robbo the rod
New
Hello All,
Thougt I'd say hello to everyone, introduce myself and share my Dive expreriances so far.
I'm Robbo, 29, originally from Aberdeen, Scotland now living + working in Dubai, UAE.
Decided to to take up diving in the first half of this year and have really got the bug.
I'm now certified up to Advanced Open Water and I recently have my Nitrox Cert.
I've also just passed my EFR.
I next plan to do my Rescue Diver course and to get my number of Dives up.
Only did my 15th Dive last weekend, in Al Aqqa resort, Fujairah, UAE.
All my training so far has been through my local centre in Dubai.
Really enjoyed the training and the dives and the guys are all freindly enough.
However I've decided to continue doing the rest of my courses through other Dive Centres in the area, so i can shop around and also meet as many local divers as possible.
To be honest the original training centre, i feel is bit of a sausage factory and i get a feeling they won't be able to to give me the dedicated time to reach Dive Master within 1 year from now, then hopefully en route to Instructor then down the TEC route.
As i work a 9-5 job and the travelling time involved, I'll need centres and instructors to be flexiable enough to give me the time i need. Hopefully I'll find that with some others both here in Dubai and on the West Coast (Fujairah & Musamdam). In saying that, I also need to plan my training accordingly and I obviously can't expect centre to completley revolve schedlues round solely me. I'm not overly critising the first place, it's just that their very popular and seem to have a large intake of OW training. IMO I would be better served setting up a relationship with a smaller unit. I reckon you'd get a better laugh and fun times that way as a bonus.
Last weekend i did my first dives using the majority of my own recently bought kit.
Having done the numerous research, both locally and on-line, here is what i bought:
CRESSI big eye mask with clear skirts (on hindsight, wished i'd gone with black skirts)
(I also need a bit of practice with anti fogging procedures)
MARES 5-4-3 WETSUIT (front zip)
MARES AVANTI QUATRO FINS
3mm BOOTS & GLOVES from AQUALUNG
SCUBAPRO T BLACK BCD (with lead weights)
RETRACTABLE GEAR KEEPER (in order to attach SPG to left waist D-ring)
SUUNTO VYPER AIR COMP
Got to say, so far (only 2 dives mind you) I'm completley happy with ALL the kit. Now i'm just looking to make a few adjustments here and there to help with streamlining and better kit managment under water.
For future kit, I'm looking at my reg setup.
I'm now looking into buying the HOG D1 1st & 2nd stages (cooldwater, as i may do some diving back home in Sotland) and having looked into it, I'm going to go with the Long Hose (7ft) setup for my Primary 2nd Stage and a short hose set-up (22 inch) for my Alternative 2nd stage (might buy some smivel joints as well). The alternative will be placed on a necklace, positioned under my chin.
Having looked into this, i think this set up is more logical. It will also help me get into TEC REC if i look to go down that route in the future.
Will also get a simple DIVE RIGHT SPG and an assorment of attaching clips.
Anyone got any thoughts or critisicms about this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I did have one scary moment (apologies for the long winded story). The buddy i was placed with on the first dive of the day, was a new cert OW diver. Don't think we was happiest in the water and he looked uneasy and under-weighted. Because of this i decided to take the lead for our route (first time, bit nervy, before this I'd always been closely followed by a DM guide). I asked my buddy if he was ok with his weight, and he said yes so off we went. There was nothing wrong with the majority of the dive, but cause he looked a bit uneasy and 'flappy', I was consitently looking at him, to make sure he was close and ok and therefore i wasn't fully enjoying my dive. In retrospect i should have made him lead and me follow and directed him on compass bearings as we went. We were at 10m depth (deepest on dive was 13m). Then the first time i asked him to signal his air pressure, he positioned himself bolt upright in the water and started shooting up towards the surface. I immediately went after him to slow him down. The alarm was going off on my newly aquired computer for ascent rate. Managed to stop him at 2m. We then proceeded slowly down to 6m, where i made sure he was ok and neutral. From there we stayed at 6m for 6 mins and then made a slow ascent to the surface. We discussed it after we were back on the boat. I know it's not a massive issue due to the relatively shallow depth of the dive, but still lessons to be learnt on 'out of control' situations. Hopefully the more i dive, the more i can help to avoid this in the future.
Anyone got any thoughts on this? Don't know if i did the right thing, or what should have be done to avoid it happening again. I thought he was under-weighted. I knew i was over-weighted, because i was rigged for 5mm wetsuit, but actually did the dive with only 1mm skin suit. I was using little air in BCD to compensate. Should i have refused to dive with him, until I thought he was weighted correctly?
Again any comments would be great.
The 2nd dive was complete opposite and i was paired with an experianced diver and we dived in a 4 group. Really enjoyable dive and felt completely at ease. (saw my first hawksbill)
The main thing i got from this dive was to buy a SMB and finger reel and train to use it properly, which will be put on the list.
Also looking into future Liveaborad trips, both in Oman and Egypt.
Anyway, sorry for the war and piece article.
Cheers,
Robbo
Thougt I'd say hello to everyone, introduce myself and share my Dive expreriances so far.
I'm Robbo, 29, originally from Aberdeen, Scotland now living + working in Dubai, UAE.
Decided to to take up diving in the first half of this year and have really got the bug.
I'm now certified up to Advanced Open Water and I recently have my Nitrox Cert.
I've also just passed my EFR.
I next plan to do my Rescue Diver course and to get my number of Dives up.
Only did my 15th Dive last weekend, in Al Aqqa resort, Fujairah, UAE.
All my training so far has been through my local centre in Dubai.
Really enjoyed the training and the dives and the guys are all freindly enough.
However I've decided to continue doing the rest of my courses through other Dive Centres in the area, so i can shop around and also meet as many local divers as possible.
To be honest the original training centre, i feel is bit of a sausage factory and i get a feeling they won't be able to to give me the dedicated time to reach Dive Master within 1 year from now, then hopefully en route to Instructor then down the TEC route.
As i work a 9-5 job and the travelling time involved, I'll need centres and instructors to be flexiable enough to give me the time i need. Hopefully I'll find that with some others both here in Dubai and on the West Coast (Fujairah & Musamdam). In saying that, I also need to plan my training accordingly and I obviously can't expect centre to completley revolve schedlues round solely me. I'm not overly critising the first place, it's just that their very popular and seem to have a large intake of OW training. IMO I would be better served setting up a relationship with a smaller unit. I reckon you'd get a better laugh and fun times that way as a bonus.
Last weekend i did my first dives using the majority of my own recently bought kit.
Having done the numerous research, both locally and on-line, here is what i bought:
CRESSI big eye mask with clear skirts (on hindsight, wished i'd gone with black skirts)
(I also need a bit of practice with anti fogging procedures)
MARES 5-4-3 WETSUIT (front zip)
MARES AVANTI QUATRO FINS
3mm BOOTS & GLOVES from AQUALUNG
SCUBAPRO T BLACK BCD (with lead weights)
RETRACTABLE GEAR KEEPER (in order to attach SPG to left waist D-ring)
SUUNTO VYPER AIR COMP
Got to say, so far (only 2 dives mind you) I'm completley happy with ALL the kit. Now i'm just looking to make a few adjustments here and there to help with streamlining and better kit managment under water.
For future kit, I'm looking at my reg setup.
I'm now looking into buying the HOG D1 1st & 2nd stages (cooldwater, as i may do some diving back home in Sotland) and having looked into it, I'm going to go with the Long Hose (7ft) setup for my Primary 2nd Stage and a short hose set-up (22 inch) for my Alternative 2nd stage (might buy some smivel joints as well). The alternative will be placed on a necklace, positioned under my chin.
Having looked into this, i think this set up is more logical. It will also help me get into TEC REC if i look to go down that route in the future.
Will also get a simple DIVE RIGHT SPG and an assorment of attaching clips.
Anyone got any thoughts or critisicms about this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I did have one scary moment (apologies for the long winded story). The buddy i was placed with on the first dive of the day, was a new cert OW diver. Don't think we was happiest in the water and he looked uneasy and under-weighted. Because of this i decided to take the lead for our route (first time, bit nervy, before this I'd always been closely followed by a DM guide). I asked my buddy if he was ok with his weight, and he said yes so off we went. There was nothing wrong with the majority of the dive, but cause he looked a bit uneasy and 'flappy', I was consitently looking at him, to make sure he was close and ok and therefore i wasn't fully enjoying my dive. In retrospect i should have made him lead and me follow and directed him on compass bearings as we went. We were at 10m depth (deepest on dive was 13m). Then the first time i asked him to signal his air pressure, he positioned himself bolt upright in the water and started shooting up towards the surface. I immediately went after him to slow him down. The alarm was going off on my newly aquired computer for ascent rate. Managed to stop him at 2m. We then proceeded slowly down to 6m, where i made sure he was ok and neutral. From there we stayed at 6m for 6 mins and then made a slow ascent to the surface. We discussed it after we were back on the boat. I know it's not a massive issue due to the relatively shallow depth of the dive, but still lessons to be learnt on 'out of control' situations. Hopefully the more i dive, the more i can help to avoid this in the future.
Anyone got any thoughts on this? Don't know if i did the right thing, or what should have be done to avoid it happening again. I thought he was under-weighted. I knew i was over-weighted, because i was rigged for 5mm wetsuit, but actually did the dive with only 1mm skin suit. I was using little air in BCD to compensate. Should i have refused to dive with him, until I thought he was weighted correctly?
Again any comments would be great.
The 2nd dive was complete opposite and i was paired with an experianced diver and we dived in a 4 group. Really enjoyable dive and felt completely at ease. (saw my first hawksbill)
The main thing i got from this dive was to buy a SMB and finger reel and train to use it properly, which will be put on the list.
Also looking into future Liveaborad trips, both in Oman and Egypt.
Anyway, sorry for the war and piece article.
Cheers,
Robbo
I visited Dubai last year and did 2 of my openwater dives in Fujariah (didnt have time to the 4) and it was a great experience as not crowded at all. I'm visiting again next year and plan on going to Musandam as you need to be advanced for this area. I completed my openwater in a very cold murky lake near London....OMG what a contrast! There is a certain kudos though with diving in these conditions & I have to say I actually love it and go back whenever I want to get wet!
