Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Crazy people....

So, let's get rocking with a life post--a mini update on one of our recent adventures.

My wonderful fiancé and I obtained our advanced dive certification in September. It seemed like a great idea in August when we signed up for the class, but we sure failed to account for unseasonably cold weather. At the time of our first dive, it was a whopping 27 degrees outside--the MN lake water was 20 degrees warmer than the air temp. That sure made for an interesting romp in the bikini while putting on the wet suit. ;)

Speaking of cold, let's talk about that deep dive. On the deep dive, we were required to go to a depth of 65 feet, but we ended up going to about 74 feet. After passing the thermocline (if you're not sure what it is, check it out here --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermocline), we got to simulate ice diving. Yes, you read that correctly--the temperature of the water was the same as if we would have cut a hole in two-feet of ice and jumped on in--a bone chilling 39 degrees. Want to see what it feels like? Fill your bathtub with ice, wait a few minutes for some of the ice to melt, and take a nice 18-minute long bath. ;)

But, we persevered, my friends. 5 dives later (a boat dive, a navigation dive, a night dive, a deep dive, and a photography dive), we had our Padi Advanced Open Water Certification. We learned a lot--how to be great underwater navigators, what "depth of field" is, the difference between a five mil wetsuit (what was on numb hands during the deep dive) and a seven mil wetsuit (what was on my shockingly warm body during the deep dive), and most importantly--that I would NOT make a pretty bald person--see for yourself in the photos below. ;)

And now—some photos from the photography dive. Enjoy!


"Excuse me! You did not TELL me it was going to be THIS cold in here!"

It's me. :)

Some of the beautiful scenery in the underwater forest we navigated.

Joey putting our new dive knives to use.

"Here, fishy fishy."

5 comments:

a real librarian said...

Congrats on your new certification!!

Stacy said...

Nightmares! Pictures 3 and 5 or whatever the last one is gives me chills! You brave girl! I wonder if Nessy was in those waters?

Just Another Small Town Girl said...

Love that first pic-it cracks me up!

Beach Bum Marcie said...

YOU ARE NUTS.....but thank youf or updating...I've been missing you!! Again, looooove the pics and by the way, I'm taking the leap and getting my dive certification....after all, it's in my NEW job description and YOU are my hero and idol!! can't wait to "dive" in...oh I am soooo clever!!

RACHEL said...

These pictures just LOOK cold to me!