks
are switched either by the dive outfit’s personnel (dive master(s) and/or boat
captain) or by the individual diver. In some dive operations, there is “valet”
service in that the diver just sits at the edge of the boat before entering and
exiting the water. Your gear is handled by staff in each instance. In other
operations, the responsibility for gearing up and down is left to the
individual. I am fine either way. 

If one is in a locale that offers shore diving, it is more advantageous to go
this route, especially if you enjoy diving. On the boat, you will get in two to
three dives per day. The third dive would come from diving with the afternoon
boat. But typically, ample shore diving like in Bonaire, five dives per day is
not that unusual. On those long days, we start early and finish by dusk or
include a night dive. There are adequate surface intervals between dives. And as
diving goes, the first dive of the day is the deepest and the succeeding dives
are planned for shallower depths. A typical five dive day would consist of, if
desired a 90-120 ft first dive. 120ft is safe limit set for recreational diving.
The later morning dive(s) would take into consideration a maximum depth of 60
ft. Subsequent dives would typically level off at around 45 feet, with most of
the bottom time being spent at around 30-35 ft. With a repetitive diving
schedule, bottom time (the actual dive time) would typically be 45-50 minutes
per dive. One point of clarification, the term “shore diving” only refers to the
fact that the diver enters the water in a manner other than from a boat. Shores
at many dive sites are tricky to negotiate the entries because most are not
beach and sand as the term shore connotes. In Bonaire for example, entry to the
sites Karpata or 1000 Steps require climbing down steep flights of stairs at the
respective sites. At some other sites, you are likely to encounter "iron shores"
(limestone fringes with numerous marine fossils). These are sometimes sharp and
steps have to be carefully taken. In addition, some shore dives require
navigation on the water’s surface before reaching the “drop off” or area where
the reef begins. Some of these drop offs are a long way from shore and water is
maybe 10-15ft deep but it is wise to conserve the air going out so that when
returning you can remain submerged until you are closer to the exit point near
the shore. 

I started out by lamenting my lack of swimming skills and fear of water. My
skills have vastly improved in that the fear of water has dissipated while
gaining a great respect for the environment. My body has adjusted to the water
and does not struggle or panic thus boosting my confidence. I still know my
limitations, but I trust myself more now when I am in the water. 

Like many subjects of interest, diving is to be experienced as much as it could
be written about. The paragraphs appearing here are but a synopsis of my journey
to this point in the adventure. Follow my trips in pictures from the beginning
by visiting “Links to Photo Galleries” page by clicking here or above. 

Good bottom times to you!  

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