ahhhhh snap!

the adventure for the day was the helo dunker. basically it simulates being in a helicopter that crashes into the ocean. i was kindof nervous just because...well, you are strapped into a seat, dropped in the water and turned upside down. you can not release your seatbelt until the 180 degree turn is complete. hahahaha...yea. i was worried that i would run out of breath before that happened.

we got 3 rides. in the first ride i was "the pilot" of the aircraft. turned upside down, had to push out a window, release the seatbelt, flip out of my seat and then swim to the surface. piece of cake. it was a little nerve wracking but still, i made it with no problems.

ride number two was a little more difficult, and i had a bit of a malfunction. never good when you are upside down underwater. lol. i was in the back of the aircraft and had to pull out a window that would always stick. the call for "crash" was made and we were goin down. as soon as the water hit my feet i started to pull on the window. ofcourse..it was stuck so i had to wait until i was completely submerged and upside down so that i could release the seat belt straps and get leverage. well, there are 5 straps to this seatbelt. one of which did not come loose so when i spun to get out, it wrapped around my neck and started choking me. lol, i stayed calm because, well, i was already holding my breath so that wasnt an issue. however, 6-7 seconds off of your escape time underwater is not good. i managed to pull the belt over my head after spinning back around a couple of times, pull out the window and shoot myself to the top of the water without showing signs of panic. heck yea! inside, i was almost to that point.

one more ride to go. this one...yea, it was the one i was worried about. i was stuck in a seat in the middle of the aircraft. before you can release the seatbelt, aside from waiting until you are upside down, you have to have a reference point. or, something that you are holding onto to guide you to your exit. okay, i can do this. BUT for this ride we were wearing black out goggles because we were crashing at night. haha. nice...you are gonna put me in the seat that i have to travel the longest distance and find a little hole by pulling myself along the seats and give me goggles that i cant see out of. holy bad scenario batman! thats just awesome! we flip, i get out of the seatbelt, without trying to hang myself, pull myself along the seats....or try to. when something that you are in flips upside down and you have no way to see, things get a little confusing. to me, the seats were below me. haha...not anymore, they are above me. im pullin and i get to the back of the aircraft. i thought i felt the window, but then i felt wall. what the heck is goin on? i feel around some more and find an opening, however, i soon realize that it is not one that i can use. before i could take my hand off of it i felt someone smack my helmet. lol...the instructor was letting me know i was going the wrong way. i gave him a thumbs up, or atleast i think i did, and found the window. i was on my last few seconds of air when i popped up to the surface. its over!!!! i made it. easy day, right? lol. well, to truly finish things off in a hayli fashion...i went to pull my goggles off and when i did they slipped out of my hand and popped me right in the eyeball. not the general area...the actual eyeball. hahaha...it stung, but i didnt care. i just got out of the pool and thanked God that i was still alive. then i was getting out of my flight gear and thought...wait a minute! im not even going to be on helicoptors. oh well, it was fun.

anyway...that was my adventure. if you would like to see what exactly it is, you can go to youtube and type in helo dunker or something along those lines. it should pull it up. some videos are better than others. it is a really awesome training tool. i hope you have enjoyed another silly story from this silly sailor. have a wonderful memorial day weekend!