A short boat-ride North of Manta Point around the craggy North Western edge of Nusa Panida is the shallows of Crystal Bay. Out of season for spotting the famous for Mola-Mola, it was, for me, Crystal by name and certainly by nature. This protected bay was the site where we were to be indoctrinated into the art of Peak Buoyancy.
Like most things that cannot be objectively and methodically measured, mastery over buoyancy, although highly technical in itself, is part black art and part learning to ride a bicycle. No amount of reading pages 211ff of the good book can quite give you a full understanding unless, to quote Bbi-Wan Kenobi, you: “Use the force”.
Hoping to extend our O.W.C. skills, we flipped backwards off the boat into Crystal Bay and went straight into the foetal position at 9 meters, a meter off the bottom, because that felt like the most calming, yoga like, position to absorb and neutralise the opposing forces that want to pull you both up and at the same down. It became clear to me, that your weight, rather than the weight you carried on your weight belt, played a pivotal role in controlling buoyancy at any level. That and practice, which comes over time.
Of all the skills associated with this component of the A.O.W. course, the “Upside-down (which the ancient Greeks call anastatoo) pivot” or our instructor called “Funny Pivot”, both of which are very apt descriptions of the exercise, is the most fun to do. Try this for fun: while riding a bicycle, try crossing your hands on the handlebar so that your right hand holds the left side of the handlebar and your left hand holds the right side. Now try turning left and you will feel something of the sensation of trying to breathe from an artificial air source, suspended head down no more that half a metre off the bottom of the sea-bed, with your feet pointing to the surface eight metres above you; or should that be below you. Funny to do and absolutely hilarious to watch!
No comments:
Post a Comment