D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
November
2008
Scuba in the Desert
Page: 2"It can be life-changing for a person or for a family," he says.
Talley has also done some wreck diving, which requires specialized training. "I've been through shipwrecks off of California, and also near La Paz (Mexico). We once did a 'full penetration' of a German U-boat off the coast of North Carolina."
Talley turns from light hearted to serious when he says of wreck diving, "It is a reminder of our mortality. It can be a real eerie feeling — very intense emotionally to do it. You find things that the people on the ships might have been using just before the ship sank. It feels like you are sharing their space."
The conversation swings back to Potter and Rustebakke's shop. A tidy and organized place, it is filled with all things scuba. A number of underwater photos are also posted: Dive Quest is sponsoring an underwater photo contest, with an appropriate prize being dinner for two at Landry's seafood restaurant in El Paso.
Talley, smiling again, notes, "We sell fun."
But there are of course hazards involved with scuba diving. One of the most common is decompression sickness, sometimes called "the bends." Recreational diving shouldn't require a "decompression stop," but it's nonetheless something divers need to be aware of; this safety stop for deeper dives involves a three-minute pause when you've risen to 15 to 20 feet from the surface.
As one scuba manual explains, decompression sickness (DCS) "is best known as an injury that affects underwater divers who breathe gas which is at a higher pressure than surface pressure. The pressure of the surrounding water increases as the diver descends and reduces as the diver ascends. The risk of DCS increases by diving long or deep without slowly ascending and making the decompression stops needed to eliminate the inert gases normally, although the specific risk factors are not well understood. Some divers seem more susceptible than others under identical conditions."
"Nitrogen bubbles tend to gather in tendon endings. They follow the path of least resistance. Skin bends can look like a rash or bruising," says Potter with a mild grimace.
The pain caused by DCS can range from mild to excruciating, and is only "cured" by recompression.
Then there are more offbeat side effects to diving, such as exposure to sea-lion poop. With a laugh, Talley admits, "We're 'turd herders.'"
Oh?
Potter explains, "We go to the El Paso Zoo and clean out the sea-lion exhibit."
Seems that the zoo is home to four California sea lions, and, well, someone has to do it, so the divers have made the clean-up a regular activity. People love to watch them at work, even this kind of work, and when they talk to onlookers, they become "instant friends," Talley reports.
That seems to go with the (underwater) territory — making friends wherever you dive.
Talley nods and says, "When you share bubbles, you're friends."
Dive Quest Scuba is located at 1021 E. Amador, Suite B, in Las Cruces. For more information and a class schedule, check the Dive Quest Web site at www.zianet.com/divequestnm/usguys.html or call 525-DIVE (3483).