Grouchy Diver Dry Too Long

In the weeks leading up to the annual SCUBA Show convention aboard the Queen Mary, and for a short time after, things get pretty hectic in the office. Dives get canceled and I don't get wet as often as I'd like. This year, through a series of unfortunate circumstances, I have not been in the water for an unprecedented 7 weeks.

I use to joke that my skin would get scaly and flake away to horrid sores. Or my eyes would glaze over milky as I would take long, open mouthed gasps. Of course this does not happen, but a sort of insanity does set in. Ask my wife and kids. They know. Does it happen to you?

ANYTHING underwater on TV catches my eye. (Salmon spawning at 2 a.m. anyone?) Kiddy pools out for the summer suddenly catch my eye. (I wonder what's underwater there?) And I can be caught late at night organizing and reorganizing my dive gear, all the while smelling the sweet odors of neoprene, silicone, and "memories" of great dives past (some people say "yuck" to these smells, but to me, ambrosia!) But most of all, I get just plain grouchy.

The therapeutic nature of hyperbaric oxygen has become well known in recent years. Oxygen therapy is known to speed healing, relieve migraines, even cure a hang-over. Even air (21% oxygen) can give you a potent dose of oxygen at 100 feet due to increased pressures. Who's to say that some of us divers need that regular dose of hyperbaric pressurized air for our well being?

Bottom line is I feel out of balance when I don't dive. Communing with the sea seems to put my life back in perspective. I've heard people talk that way about getting outdoors and breathing the fresh air. So what's wrong that I get my "fresh air" out of scuba bottle?