2,000 Leagues (give or take) Under the Sea

I finally got out scuba diving again last weekend! I had tried to go once a few weekends back, made the trip all the way south to the city that the dive center was located at only to find that they had canceled diving for the day without telling any of the divers. It ended up being a total waste of my morning and really frustrating because I had been looking forward to it so much. But last Saturday I got my chance. It was perfect weather and we took a boat out and dove one of the same wrecks that I went to last year. The first dive went went well, but it took me a bit to get adjusted since it had been a little while since I had been in the water. We got to spend plenty of time exploring the wreck though, swimming through corridors and making it all the way up to the bow of the ship. The water had the same murky green tint to it that I remember from last time, and was equally as cold. There were occasional fish and some jellyfish hovering around the wreck, but other than that, sea life in the area was fairly sparse. We explored the wreck for about half an hour or so, and then it was time to surface.

Between dives we just hung out on the boat, but there were really big swells and I ended up getting a bit sea sick. It ended up being a pretty miserable wait, and I couldn't wait to get back in the water where everything is more calm. As soon as I got in the water and started descending I felt much better, and the second dive went smoothly as well. We didn't get as much bottom time since the dive was so deep; if we had stayed down too long we would increase our risk for both nitrogen narcosis and decompression sickness, both of which I would like to avoid. But we toured part of the ship once more and checked out a few areas that we didn't have time for the first trip down. After that it was back to the surface, and then back to shore.

Over all it was a good trip, and for me its nice to be able to dive at least semi-regularly so that I can keep my skill set up and not be nervous every time I dive. Hopefully I get more opportunities to dive once I get back to the states, but being how I plan on staying in Nebraska at least until the New Year, I'm not counting on it any time soon.

(Dive conditions similar to Nebraska)

In other news, summer seems to have suddenly ended today. This year brought with it much milder than usual summer weather, which was nice because I got to avoid all the miserably hot summer days, but bad because it was shorter than last years. Today, September 1st, I was greeted with a completely overcast sky and a cool Autumn breeze. Summer is over way too quickly, it seems to have just flown by. Now I just hope the really cold winter weather stays at bay until I return back to the States.