So nauseated

[yle]

I'm not ready to give up but won't dive again until I've been properly trained.

Sounds like a perfect plan: positive attitude and you know exactly what's important (the proper training.) You'll be fine, and I'm sure you'll have plenty of years of enjoyable diving in your future.

In the meantime, ask questions and absorb as much advice as you can from Scubaboard.

 

[Zef]

lol... someone should explain to this instructor why we use lead for scuba weights instead of rocks. Big difference.

Rocks are a viable substitute for lead if one finds themself in the water without the proper amount of ballast. I have, on a couple of occasions, gone diving with folk that miscalculated how much lead they needed and after exhausting any excess I was brought with me to the water's edge, I have resorted to putting chunks of rocks in their BC pockets. I have also personally resorted to cradling a big rock when I found myself unable to stay submerged because of a mismatch between the thickness of my drysuit undergarment with the amount of lead I brought with me.

When faced with challenges the resilient adapt and overcome.

-Z

 

[BRT]

lol... someone should explain to this instructor why we use lead for scuba weights instead of rocks. Big difference.

Yes, but if you had no lead....

 

[Neilwood]

Rocks are a viable substitute for lead if one finds themself in the water without the proper amount of ballast. I have, on a couple of occasions, gone diving with folk that miscalculated how much lead they needed and after exhausting any excess I was brought with me to the water's edge, I have resorted to putting chunks of rocks in their BC pockets. I have also personally resorted to cradling a big rock when I found myself unable to stay submerged because of a mismatch between the thickness of my drysuit undergarment with the amount of lead I brought with me.

When faced with challenges the resilient adapt and overcome.

-Z

I believe that a long time ago (well before I was a diver) holding a rock was an accepted practise for those who found themselves positively buoyant towards the end of a dive.

As you say, adapt and overcome. Lead might be better but rocks can work pretty well.

 

[Rickk]

lol... someone should explain to this instructor why we use lead for scuba weights instead of rocks. Big difference.

Specific gravity lead, over 11, specific gravity rocks, around 2.5 or even less in some cases.

You need a much bigger weight pocket to use rocks instead of lead.

 

[salt_in_my_hair]

lol honestly the rocks were a quick solution and they worked. Definitely I should have done a better job of initially checking my buoyancy but now I know!

 

[chillyinCanada]

lol honestly the rocks were a quick solution and they worked. Definitely I should have done a better job of initially checking my buoyancy but now I know!

It's also kind of unusual for a guide/dm/instructor to be taking a newbie down without having some extra lead on themselves to hand over.

 

[60plus]

The motion of the sea has some effect on me. I am not normally seasick but can feel queasy when taking a long interval between dives on a boat in a certain type of wave movement - just slightly more than a gentle rocking is what gets me, rougher seas have no effect. To try to identify you problem I would see f you can find some dives in fresh water and totally calm seawater.
On the subject of rocks for ballast they can be useful. I have successfully dived with 11kg but sometimes found I could not submerge with 11 so I generally dive with 12 which means putting in more air to bcd than ideal when at depth. Carrying a rock which I just throw away once well submerged means I dive with 11 kg giving better buoyancy. I suspect at times I just have a bit of air trapped in my bcd and wetsuit which makes submerging difficult with 11 kg.

 

[chillyinCanada]

The motion of the sea has some effect on me. I am not normally seasick but can feel queasy when taking a long interval between dives on a boat in a certain type of wave movement - just slightly more than a gentle rocking is what gets me, rougher seas have no effect. To try to identify you problem I would see f you can find some dives in fresh water and totally calm seawater.
On the subject of rocks for ballast they can be useful. I have successfully dived with 11kg but sometimes found I could not submerge with 11 so I generally dive with 12 which means putting in more air to bcd than ideal when at depth. Carrying a rock which I just throw away once well submerged means I dive with 11 kg giving better buoyancy. I suspect at times I just have a bit of air trapped in my bcd and wetsuit which makes submerging difficult with 11 kg.

Squueze your bcd of as much air as you can release before rolling. Kind of like preparing for a hot drop, only you don't immediately drop. This is not a good idea if you aren't comfortable on the surface in the first place. Then as you and your buddy start to descend, exhale. Keep your legs straight don't bend your knees up

 

[rongoodman]

Then as you and your buddy start to descend, exhale. Keep your legs straight don't bend your knees up

Or just invert and kick down while dumping any remaining air from the rear dump, which is now at the highest point.