The sausage launch ... -ed!

With the newness of this blog, my mind has been flipping through its filed memories, searching for the potential blog entry. The folder “Dive Hin Daeng, Andaman Seas, 20-25 October 2006” popped out … and I knew I had to post it.

When my friends and I began dive lessons back in May/June 2005, we attended hours of lectures and pool sessions before heading for the Open Water (OW) certification at Lang Tengah, off Kuala Trengganu. Unfortunately, I never did get to practice launching the safety device, commonly know as the "sausage." Divers use this to alert boatmen of their whereabouts before they surface.

Trust me, I have seen the "sausage" launched by dive instructors and dive masters every single time, and in my mind, I was convinced I could launch it easily. After all it looked so simple.

My chance to launch the sausage came sometime between my 50th and 60th dive and almost a year and a half after I got my OW license. It was during a live-on-board "Sea Moth" trip to Hin Daeng islands, Andaman Seas, at the start of the whale shark and manta ray season.

Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for YOU, my dive instructor captured on video this dive blooper.

Note to non-divers: In order to appreciate this video, read on to understand what should and should not be done while launching a "sausage":

1. Only one diver is required to launch the "sausage." Buddy divers, generally, need not assist.
2. Diver should be reasonably steady at 5 meters while doing the safety stop and not float up towards the water's surface (or float upside down, for that matter!)
3. Octopus (the yellow alternative mouthpiece/breathing apparatus) should fit nicely in the "sausage's" opening (in this case the opening seemed too small! Argghhh ... those b!%^#& Taiwan "sausages"!)
4. The weight should be sufficient to hold the string down (under no circumstance should the divemaster be tugging on the string.) In this case the string was way too long!
5. Diver need not do a ritual dance around the "sausage" before launching it. It does not enhance the performance of the "sausage."
6. When the "sausage" IS launched, diver should remain at 5 meters to complete the 3-minute safety stop and not float up with the "sausage."
7. When at the surface, the "sausage" should be fully inflated, not limp!
8. The whole action should take no more than 60 seconds. In this instance, it took a full 2 minutes and more to launch the "sausage."

Hummm ... I have been told that “laughter is the best medicine.” I hope this one does it for you, as it did the group of 20-some divers last October. As always, I became the main entertainment for the evening.

Now, you can watch the video!