100 feet below

[masonak1298]

I'm a new diver who has never been below 70 feet. I'm a little scared to take the leap to 100+ feet. I'm taking the advance open water class this spring. What are some of you experiences and advices? I got about 20 dives under my belt.

 

[Cacia]

Be tuned in to any effects of narcosis. In my case--like being toooo happy down there. Set rules for yourself pre-dive, like stay closer to your buddy, etc.

 

[Jcsgt]

Watch your air more carefully. You will go through it faster at the deeper depth.

 

[Thalassamania]

Your likely to be diving deeper than you are comfortable making an emergency ascent from. Make some realistic decisions concerning what kind of gear you are going to select to support that capability, drill with it, and drill with your buddy.

 

[Scotty g]

In addition as everyone else has stated.

From my experience, i have just completed my AOW.

To me it doesn't seem that much different down there apart from the fact it is noticably different to the time it takes to get there. Once your there, keep yourself switched on. Your instructor/divemaster should be looking at the 'narced' signs along with you having your wits about yourself and noticing that something MAYBE not quite right. Relax and trust your training, do a check of hand signals with your company before your dive so that they know if your not that comfortable with the depth.

Yes yes, as Jcsgt said, watch your air!!! I am ashamed to admit that i didn't watch my air half as much as i should have been watching. Thankfully my instructor gave me a bollocking afterwards (which was fully justified) which i will not forget next time!

Finally, i found that my post-dive brief made a lot of difference in understanding the fundimentals of the last dive. I would be confident to say that post-dive chats are just as important as pre-dive briefs.

Try not to worry about it, plan your dive - dive your plan - have fun

Scotty

 

[theskull]

Deeper than 60, and especially at 100, mistakes that might be annoying at 20-40 ft. become dangerous.

Diving deeper demands that you:
Be in control of your buoyancy
Be aware of your time, depth, NDL, and breathing gas pressure
Have a dive plan that returns you to the surface with a gas reserve
Have a redundant breathing gas supply (reliable buddy or self-carried)
Plan to make a safety stop
Have an emergency plan including available Oxygen and emergency phone numbers
Preferably be a member of DAN so you are insured should an accident occur

Dive safe, and enjoy the deep,

theskull

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Doing a deep dive is like flying ... or like driving a car across the desert. There are no refueling stations between the start and end points, so you have to make sure you have enough gas to get you there and back before you go. Since you are beyond "emergency bailout" limits, you have to plan more carefully.

Get some idea of how much gas you consume, on average ... then think about how much faster you will be consuming that gas at your deepest depth ... then consider how much gas you have in your tank and how long you can expect to (safely) remain at that depth with that much gas. Leave enough for your ascent, plus your reserve.

Also remember that you will need gas for your buddy if something bad happens to his (or her) air supply.

Doing all of that really isn't as complicated as it sounds, once you know how. Drop me a PM if you want a more detailed explanation ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ianr33]

I'm a new diver who has never been below 70 feet. I'm a little scared to take the leap to 100+ feet. I'm taking the advance open water class this spring. What are some of you experiences and advices? I got about 20 dives under my belt.

Rather than taking a leap why not try baby steps.

Do an 80 foot dive first then a 90 foot one.

And as NWGratefulDiver suggested,figure your SAC rate before the dives so you can calculate how long your air supply will allow you to stay at depth. Read up on "Rockbottom" and decide in advance what your turn pressure will be.

 

[Wilson]

Excellent information in all of the above. If you feel some lingering apprehension as you descend, try counting kick cycles as you swim along...do a few kick cycles, check you guages, check your buddy, check your position with the group, count some more kicks, etc. to keep your mind occupied and focused on on the task at hand. Seeing that first 100 reading on the depth guage is a pretty exciting thing. Good luck!

 

[EvaL]

Good advice from those above. I second ianr33, do progressively deeper dives so you won't go beyond your training and feel uncomfortable - you are not trying to break any records here. I did my AOW in a midwestern quarry with 20 feet vis, temperatures in the 50's. We only went to 75ft.
I'd read the AOW manual and review the key points on the physical, physiological and perceptual. Talk to your instructor if you have any questions or feel apprehensive. You'll notice you need more air in your BCD to get to neutral buoyancy as you go deeper so you'll need to inflate your BCD more as you go deeper. Even if you don't breathe any faster, each breath removes much more air than when you're at shallow depths. So it is important to watch your SPG (depth and air), IMHO perhaps once every 2-3 minutes as you're still unsure how much more you'll be breathing. If your instructor/DM is taking you really deep, be aware of symptoms of narcosis. Ask your instructor/DM at what air pressure you should begin your ascent and watch your rate of ascent. I would observe my SPG (or computer) as I ascend and continue doing so at the safety stop (have a watch to monitor the time if ou don't have a computer).
Dive safely.