The Veterans Project reached a milestone on beautiful Santa Catalina Island just off the Suthern California coast. The graduation was a mix of scuba and skin diving. The convenient stairway recently added by the City of Avalon to the historic Casino Point made entering and exiting the water a breeze!
The class performed well putting their class room and pool training to work in the open ocean. Scuba instructor, Bryan Troxler, as well as Challenges Foundation founder and president, Nicolas Coster, were impressed with the safe and graceful water entries and exits. The dedication, focus and enthusiasm made for a fun dive excursion for instructor and students alike.
We would like to give special recognition to Lt. Col. Mel Pasley USAR (retired), himself a decorated veteran of the Iraq War and other conflicts for his generosity of both time and experience helping out the class. Mel is an HSA-certified dive buddy. He is also a whiz with dive computers having logged every dive on his laptop since he started diving. We'll keep his number of years diving a top secret. See Mel in action in the bottom photo!
Louisa Mendelsohn (in the blue shirt) and lead instructor Bryan Troxler (light blue wetsuit top) assist a dive student as they descend the stairs at Casino Point. Other divers are already preparing to start their dive. Off in the distance, buoys mark a protected area for divers where boats are not allowed.
Bryan, Louisa and the student check the dive gear one more time. This moment represents weeks of class work and training in the pool. The class has drilled basic skills, safety procedures, underwater communication and other tasks for weeks. The payoff for all the hard work is at hand.
Mel and Bryan take the extra precaution of having their student sit as a wave recedes from the steps. The stairs at Casino Point have certainly made entering and exiting the water much safer. Years ago, divers at Casino Point had to carefully pick their way over rocks holding bulky gear the whole way. Loss of balance or unexpected waves left little margin for error. Dive safety is always a concern.
It's GO time! The divers are clear of the stairs with no risk of waves forcing them back on the stairs or the adjacent rocks. Everyone's dive gear is checked. It's now time to submerge to a modest depth to repeat the many skills practiced in the swimming pool.
One of the many skills taught in the pool is equalizing ear and sinus pressure throughout the diver's descent. In this picture, the student is pinching their nose while gently exhaling. This action ensures there is adequate air pressure inside the ear canal and sinus cavities as the diver submerges to greater depths. The safety rope provides added control for the new diver.
Our student is doing great as the ocean floor appears. Catalina has some of the best diving in Southern California.
The dive is done and it's time for a rest. Mel Pasley (on the right) is ready to assist if the need arises.