A Minor Case of Hypothermia...

Upon returning from our diving experience I immediately emailed my dad.  He is an avid diver himself and it is actually very rare that I dive without him.  I think it has happened just a few times, all of which were when Ray and I were traveling: Oahu, Portugal, Galapagos and today.  He had also experienced a rather cold dive once so I knew he would understand what I went through.  His response is actually the title of the blog. “Oh my, what a tale!” he says, “I hope that proves to be your worst dive ever.  Sounds like you experienced at least a minor case of hypothermia.  The shakes are not a good thing to have.” Here’s the email I sent him: 

Hi Dad,

Just got back from diving the Silfra fissure today and what an

experience that was.  You know how you dove Titlow Beach in only a

wetsuit, well due to a drysuit malfunction, I've now done that in

Iceland.  Lucky me! 

To start, we got picked up by the Scuba Iceland minivan/bus right from our doorstep around 10am this morning. We drove in the pouring rain about 45 minutes to the dive site.  We pull into a small parking area with about 10-15 other buses, most of which were full of snorkelers. There were probably about 10 divers in total and only 5 in our group.  There was even a big truck labeled “Changing Area”. In between all the vans, were oversized picnic benches. In which all the equipment was laid out and prepared on.  We pretty much just sat in the van while the dive master and other staff members got everything ready for us.  The least amount of time we spent out in the cold, the better.  First they handed us a thick jumpsuit and thick socks to put on, kinda felt like an astronaut or snowmobiler at this point.  It was quite strange to be putting clothing on in order to do a dive, since usually we only have a bathing suit on under our wetsuits.  We then pulled on our dry suits with a little assistance from some baby powder. I still managed to struggle a bit, but this time it was getting my head through and not my feet and hands, go figure.  [For those of you that don't know, I always struggle when getting in and out of my suits, its just my curse I guess.]  It felt like I was being born again, squeezing through the tight seals.  But I made it!  Next we put on our weight vests which looked like something a firefighter would wear.  Boy was it heavy.  Next came the gloves, hood and then the tank.  I had to stand on my tip toes in order to reach the top of the benches in order to get my tank on.  When all was said and done, I had about 50-75 pounds of extra weight on and I could feel it.  Not to mention, it was definitely still raining, but on the plus side I couldn’t feel that at all through all my gear.  

Once ready, we had about a 200 ft walk to get to the stairs. We even had to cross a road, having cars stop to let us by.  Every step was hard at this point, I was extremely cautious, not wanting to lose my footing or trip, knowing quite well that I would be unable to catch myself if I did.  But we just kept trekking. We got to the dive site entrance and saw a couple of snorkeler groups in front of us making us have to wait for them to get in first.  We took a seat on the bench and I tried to calm my nerves.  I have to admit that I was a little nervous, being that I hadn't dove in over a year and had never been in a dry suit before.  The guy who drove up with us kept telling us the story of people's feet raising up over their heads due to the air in the suit, I was really hoping that wasn't going to happen to us.

Finally it was our turn.  We walked down the stairs and then was the moment of truth.  First foot in the water, nothing, I couldn't feel anything.   Second foot in

the water, same thing.  I was able to walk down all the way to chest level without really noticing that I was in the water.  It was such a strange experience.  It wasn’t until my hands went in did I feel it and it was “way brrr” [as my niece likes to say].  I was the first one in the water and to have my weight checked. I basically had to step off the platform and descend a few feet while the dive master watched.  I sunk without issue, I was a go! Ray was checked next and he was good to go too.  The other 3 guys in our group needed extra weight so we had to wait a few minutes longer for them to get there weight just right.  The water we were diving in was fresh water, which I actually don't think that I have ever dove in before.  It was straight from the glacier and pure enough to drink.  I didn't drink any of it, but Ray did and he said it was good. Oh and the temperature, as I'm sure you were wondering, was about 1-3 degrees celsius.  Anything but warm! But the visibility was tremendous.  You could see everything. It was actually almost clearer under the water due to the crazy rain and wind on the surface. 

Overall the dive was pretty unreal and lasted about 20-30 minutes.  No real wildlife, just crazy rocks,caves and a canyon.  I struggled immensely with my buoyancy, up then down, then up then down, pretty much the whole time. Couldn't quite figure it out.  The dive master mentioned that everyone has a hard time the first time they use a dive suit so that made me feel better.  The water was definitely cold, but tolerable in the beginning.  About halfway through the dive, I felt the sensation of a cold chill starting from my neck and slowly descending to my stomach and then to my legs.  I didn't think this was how it was supposed to

feel, but I didn't really know any different. At one point, I started to get really cold. Again, just thinking that this was normal.  Ultimately, I pushed through and made it to the end. I must admit that I was quite relieved when I saw the exit stairs appear in the distance.  I experienced tunnel vision like never before.  While everyone else was swimming around, enjoying the last few minutes of the dive, I swam straight to the stairs and climbed out.  Due to utter exhaustion and pure frigidness, the dive master had to help me take off my fins.  I couldn't even move because of the weight, not to mention that I couldn't really feel my feet much either.  I carefully walked up the stairs and then made the trek back to the van,

this time it was an even longer walk due to where we exited the water. I remember mentioning to Ray that I was really cold and he just brushed it off, thinking "Yeah, we're all cold".  It also felt like I was walking in puddles inside my drysuit.  It had also started raining pretty good and the wind had picked up, nearly knocking me over a few times on the way back. Every step was harder than the last and even though I was the first one out of the water, I was the last one back to the van.  

We finally make it back to the van and by now I was shaking pretty good.  I could see one of the guys we dove with was already chomping at the bit to get back in the water. Unfortunately, I knew I couldn't do another one because I was an icicle.  As soon as I said the word, the dive master helped pull off my suit.  Let's just say that there was a waterfall of water from inside my suit.  I was completely drenched, down to my core.  Everyone looked at me in utter shock.  I could read there minds, they were thinking "This isn't how its supposed to be".  And now I know that sensation I felt while in the water was the seal around my neck opening.  It took about an hour or so for me to warm up and I still get cold just thinking about it, but all in all, I am no worse for the wear.  I still have all my fingers and toes and I have successfully stopped shaking.  

But what a crazy experience I must say! And now I can officially say that I went scuba diving in Iceland in only a wetsuit!!

From,

Your chilly little icicle daughter

I wasn't able to take any pictures while under the water, but I think Ray has some videos.  Here are some pictures from the internet to give you an idea about what we saw. Feel free to google "Silfra diving" for more.