Lesson learned -Need Advice- New Diver needing to practice skills

[apivonka]

The wife and I got PADI OW certified last year and went to Grand Cayman this summer to explore.
We registered to do two different two tank dives with two different outfits.
Log story short, I've been reading James Lapenta's books SCUBA: A Practical Guide for the New Diver and SCUBA: A Practical Guild to Advanced Level Training.

I will have to say that after reading "A Practical Guide for the New Diver" I would say the wife and I are both what he would describe "Follow me divers". We trusted others way too much to do everything for us..
Ok, there I admit it and am working to change this for both myself and my wife's safety..

Thank you James for opening our eyes, and thank you ScubaBoard for providing such a great resource.


Now, on to the next phase of this post.
The wife and I are planning to do a quarry dive on a Friday and are planning to PRACTICE our basic dive skills:
1) Buoyancy control & trim
2) Buddy Diving ( Where we are side-by-side )
3) Underwater communications
4) Navigation

Alternate Air Source Use isn't on the list since I seemed to go through 3000 psi in about 20 min on my first OWD (Grand Cayman North Wall), the dive master/guide provided me with plenty of experience on this topic (FYI by the fourth dive I was up to 50 min/3000psi)

My question(s) is/are:
1) I am going to read up more on Buoyancy control & trim, yet I'm needing more resources. At this point we are still renting our gear from our local dive shop and plan to continue using them until we do buy.
I could really us some good articles on the subject(s). This one see to be our biggest problem areas.

My plan is for the two of us to have a fun dive (Explore) after our basic skills practice at the same depth later that day.

The quarry we are going to is HaighQuery since it is about 2 hrs way.

Any suggestions/Thoughts/Ideas are welcome.

Humbly yours -- The newbie Diver(s).

 

[Marie13]

You'll really get good work on your nav skills at Haigh as vis is often, well, crappy. It was 10ft today, per my regular dive buddy who was there (I was diving Lake Huron). It's my home quarry.

There are training platforms on the left side (when you're walking into the water vis the beach entry). It goes down to maybe 30ft at the most. On the right is the deep side, down to about 50ft except for deep hole in the far corner, which is 85ft.

Get the quarry dive slate map. Tells you where the things are and compass headings. There is a buoyancy course and the rock crusher is cool. The SS Flamingo (33ft cabin cruiser) is on the deep side at about 45ft. Thermocline is at about 25ft. It's about 65 degrees below thermocline. If you're in a 3mm wetsuit with no hood or gloves, you will probably freeze.

Lots of fish, primarily bluegill, hang around the west dock (below it). Play with the fishies.

 

[apivonka]

You'll really get good work on your nav skills at Haigh as vis is often, well, crappy. It was 10ft today, per my regular dive buddy who was there (I was diving Lake Huron). It's my home quarry.

There are training platforms on the left side (when you're walking into the water vis the beach entry). It goes down to maybe 30ft at the most. On the right is the deep side, down to about 50ft except for deep hole in the far corner, which is 85ft.

Get the quarry dive slate map. Tells you where the things are and compass headings. There is a buoyancy course and the rock crusher is cool. The SS Flamingo (33ft cabin cruiser) is on the deep side at about 45ft. Thermocline is at about 25ft. It's about 65 degrees below thermocline. If you're in a 3mm wetsuit with no hood or gloves, you will probably freeze.

Lots of fish, primarily bluegill, hang around the west dock (below it). Play with the fishies.

Any suggestions on a clearer/better visibility quarry?
We are in Indianapolis, In.....

Thanks

 

[2airishuman]

We trusted others way too much to do everything for us..
Ok, there I admit it and am working to change this for both myself and my wife's safety..

Stronger skills and ability to stay safe without help are always a good thing.

Now, on to the next phase of this post.
The wife and I are planning to do a quarry dive on a Friday and are planning to PRACTICE our basic dive skills:
1) Buoyancy control & trim
2) Buddy Diving ( Where we are side-by-side )
3) Underwater communications
4) Navigation

Alternate Air Source Use isn't on the list since I seemed to go through 3000 psi in about 20 min on my first OWD (Grand Cayman North Wall), the dive master/guide provided me with plenty of experience on this topic (FYI by the fourth dive I was up to 50 min/3000psi)

My question(s) is/are:
1) I am going to read up more on Buoyancy control & trim, yet I'm needing more resources. At this point we are still renting our gear from our local dive shop and plan to continue using them until we do buy.
I could really us some good articles on the subject(s). This one see to be our biggest problem areas.

My plan is for the two of us to have a fun dive (Explore) after our basic skills practice at the same depth later that day.

My advice would be to just emphasize having a safe dive together. Then dive often. Shore diving, by yourselves, is going to be a new thing, right? One new thing at a time. If you gear up, do your checks, enter the water, swim around, have fun, exit the water, you'll have built some skills.

It takes practice to get this stuff right. Think in terms of more than one dive. Maybe a dive every week or two, for a while, if your schedule will allow, until you get bored and think you've figured out what you can in that place.

The quarry we are going to is HaighQuery since it is about 2 hrs way.

Any suggestions/Thoughts/Ideas are welcome.

10' viz is pretty common for freshwater lakes this time of year, except for much larger, deeper, and colder bodies of water.

Enjoy the journey.

Plan everything together.

 

[The Chairman]

Alternate Air Source Use isn't on the list since I seemed to go through 3000 psi in about 20 min on my first OWD

Free tip: hold your hands together and watch your SAC rate plummet. What? You're finding it impossible to keep them glued together? Work on that Trim first and then on your buoyancy. Windmilling is a sure sign of being out of control. Once you stop the flailing, you're forced to figure out trim and buoyancy or you're destined to yo-yo all dive long.

 

[Ricardo V.]

apivonka,
I'm noticing your appreciation for good sources of information, an interest in getting the technical "know-how" under your belt. That is really good, and you should keep that.

Considering you are mentioning your wife, I'm thinking she is your dive buddy. I'm fortunate to have my wife as my best dive buddy too.

So, here is what I would recommend. Yes, it is very important to read, but also to do. Find the time to implement what you read, in small bite size chunks. Practice, practice, practice.

Don't try to cover too much either.

Second suggestion. Buy your own equipment as soon as possible, and buy the best you can afford. You get what you pay for, but at the same time, there are truly good quality products available for different budgets.

I'm sure you have read about the importance of owning your equipment and becoming acquainted with it. Your wife and you may be able to get the same type of equipment and both know and understand how it works, where is the power inflators, how to access weight pockets, where is this or that.....

The Chairman just gave you great advise, hold hands and work on your buoyancy control. That takes time but makes a world of a difference. Staying calm, cool and collected also requires practice. You will get better by putting into practice what you read.

There is a nice book about hand signals- called scubasignals. Scubasigns: The guide to all diving handsignals: Dave van Stijn, Mike Harterink: 9789090241654: Amazon.com: Books
I just checked on Amazon and it's like ridiculously expensive. I bought one years ago and it was more like $50. In any case, this book is truly a work of art, fun to read and put into practice. The pictures are really good, and you can spend hours learning and putting into practice your underwater communications.

Best of luck in your quest to perfect your skills. Give your self some time, do read and study, but more importantly, find time for you and your wife to enjoy this wonderful sport and practice.

Ricardo

 

[AZNetEng]

Diving, like most sports, is improved through repetition. Building good habits is extremely important as you polish skills.

Lots of things get better with improving your buoyancy control and being in proper trim. Id also add to your list to work on how much weight you are carrying. New divers are often overweighted.

The most important part though is diving. Be safe!

 

[Marie13]

@apivonka there is at least one quarry in IN that is closer to you than Haigh. Can't speak for the viz, though. Thing is, you want to go very early in the day on a weekend and get in the water before the OW classes stir the bottom up.

 

[dberry]

Especially in the beginning it's a great idea to work on skills over the "student platforms". Find neutral bouyancy, then try to fin circles around edge of the platform keeping 2' above it. Then find the buoyancy course (usually a set of hoops at different heights around the perimeter of a platform). Figure out how to run the course without touching the inflator to change depth, just using your chest expansion and very slight finning up or down. That was one of my "aha!" moments during OWC.

Oh, and have loads of fun!

 

[AlexL]

My plan is for the two of us to have a fun dive (Explore) after our basic skills practice at the same depth later that day.

The quarry we are going to is HaighQuery since it is about 2 hrs way.

welcome to scuba and the board!

myself and the wife are planning to head up to gilboa quarry the weekend of September 9th for a skills and drills weekend, y'all are more than welcome to join us. im sure someone will chime in with a quarry owner comment, but we've not had problems with him in 4 years diving up there. we'll be in twinsets, so i'll have an extra single tank BP/W rig available if y'all wanna give that a spin as well before throwing down purchasing money.