Day 2 : going blind

Location: Mexico
Date: May 4, 2012


Bloody hell! I could not put one foot in front of the other last night so typing this the next morning.  Day 2 was all about laying lines for the first time but also about how to conduct proper briefings and we did a first blind exit out of the cavern.


We went to the X-tabai cenote in Chickin-Ha. So after first having done some line work practise in Franks Garden we were off to set-up in the cenotes. Frank decided that I should lead the first ... alrighty.  The team would consist out of me being number 1, Remco being number 2 and Angel (another student) being number 3. So after having done the bubble check and the gear matching we were off to do some the S-drill ( out of air procedure) and gas switch off ( well i guess that says it all right?). I immediately went brain dead under water so had to do a restart... whoop sorry! The most difficult thing I find at this moment is all the bloody hoses you have around your body. A light hose going to the helmet coming from your ass ( yes very elegant - hey at least my helmet is pink!), a hose coming from your left tank, one from your right tank not to forget the inflater hose and your gauges. All in all a lot going on! clipping tanks and regs back and having your line markers & reels dangling from your D-ring is a lot to get used to. Anyhow, it was my tie to lay he first line and head into the cavern ( heart beating a little bit faster now - so trying to calm myself and be more zen to keep my breathing rate under control- .....). Going into the cave and worrying about the line and being the leader resulted in the fact i could not take the caver in as much as I wanted. On our way back we had to switch off our primary lights and turn around. This meant I was now last and had to reel in the wheel. ( note to self - need to strengthen my hands & fingers they are 2 weak at the moment). I could take in the cavern a bit more now and seeing the exit kind of lighting up greenish-blue was amazing - seeing these divers float mid air. Frank instructed me to cover my light completely to see wht my team mates would do - so here i was hiding behind a column with my light covered... :) lol. Anyway my team mates did not come for me :( hahaha lol they saw my bubbles so were literally just thinking GIRLS why does it take her so long??? hahaha. That was dive 1 finished. By this time i was absolutely stone cold ( my fingers started going slightly numb). The water here is 25degrees - and as you know I like my water WARM!


After a debrief we started dive # 2. This time Angel was first, me second and Remco third. So off we went. This time we headed a bit deeper in the cavern and i was able to take it in a bit more and relax. I noticed the different structures the drooping effect the water changes had on the walls and also the salt water flows coming in from beneath us. Once we reached the turn around point he relaxing feeling disappeared! haha Remco was instructed to be out of air and I gave him my hose so we turned around with Remco being first, me 2nd and Angel 3rd. Halfway it was time to change and Remco used Angels long hose. At this point we were instructed to put on our blind folds... oh shit! The aim of the game here was to use touch-contact to exit. so basically you are glued to the person infront of you and with hand movements you signal to each other. Long story short - we need practise!!!!! ahahaha Trust me I have seen the videos and it was abysmal.


all in all we learned a lot and I really enjoyed it. The cuts, bruises, shivering because of being so cold and extreme tiredness aside:)

Today is day 3!


xoxo