SCUBA-Dooba-Doo

One of the merit badges Jourdan worked on this summer was SCUBA.  It was an interesting experience for him.  Although diving here in the Northwest isn't the most interesting of exposures to the diving hobby... he at least has the skills to try it again in a more exciting environment.  One of the first things he said after his dives is that he can see this activity being much more exciting in the tropics.  He's got to be correct!

 

He spent his first couple of days learning to dive in a pool.  For his first two open-water dives we drove about an hour north to Lake Merwin.  Julia brought a friend to play in the lake while Jourdan and his instructor Rich dove into the murky waters.  Here he is in all his gear, after his first open-water dive:

That weekend, Jourdan and I got up REALLY early and drove up to the South end of Puget Sound to a tiny town called Hoodsport.  Jourdan fell asleep all the way there, leaving me alone to drive while trying to stay awake.  (Let's just say, that giant bag of gummy bears from Costco and the entire bag of baby carrots never stood a chance!)  The diving location of choice is known as "Octopus Hole".  For this dive, he required a little more gear due to the frigid water....even in the summer. 

 The instructor took along another intermediate-level diver who wanted some additional experience diving.  The three of them took off together and disappeared under the water.  They were able to see octopus and.... well, that's pretty much it!  The water is terribly murky, and there's not really a whole lot to see.

Here's a short video of Jourdan's dive in Lake Merwin:

His instructor has minor hearing loss, which causes him to speak really loudly.... probably not all that exciting, but when filming from the shore, it's a wonderful feature for making videos.  I guarantee you that I wouldn't have any sound if it weren't for the booming voice that carries across all time and space.