Does your tank have cobwebs on it? Has is been months since you enjoyed the exhilarating feeling of being able to breathe underwater? Do you want to try SCUBA for the first time but are nervous? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you should join Just Add Water for their first Pool Party of the year. Come join us as we kick off 2012 with a fun night of diving in the Orange High School Pool from 4-6pm this Saturday, February 18. Cost is $7 per person with your own gear or $7 per person plus the cost of a half off gear rental. And since diving makes people hungry we will all go out for food to get to know one another and to recall heroic dives of our past and dream about future dives.
The night will include half priced rentals, but bring your own gear if you have it, $10 off a SCUBA tune up and $10 off the Discover Scuba Experience. This night is perfect for seasoned divers and new divers alike. Bring yourself, friends, family or a special someone as a belated Valentine’s Day Gift to the pool for some good ole fun. Guys do you remember the man who proposed to his girlfriend via SCUBA…works every time! But on a more serious note this pool night is actually a really important night for new divers to experience the uniqueness of diving and for experienced divers to brush up on simple skills such as neutral buoyancy.
Being neutrally buoyant is a very important skill needed for being a successful diver. It should be practiced by seasoned divers and should be a main goal for new divers. Unlike fish that have swim bladders to control their buoyancy, humans must use a weight belt, a BCD and controlled breathing to achieve neutral buoyancy. Fish have the ability to increase or decrease the amount of air in the swim bladder allowing them to sink or rise in the water column. A diver's BCD is the same concept as a fish’s swim bladder. Fish are born with the innate sense and physiological ability to control their buoyancy, whereas us divers who are meant to live on land but like being underwater so much better must learn how to control our buoyancy. Buoyancy is first controlled by our weight belt, which is easily adjusted before we get in the water. Second, once we are underwater, then we must rely on our breathing and the amount of air we put in or let out of our BCD to control our buoyancy. Neutral buoyancy takes practice to achieve, but it helps create a relaxed, confident and less destructive diver. Being neutrally buoyant allows a diver to control their underwater experience. I know that from personal experience if you are not in control of your buoyancy because you keep rising and sinking you start to freak out. As you freak out, you breathe more, thus using more air. You are also using up your breathing air as you try to adjust your BCD so you are finally able to just “float” beneath the water. And now you have just cut your dive in half because you used all your air trying to achieve neutral buoyancy.
Neutral buoyancy also helps create divers that are less destructive. The reason I dive and why the majority of people dive is to see the wonderful creatures that exist in the ocean. I have dove in New Zealand where I glided just above the kelp looking for hiding eels or in the Galapagos I have dove along walls lined with sponges, tunicates, sea stars and many other vibrantly colored creatures. Since I am in control of my buoyancy, I can go wherever I want under the water and not worry about sinking too low and destroying a coral. Most of our reefs that are damaged by divers are damaged because people could not control their buoyancy and kicked a fan coral or sat on top of a brain coral. This is harmful to people and the reef. Some coral, such a fire coral, cause a burning, itchy reaction to peoples bare skin. Touching coral or kicking coral with our fins can have negative effects. Coral can be broken off or the coral can be weakened by our touch making it susceptible to disease. Coral grow at a very slow rate, on average about 0.2-1 inch per year; therefore, lots of non-neutrally buoyant divers on a reef can do a lot of unnecessary damage. So do yourself and the coral a favor, practice being neutrally buoyant so that you can be a confident diver diving in amazing places with no impact on the ecosystem. If Yoda were a diver, he would have said, “May the neutral buoyancy be with you.”
Turn off the TV, grab your gear or rent some for half price and come spend a glorious night brushing up on dive skills or learning how to dive in the Orange High School pool with Just Add Water. We are so excited to see you there. Please call the store to pre-register and rent gear if needed (440) 942-7575. If you are busy this Saturday join us for Pool Parties later in the year on April 14th and May 5th.
~Your dive buddies at Just Add Water
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