Day 3

Day 3

 

Today is just a slow day so I have some time to write a bit. Im doing some course readings and knowledge reviews for my Rescue Diver course. Seems like it may be light work but actually the course outline looks like this..ugh:

 

Rescue:

 

- Self Rescue

- Diver stress

- The different forms of stress and their symptoms

- Managing diver stress

- First Aid Equipment

- First aid procedures

- Emergency management

- Rescuer readiness

- Equipment readiness

- Information readiness

- Common equipment problems

- Equipment function

- Release function and problems

- Recognizing rescue situations

- Rescuing the “responsive” diver at the surface

- Rescuing the “responsive” diver underwater

- Rescue exits to the boat or shore with the “responsive” diver

- Missing diver procedures

- Rescuing the “unresponsive” diver at the surface

- Rescuing the “unresponsive” diver underwater

- Equipment removal and exits to the boat or shore with the “unresponsive” diver

 

Live scenarios

 

On the final day of the course you will be given two real life scenarios. Your final accreditation will depend on your sucess on this day. Good luck!

 

1. UNDERWATER SEARCH- In this scenario a diver has gone missing from a group of divers. You must show and enact the leadership skills to organize the search and rescue.

 

2. EGRESS AND MANAGEMENT- An unconscious diver has disappeared from the surface... from this point anything can happen. This is where is gets real interesting as you must adapt your rescue plan to the rapidly changing conditions. This is a serious scenario that is demanding and very rewarding once you have achieved a successful conclusion.

LOL...THAT seems like a bunch to me...I start the course tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.

 

 

 

 

 

LOL I have a couple of new friends..the owners granddaugher "Sky" and her cat "Princess alleia" Sky talks me up forever as soon as she sees me and Princess Alleia runs in my damn apartment every time i open the door or accompanies me around the grouds when im outside on the dock

 

YES finally after two days of the hardware shop being closed, I got my bike.

Princess Alleia

Sky

 

Getting back and forth just got alot easier...i'll sell it when I leave and already have a couple people telling me to let them know when i want to sell....doubt i'll even get half of what it cost but its all good!

 

to close Day 3...when im home and bitching about my weight everyone says i'm crazy but twice now in 3 days I have been called a pretty big guy....now....since im not 6'5" i can only translate that into meaning Fattamus Assamus...oh well..i can already tell that I'm losing weight! (I suspect its mostly water weight at this point blah)

 

My landlord Lupe and her Monkey..LOL

 

I know this probably looks horrible but it was the best Banana cake ever.... Fresh and hot from Babali... Oldest dock restaurant in Utila...floor feels like it may fall in and there is a huge square cut out in the middle so you can throw your scraps to the waiting fish.

Getting ready to shower and grab a bite to eat and then hit Treetanic.

Day 1 and 2...the quick take.

Day 1 is here and its time to go! The trip to Ohio was uneventful and I was able to spend a little time with my above awesome sister. Said my temporary goodbyes to my family and I will miss them all very much. It's sad to leave them behind but hopefully the plan is for us ALL to take a trip to the Bay Islands next year while I work on my instructor training. Eva meanwhile is going to work on getting her vacation time lined out so she can come and meet me on Utila around the 19th of July until we return home on the 31st. Its not set in stone but shes trying hard and I hope it works out.

 

Airports are crazy little microcosms. You see a little of everything and everyone. From the globe trotting dreadlock backpacker to the family headed to Disney for the week..People hustle by and it reminds me of a giant multi-cultural shopping mall where everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere else. Your terminals are always 5 miles away and your flight is always leaving in 10 minutes. Unless its a layover and then time and space stop functioning in the airport terminal void and 1 hour stretches on and on until 3 hours feels like a decade.

Friends seem to have fun traveling together...I've seen a few and they don't seem stressed or harried at all. Laughing and sipping Starbucks...all Hakuna Matata, no worries and stuff. I wouldn't know cause i've barely traveled with friends and even when I announce a year in advance that I'm going to Utila AND everyone says OMG! It's Awesome and So Cheap!...LMAO, no one actually goes. So while it would be really nice to be sipping Starbucks and chatting up a traveling companion right now, I'll just have to be content with the fact that I can eat or pee when ever I want......and I don't even really like coffee.

 

My arrival in San Pedro Sula went smooth...no real hassles except the baggage people wanting another 30.00 for an additional bag...no biggie and par for the course during any travel in a third world country.

From San Pedro Sula I hopped on board my tiny Sosa flight to La Ceiba, a coastal town in Honduras and awaited my last leg of travel to Utila. Sat beside an american ex-pat who has lived on Utila for 20 years...cant remember his name but we chatted it up about changes both positive and negative to the island over the last few years. Just as we arrived in La Ceiba it started to rain and we thought the flight may get canceled and we thought we may have to overnight in town or at the airport but as luck would have it our flight left after about 40 minutes. We flew out in a tiny 8 seater narrower then a mini-van and were joined by a Utilean couple bringing their brand new baby home to the island. Despite the tiny size of the plane the landing was incredibly smooth on an airstrip known for its rollercoaster like power braking landings.

Grabbing a taxi...(Hanks mini-van which has seen far better days) we dropped everyone off and he deposited me at the door to Cross Creek. I said hello dropped my bags off and met Mike from Utila apartment finders. Mike is another ex-pat who used to own a cafe here, also from the states or perhaps Canada. Mike the ex-pat hippy picked me up on his scooter...preferred method of travel on the island and showed me a couple of places neither of which i liked very well. we made arrangements to meet the next day to look at some other places. No worries as I knew that the dive center would put me up. I packed all my gear to a room on the Cross Creek

dock and made my way back to the office...decrying hippie Mike's attempt at finding me an apartment. One of the staff mentioned a place where she happened to live and made arrangements for me to meet the owner "Lupe". Lupe was very nice and showed me the two and one bedroom apartments. I liked them well enough to agree and moved right in..again lugging my gear a healthy distance from the center to the Tropical Seas. Moved in and headed back to the Dive Shop where i met Kevin and he got me on the morning dive boat...Damn glad he did because after two pretty nice dives we made a stop at Water Cay for a DMT (Divemaster training) event where Kevin had them mapping the reef around Water Cay and included a huge barbecue and we spent the rest of the

evening lounging and laying on the island and in the water while the DMTs griped about what they had to accomplish....oh well..they got chicken and rum for their troubles....Once home, I took a little nap and then headed to Rehab's to eat...called it an early night and went to bed happy as a clam that I could recuperate from my trip and not dive on Sunday.

 

Day 0.2

Major job finished with the help of a good friend. Huge back patio and front walkway was formed, poured and finished today. Excellent work without much help from me. It's a big load off my mind and nice to have it finished before I leave tomorrow to head to Honduras and then Utila. As far as I know

I am packed. Everything seems ready but I'll have to do one more "once over" tomorrow. Its like I have ADHD-Alzheimer's. I'll spend weeks organizing everything to a tee..... then walk off and forget my cameras and my passport.

Get my hair cut tomorrow and then retrieve my anti-malarials from wal-mart.

Having to get a prescription for anti-malarial medicine is silly to me. They are not going hurt you and you can't abuse them and there is absolutely NO reason to take them unless you believe you may become exposed to a source for malaria. Regardless, I have a prescription, so I guess I should pick them up even though I don't worry much about getting malaria in Utila. Noseeums (sand flies) will bite you if the wind dies down but a little deet will keep them away. Mosquitos ...not so much. Maybe in the mangroves but not on the shore. Thanks to Nursing school I have been vaccinated against A, B and C strands of Hepatitis, so no worries in that department.

So tomorrow I'll head to Ohio and then Friday my flight leaves for Atlanta from Columbus at 7:10 am.

Let's hope I don't forget something important.

Day 0.4

Was saddened to hear that Bar in the Bush had closed. I was used to the nightly ringing of the Treetanic bell telling everyone it was time to leave and head to the "Bush". Noise levels were pretty high to extreme and I wouldnt be surprised if sleepy residents had something to do with the closure. A new place on its own dock similar to CocoLoco and Tranquila HAS been opened by some American ex-pats I believe and seems like the new place to be. I'm not sure exactly where "Rehab" is located but....it's a small island.

Nice little map put out by Paradise Divers. I should spend most of my time between Cross Creek and Utila Dive Center. To help you gauge distance, it takes me about 30 minutes to leisurely walk from Cross Creek to Skid Row's. La Pirata and Captain Morgan's effectively mark the center of town

Off to try to find some extra O-rings for my dive computer.

3 more days.

Day 0.5

Went to the airport and checked my bags against weight limits and size restrictions. Amazingly I was well within. Surprising because no matter how I try to "under pack" I always end up "over packing".

"scuba and camera parts not counting a multi-tool, two wrenchs, two pairs of hemostats and two tiny screwdrivers...overkill much".

Anyway... I can relax because I'm not going to get some crazy baggage charge. Also ran to old navy to buy a semi decent hoodie. Sounds ridiculous in the tropics but after diving all day you lose a lot of heat and I have seen people shiver like they were wearing a bathing suit in a snow storm rather then 100° heat. My instructor Kevin said it would be wise to bring something warm so I bow to his expertise. I'm so caught up in the tropical weather that I never would have thought of it. So I just about finished my list...cheap tossable sunglasses: check, new iPad cord: check, batteries for dive computer: check, hoodie for the tropics: check, sliders @ chili's just cause: check.

My carry-on bag is full of just scuba gear!

Now I need to repack a couple of times and try to cull the unnecessary and go OCD about checking for things I may have forgotten. Like making sure I don't forget iPad accessories and new cord or I'll be out of communication

It's getting closer.

 

Day 0.6 almost Utila Bound

5 days until I leave for Utila! I've packed and repacked. A few minor errands to run, a few items to buy and I'll be off. I'm excited over the whole process...finding the right apartment, getting back in the water, learning the new skills required in a rescue and Divemaster environment, helping with classes and meeting tons of new people from across the globe. I have such a great time in Utila and the fact that I'm headed back in 5 days for a 2 month stint is surreal. A little dream like. I'll be happy to reconnect with some familiar faces that I enjoyed last time and walk those roads again.

Utila is so different, almost impossible to explain. It's like the Bermuda Triangle of islands, sucking up the salty pirates, divers, the artistic and creative and bundling them all together with the Utilian locals as an eclectic hodgepodge community from a Caribbean Twilight Zone episode.

So I'm excited, but for now I'm still here and I still have "home" type things to do, so I'm off to finish digging out my new sidewalk and a little housecleaning while there is still time.