Underwater Sign Language

Can you talk to your buddy underwater?

Some divers will talk into their regulators and while they may think they've told their buddy to be careful because the stone fish stings...what the buddy hears is generally something like "Blurble, glub, glub, blurbley blurbley." Right!

Sure, we can all tell our buddy we are "OK," or to go "UP," or we are "OUT OF AIR." But what if you wanted to tell your buddy to follow you into the cave and take a picture of the blue crab? Well, if you knew SeaSigns you could tell your buddy that and more.

SeaSigns is an underwater sign language system born out of the observation that deaf divers had no problems at all communicating underwater...they simply continued to talk with their hands as always. Based on American Sign Language and comprised of around 100 signs, SeaSigns is plenty of vocabulary for divers to get their point accross and some SeaSigners will even manage some expressive language.

I certified a group of divers while on a trip. One woman excitedly signed to me from accross the reef..."come, look, eel eat lobster." Well, I was sure that she had that wrong, it can't be...and I shot her the universal "OK" sign figuring I'd learn what she was getting at once we got back onboard. But she wouldn't let up, "come. look, eel eat lobster" she was emphatic and practically screaming at me. So I motored on over to her location...just in time to see lobster antennae, and legs drifting down to settle on the reef, and one big eel, gulping as he managed to swallow a huge lump down his throat. Yup "eel, eat lobster" all right and I missed it, but my buddy had managed to tell me.

The system is amazingly easy to learn and a little practice will make one quite profficient. The materials, including a DVD and eBook make self study easy and guide the diver through the proper technique for signing underwater in bulky gloves or even in mitts. SeaSigners earn a descriptive tag as their certification identifying them as underwater signers and many scuba training agencies have a specialty based on the SeaSigns program.

I'm always anxious to get more folks profficient in underwater sign language and this season Atlantic Edge Dive Center will offer an introductory seminar on June 9 at 6:30pm. The seminar will give you a chance to experience just how easy it is to learn SeaSigns. So come check us out, I'd love to teach you to Learn to Sign!

Spring Tune Up

As a diver I never take anything for granted. Sure, I've been doing this for a very long time and there are very few things about recreational scuba diving that are new to me...but I always prepare and double check my list. So its spring and dive season is fully underway and I recently spent a very cold weekend getting prepared and testing the equipment and running the dives at the local training quarry/lake. I try to do a shakedown dive at the begining of each season to iron the bugs out. Sometimes every aspect of a dive can seen like a never been done before component. Even the way I lay out my tarp and organize my gear can be strange when I haven't done it in several months. Do I make sandwiches and a thermos of coffee, or is it better to take jars of peanut butter and jelly and some bread and make lunch on the spot? Do I use the drysuit gloves or will wetsuit gloves be enough? Are my fin straps long enough to accommodate the rock boots? Are the batteries working in my lights? Can I remember how to download dives from dive computer to laptop? These are the kinds of things I have to work out every spring.



Once in the water I can take some time to get the lay of the land...do I remember how to navigate from the platform to the truck and is the pizza man still intact? I can record the temperature at the platform and check the vizability so that I can be sure to share the good news with prospective student divers. Most importantly, I can think through solutions to be ready to respond to any eventuality. I can make sure I am prepared. That's the reason for a spring tune up or a shakedown dive and I try not to miss one.



The first dive of the spring requires some preparation and thought so here's what I do:

• Lay out all the necessary gear on a tarp in the middle of my garage


• Make certain that everything is in working order with fresh batteries and solid straps and connectors. My gear is generally serviced in the fall but this is where I would make certain of that


• Thoroughly examine the contents of my tool kit and replace any missing parts


• Update the contents of my First Aid kit, making sure to throw away out of date medicine and supplies


• Make a list of things I need to buy as replacements or spare parts - buy them


• Pack my bag in reverse order of use so my bcd is on the top and my gloves are on the bottom of the bag


• Organize my garage storage of scuba gear so that I can find whatever I need and know with confidence that it is in working order

After the first dive of the season I then make a list of what worked and what didn't or what additional gear would be good to have for next time. At one particularly muddy lake I have reminded myself to bring a spare pair of shoes that I don't mind getting filthy and a plastic bin in which to store muddy things for the ride home.

So get out there and get your first dive of the season accomplished, prepare and make your list, and if you have any good tips be sure to share them with me! Cheers...jane