14yr old came up at end of 2nd open water dive and is now scared

[oly5050user]

Yes, he was fine until he had to remove his mask and keep it off for a full minute.

The water was 43 degrees. He wore his dads old 7mm wetsuit that actually fit him well (husband got it custom made in navy when he was 22yrs old).

I'm not sure what the water temp will be in May... that's the latest we could do it here if he wants to be certified before we go to Turds and Caicos in June. He could get certified there, but it would take 3 days, which would cut into his fishing time...deepsea fishing is a love of his so that won't work. But May probley would be a bit warmer than 42 degrees.

Thanks, this is all new to me, I'm one of those people who would need several shallow dives to get used to the water. I've thought of giving it a try, but I'm not sure PA is the place for me to learn.

An old 7mm wet suit even if it fits properly is not appropriate for 43 degree water.Old suits are not as efficient as new one.Neoprene actually breaks down in use an age.This is why you need less lead with a old suit vs a new one.
Your son would need 1 day to complete the last 3 ow training dives.Have local instructor issue referral with ow dive 1 completed and have dive signed off in your sons log book also.

 

[oly5050user]

padi req. do not have the one minute mask off
it states:remove and repace mask for open water check out dive 4
pool is one minute
one minute at 43 is a bit sadistic

Absolutely true. Remove/replace in a controlled,repeateable manner for ow training dives..

 

[Stacelou]

Thanks for all the info. I'll ask about the one minute in open water. My husband did say when he got certified they did not require this, and he was certified as an industrial diver...

GrumpyOldGuy, since I am new to scuba certification, what do you mean by referral dive? The dive shop we are going to said he can wait till warmer weather, but we would need it done by end of May... are you referring to something else? Thanks

 

[oly5050user]

Thanks for all the info. I'll ask about the one minute in open water. My husband did say when he got certified they did not require this, and he was certified as an industrial diver...

GrumpyOldGuy, since I am new to scuba certification, what do you mean by referral dive? The dive shop we are going to said he can wait till warmer weather, but we would need it done by end of May... are you referring to something else? Thanks

a referral is a letter stating what skills have been completed already.If he completes all academic work and confined water(pool) work here in the northeast and takes a vacation down in the islands he takes the referral, along with a copy of his medical, to a instructor and that instructor completes any necessary dives.If your son is taking a PADI course he has a referral form in his training log book.Must be done within 1 year of pool completion date or course may have to be taken over again.

 

[cocoajoe]

43 degrees? Jeeze, I wasn't looking forward to winter (72) temps.

 

[knowone]

After you learn CPR, before you have your kid's, and then as you teach them to swim, buy them a mask snorkel and flippers to walk around with in the house and as supervised bath toys, then when they are finished with diapers and considering they think you also live in the ocean for all the times they have seen you disappear into and emerge from it, then they may wish to learn snorkeling and come with you.

Or at least that's what happened where I live and I didn't have to say a word.

 

[j yaeger]

huh???

 

[BabyDuck]

it's a zen koan. all of his answers are. be the electron.

let me also add that the coldest i've *ever* been diving was november at dutch. props to your son for trying, but it's insane and will leave a bad taste for diving. go to florida to finish if you want to be done by the big trip.

 

[j yaeger]

whew!!!!!thought it was a senior moment......

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I stopped taking OW divers locally for checkouts the second week of October. Water was 59. That is cold enough for most adults. I would not even consider a kid that cold. I dive year round but I have a drysuit. As for the platform being deeper I agree with the others who said that it is not necessary to do that right off the bat. In fact my students and I do not use platforms for skills. Only as a reference. They will get neutral and horizontal just above or off to the side of it. Then we do skills in midwater. So there is no reason he cannot do the skills at 25, 20, even 15 if his buoyancy skills are where they should be. I will have them do skills in the 20-30 range but them repeat them in the 10-15 range while swimming. We do not do skills just once on checkouts. Mask remove and replace is done on at least 2 of the dives. Once stationary and hovering and once while swimming - at a minimum. There is no reason to take the mask off and leave it off for a minute unless doing a no mask swim with a buddy. You need to find an instructor who is more patient and will let your son take the lead with some encouragement as opposed to direct orders. I have a reputation for being patient and using distractions as well to get students through issues like this. It;s not hard. It just requires putting the needs of the student ahead of schedules and doing things in the order that suits them. Which often is not how the shop or agency usually suggests or worse requires they be done.