Big day today, last dive day early, then land touring
and dinner off the ship.
Woke up early and had breakfast at 6 a.m. so we could dive by 7.
I had planned to do the last dive, but a cold had set in and
I was concerned about getting a reverse block.
A bit about what that is:
As a diver descends, the atmospheric pressure increases every 33'
and the pressure of the air in your inner ear must be equalized
so damage to the eardrum does not occur.
Many divers have sensitive ears and diving down can be a slow, painful process.
I've had a lot of experience dealing with ear clearing,
so that's not much of a problem for me.
BUT, once you get down you must come up, and re-equalize along the way.
Normally this is not a problem and happens
almost automatically as you ascend.
HOWEVER, if your sinus is filling as you dive,
when you get ready to ascend you can experience a problem
equalizing the reduced pressure. This can be very painful,
and dangerous, in that if you cannot take time to ascend slowly,
or go back down to lower the pressure, you can rupture an eardrum
which would be very disorienting.
I had a reverse block once in warm water;
it was not a pleasant experience. Risking it in this cold water,
with a heavy, poorly-fitting wetsuit did not seem a good idea,
so I opted to skip this dive. Several others also opted out of this dive.
Frigate Bird
CAPTION??
Dry that gear; the water weighs too much to take home.
Catching a few last zzzzz's in the hammock
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