Mission Commander in Training?

3:00 pm Mission Commander training for Karen and me has been bumped a few hours in order to work out some of the kinks in the Internet dial-up system of the Scott Carpenter Station. But already, we've been down 7 hours! It doesn't seem any different, but I know my body is compensating or adapting to the pressure and compressed air. I was having a bit of trouble with my right ear, but it seems to be better now. I think was just carrying some water in my sinuses from this morning's adventure in the water...

7:30 am When I first went into the water this morning, I was overweighted. Since hookahs have no "buoyancy compensator" vests, I didn't have any way to counteract the extra weight or regain "neutral buoyancy." I was sinking fast. On top of that, the water was extremely black, and I couldn't tell exactly where the station was below me. As I was sinking too fast, my mask fogged up and one of my fins came loose. I decided to work on one problem at a time.

First things first, I decided to work on my buoyancy. I was able to get to the surface and notify our diving expert, Chris Olstad, that my weight belt was too heavy, but then my fin came off leaving me unable to kick with enough force to stay at the surface. As I started sinking again, I had trouble clearing my regulator of water after removing it from my mouth to talk to Chris. So I was sinking, my regulator was full of water, my mask was fogged, the water was murky, and I only had one fin. While kicking to regain the surface again (and avoid submerging too quickly,) my second fin came off!

At this point, I began to think I was in a bit of trouble. But as I said, first things first. Breathing while in water is more important than anything else. I cleared my regulator and began breathing through it normally. Next, I decided to remove my weight belt since I would be buoyant without it. (You have to be almost completely free of body fat not to be buoyant in salt water!) I still didn't know quite what to do with my weight belt. Since my mask was fogged and the water was murky, I couldn't tell what was beneath me. A falling weight belt could do some damage to any one of the habitats if it hit the glass directly.

Being indecisive in the water is not the best way to go. Fortunately for me, Chris had decided that I was in enough trouble and dove in to meet me. Thankfully, he took my weight belt and helped me back to the dock. We dumped some weight off the belt, Gail did a systematic search and recovered my fins, and I re-entered the water more conscious of my surroundings.

This wasn't a life-threatening incident, but is serves to remind me that this is indeed a "foreign" environment, and it requires all of my attention at every moment. Diving is great fun partly because it demands all of your attention. If you were worrying about some small thing going on in your life, when you go diving, the need to provide yourself with air, to move comfortably, and to focus on your surroundings will most likely lead you to forget all your topside worries!