AOW check out dives...

[bbianchi]

Mike, I did some checking just so you could know.. Oceanic uses a Modified Haldanean model, which depending on how they define modified could mean a few things. However, its believed that their model is somewhat liberal. I also checked and your computer lets you program user defined "soft" limits if you will. I know on my Pro Plus 2 I set Nitrogen and Oxygen back a bubble or so each just for the extra cushion.

 

[dannobee]

Also, an extra three minutes on your last stop forgives a lot of sins.

 

[mikeguerrero]

Also, an extra three minutes on your last stop forgives a lot of sins.

Dan,

Like I mentioned at 27 feet I finally pulled out of DECO. I didn't then just rise to the surface. I climbed up just about 15 feet from the surface and hung there for at least 10 extra minutes just breathing and breathing.

I had the boat at my sight and was very comfortable just practicing my bouyancy with all new gear. So as I stood just floating and enjoying the view.

Then I finally decided I have plenty of gas I could continue to hover but just then I saw the other divers comming up the line and I pulled up and broke the surface.

My instructor told me later that as I went up and vented out more gas, my computer gave me a credit for moving out of depth.

I think this is all a great learning curve for me and a rude awakening if I didn't acknowlege all the mistakes I commited.

MG

 

[Adobo]

Dan,

Like I mentioned at 27 feet I finally pulled out of DECO. I didn't then just rise to the surface. I climbed up just about 15 feet from the surface and hung there for at least 10 extra minutes just breathing and breathing.

I had the boat at my sight and was very comfortable just practicing my bouyancy with all new gear. So as I stood just floating and enjoying the view.

Then I finally decided I have plenty of gas I could continue to hover but just then I saw the other divers comming up the line and I pulled up and broke the surface.

My instructor told me later that as I went up and vented out more gas, my computer gave me a credit for moving out of depth.

I think this is all a great learning curve for me and a rude awakening if I didn't acknowlege all the mistakes I commited.

MG

For my benefit, what were the mistakes and what are the take aways from this dive?

 

[mikeguerrero]

Adobo,

The biggest mistake I made was allowing myself to do a deep dive, Ball Buster with brand new equipment: Apeks WTX harness with steel back plate, Apeks XTX 200, Apeks Egress.

I dove this equipment only the day before at Break Water; two dives, navigation and nightdiving.

This was the first time I went to back inflate from jacket so the bouyancy was a learning curve for me; I picked up okay but I should've had many more dives with this equipment before I took the deep dive on a boat at ball buster.

In fact when I went all the way out to ball buster I didn't want to get off the boat as I was completely suited up. I hesitated and didn't want to flip backward; it took about 4 minutes for me to calm down then I did it. (Another error on my end)

Biggest error was not knowing my Oceanic VT3 completely; I've never understood DECO just not to enter it but not how to read it... This is on my agenda to learn before I take another deep dive.

So I need to be within my comfort zone before I say yes; that's the biggest lesson....

MG

p.s
I've never done a boat dive and it was a little difficult since the seas were not calm it was very bouncy all over the place...

Too much 1st time for everything is looking for a disaster and I almost ended up with bigger problems than I really wanted....

 

[Gombessa]

Biggest error was not knowing my Oceanic VT3 completely; I've never understood DECO just not to enter it but not how to read it... This is on my agenda to learn before I take another deep dive.

Mike, might I suggest one other thing? Before you hit the water, you should already understand your dive plan. Where, how deep, how long, etc. If you know you're going to be at 100ft for 10 minutes, how much no-deco/min-deco time does that leave you? If you descend to 100 for 10 minutes and then ascend to 50ft for 15 minutes, about how much no-deco time would you have then? It's great to have a computer to give you information real-time, but the best thing you can do is to know the guidelines in your head before you hit the water. Then you can actively plan and anticipate what you'll do during the dive, rather than have to constantly check the computer to see how much time you have remaining at your current depth, or be surprised when it suddenly throws you a deco obligation you weren't expecting.

 

[rhlee]

or be surprised when it suddenly throws you a deco obligation you weren't expecting.

or when it suddenly craps out without warning during a dive

At the very least, having a pre-dive understanding/agreement on max-depth/max-time/min-gas can save alot of headaches. A few minutes' chat on the boat can really pay dividends when (or better yet, before) things start to go sideways.

 

[bbianchi]

And by pay dividends it he means, save you from paying for a table ride...

 

[mikeguerrero]

Found out that I dove my computer in conservative mode; 1,000 above sea level. I know one of the techs from Oceanic and I called him; he was puzzled and had me send him my dives from my logbook via email. Sure enough he showed me that I've been in conservative mode for some time...

Well I guess its better to be conservative than me blowing out a lung...

MG

 

[Gombessa]

Well I guess its better to be conservative than me blowing out a lung...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I imagine that would be more of an AGE issue than one of nitrogen loading?