A Diver's Tale
Paul Mosquera
Class: 2/09
Imagine the possibility of changing life and creating the opportunity to act like a child again. For me, one of my most vivid memories was getting to play in marsh mud, under the summer heat, with my brother during our years of innocence. By the age of five, we were no longer allowed to get muddy in the marsh because we caught a case of ringworm by bacteria (something I wish upon no one) in the marsh. After that my “structural” education began, according to my father, “to send me on my way to greatness“. Although I followed his path, went to school, and then moved on to college receiving degrees in both Spanish and Political Science, I never forgot the joy of playing in that marsh with my brother.
Let’s make a jump forward to about two months ago. I was miserable. I hated working for a dead end job at a pool company. I hated doing nothing significant with my life. What I mean by significant is, “something that makes me happy”. Then I found the IDI website. I had been glancing over commercial diving schools for a while, but that fateful day I wrote and e-mail to David. Within two days I was signed up, ready to go and full of excitement just like I was in those days when I was playing in the marsh on those warm summer days. In two weeks, I would be off, and finally I had found my significance. Everything began to change, from my mood to the way I walked, talked and was even told that began to glow once more.
My first day of actual diving, I had the privilege to use a Kirby Morgan Superlite 17B. This hat is a demand-flow hat, meaning that they have in a built-in regulator that controls the amount the diver breathes by the breath the diver inhales. To the untrained eye, it basically looks like a face mask a fighter pilot will use while flying. This hat was gnarly. Like all hats it was heavy, so get use to it. It’s just a part of the work so if you can’t handle it, be part of the a zombie existence that I call office work. Anyway, all I really did was play around in a deep tank, showing off my swimming and acrobatic skills.
The next hat, another demand flow, was the Genesis II. A bit heavier, but I had a major problem with the neck dam. A neck dam goes the head of the diver and rests on the neck. My problem with this neck dam was it would leak air out of the back of the neck tremendously; instantly fogging up the face plate. Needless to say, not my best moment in the water.
One hat, which most diver’s don’t like, because of their big heads (whether it be actual size of their head or figuratively speaking), called the Gorski is another great demand flow hat. A bit tighter fit on the head; it was so snug and the level of security I felt inside this hat was tremendous. I had great mobility with my head and it’s comparable to the Superlite B17 in weight.
A funny note is that I was one of the only ones able to withstand the greatness that was the Gorski hat, that I still have not the opportunity to use the DESCOPOT, a free flow hat. A free flow hat basically means that it has air constantly flowing through and exhaust fumes flowing out without the use of a regulator (fighter pilot mask) covering the mouth and nose.
Although I did not have the experience of using the DESCOPOT, I did get the opportunity to use a free flow hat called the Swindell. This heavy clunk of metal did not like me very much. It rode up on my neck I could never get comfortable inside this hat. It had an exhaust valve that was supposed to be chin operated, but for me, more like forehead operated.
The only bandmask we use at IDI is a Kirby Morgan Bank Mask. It’s the same idea as a demand flow hat, except it uses a wetsuit like hood with a zipper down the middle of the back of the head. To secure the head and “alleviate” any leakage, a spider band is used to secure the diver’s head to the regulator. This is a great mask, if there are no necessary communications needed between the supervisor and diver (water tends to get into the ears). It was very light weight by comparison, but overall, for my tastes, I prefer demand flow hats over masks any day.
So to get back to the main point of the story, the possibility for me changing my life for the better occurs everyday I dive in the river. Now as an adult, I get to play with hoses to jet high pressure water into the mud, play with flanges, pipes, and all sorts of other goodies. And this is going to be my job!!! Huh, I never understood this life could be so great. Thanks to the technologies of theses hats and masks, I now have the opportunity to be a child once again, playing under the sun, in the mud, getting dirty. The only difference now, is I’m going to get paid to do it. What a wonderful world!
