Diary of a Dive Student (Conclusion)

[canismajor]

Saturday 7/22/07 –

The morning was grey in San Pedro with a significant chill in the air when we boarded the boat. First we were assigned seats and given a brief orientation. Then we were headed to Catalina.

Not wanting to have to deal with animosity all weekend, I informed the instructor that we would be in asap to get weight harnesses as they appeared to be the best solution all ‘round.

Dive 1
This was the very first time that I’d had everything on, including gloves and hood. The hood kind of bunched up under the wetsuit, but I didn’t know what normal was, so I just went with it. As for the weighting, as I told you all last week, I was supposed to have 30 lbs on me, but after reactions I’d received from SBers, I decided to try 28 instead.

It was still too much.

I was out of control, again. This time in something deeper than a 10 foot pool – Way Not Good. We were supposed to go to 40 feet and just swim around to get used to things. I sank like a stone to ocean floor at 58 feet. Eventually, I got up with the rest and we went through a couple things we’d worked on in class. Mask clearing and a such.

I was finding it a bit difficult to breathe but chalked that up to first-dive nerves.

With regard to my little overweighting problem, unfortunately, I was not alone. During this dive, the instructor was up and down 9 times with various students and would be livid – understandably so, with the risk of getting bent – when we finally finished.

But first there was one more emergency to deal with. Now that I had surfaced, I couldn’t breath.

When I had put it on under the wet suit, the Pinnacle hood had bunched up. Add to that the fact that Pinnacle has a kind of sealing system where the neck and hood meet. I’m guessing that when I came up the gasses in the suit got trapped up against that bunched up hood cowling and pushed it right into my throat.

So, they got me on the boat and had the suit undone and the hood off pretty quickly. After a few minutes to allow me to get my sh** together, we all agreed that I would dive without a hood for the duration.

It was also decided that I would go to 24 lbs of weights.

And as my first open water dive ended so inauspiciously, I wondered if maybe I shouldn’t take up knitting instead diving.

Dive 2

The answer to that question was resoundingly clear when I next entered the water sans hood and 4 lbs.

Life was good. No more sinking like a stone.

And no, it wasn’t cold at all. Felt pretty much like being in a pool. A chilly pool, mind you, but all in all not bad.

No events. (Well, none for me. Others had their problems, but) I completed my assignments and returned to the boat feeling great! Even my air consumption was down.

Dive 3

Again, another great dive. Did some compass work and swam through the kelp. Now, a minor complaint, if I might. There’s no way they should have had 9 of us playing follow the leader through the kelp. We started as 9, anyway. We ended as a group of 4 and a group of 5 that had lost each other. That’s in addition to people running into each other, jockeying for position.

But, no biggie.

We ended the dive on the surface (duh) doffing and donning our BCs and weight removal. Right about then my wife – already certified; just there to be my buddy and get a refresher - got cramps in both legs so she got an early rest on the boat. I had to do the skills. No problem on BC and weight removal. Trying to put the weight back in the pocket, it slipped from my hand. By the time I was back on the boat checking on the wife (who was ok), a DM had recovered the weight pouch.

All in all, a mediocre day at best as far as my performance was concerned.

But it was the coolest day!


Sunday 7/22/07

It was cold. Much colder than the previous day.

Today we got there a bit early and got a seat on the “dry side” of the boat – thank whatever deity or group thereof.

One more dive and I would be certified.

On the way out, though, the instructor suggested that we could also get EAN certified (this would cost another $150 each plus materials plus additional money to the boat crew for the Nitrox fills). Cool. We really didn’t know we could do that, but I also think it had something to do with the instructor getting a little back in our little ongoing skirmish. Not a problem. I wanted EAN anyway. But first I had to use up the full tank I’d brought.

So we had Nitrox lessons on the way to Catalina. With more to come this week.

Dive 4

Piece o’ cake. No problems (aside from the fact that it was f’ing Freezing!) Whatever. I would not allow anything to be less than perfect today. No, I wasn’t quite gliding along yet (positioning was still bad) but I got through the last few skills, went exploring, did a nice safety stop and came up a certified OW diver.

Dive 5

Working on PPB and EAN. No problems under. I was starting to get this buoyancy thing. But when I came up I had a slight ear ache on the left side. Sitting there on the bench I warned my wife that I may not be able to go on the last one.

Fortunately or not, it did clear up substantially and I gave it a go.

Dive 6

Going down, my left ear wouldn’t equalize. I stopped until finally it did then proceeded down the rope to the bottom.

Worked on buoyancy and body positioning and I started feeling like, “So this is why people enjoy diving so much!” At last, I was flying.

I beat any ride at any amusement park – EVER!

I did not want this dive to end. But it did. And as I approached the 15 ft mark I lost control a little and actually broke the surface. I was so pissed at myself. I went back to join the others – I found out later that my instructor never noticed. Waited three minutes and came up with everyone else.

My ear and my head were killing me. When I said what had happened, everyone figured I went back down too fast.

Whatever it was, some Tylenol and rest on the way home and it cleared up.

So now I’m OW, PPB and EAN.

I must say, this probably wasn’t as detailed as I would have wanted. And, I haven’t proofed it, so there are probably some errors. But, after two days of getting up at 4:00 a.m. to get to the boat on time and then six dives. I’m exhausted.

I’m going to bed now.

Thanks to all of you – even those who have given me grief. Maybe especially. Couldn’t have done it without you. (Ok… so I could’ve, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun!)

 

[DivingsInMyBlood]

Thanks for sharing matey, congrats.

 

[skresch]

Good report, congrats

 

[bottomfeeder22]

Good job, don't beat yourself up too much about the little slip ups, they are what will make you a better diver! Congrats, the adventure has only just begun......

 

[David P]

hoo raa! way to go, lets hit up Redondo now. I wasnt there, I am not you so I cant tell for certain but I would guess the ear ache could have been you blowing a little too hard to equalize. If you feel any restriction bend/stretch your neck to the opposite side. If you right ear is plugged tilt your head to the left to straighten out the eustacion (sp) tube on the right side. I would also hazard a guess that the head ache was caused by skip breathing. When I am witnessing something really cool (every one of my first 50 dives or so) I would just stop breathing! I wasn't aware of holding my breath, I wouldnt take a deep breath or anything, I would just stop breathing either mid inhale or exhale. my sac would be pretty good on the dive but a killer headache to show for it. It just takes some time. Congrats and now lets go dive!

 

[Blackwood]

Thanks to all of you – even those who have given me grief. Maybe especially.

No problem. Here's a little more :

I sank like a stone to ocean floor at 58 feet.

Overweighted or not, all that really means is that you dumped too much air (probably). Of course, that's probably not your fault. You were likely taught to dump it all.

As you become more aware in the water, you'll probably notice that, on the surface, you are moving your legs around a bit (most new divers do). If you are, you are kicking UP while trying to go DOWN. Consequently, you need to dump more air. So you have a faster descent. Being in a wetsuit, your fast descent is then exacerbated by suit compression.

You should only dump as much as you need to to start your descent. Many people suggest crossing your ankles so that you consciously DON'T fin up. Also, exhale as you dump. As soon as you are under, stop dumping.

Also, I'm assuming you were vertical in the water. Next time, try a horizontal descent. If you are laying flat out in the water, you will create much more drag and that will help you control your descent/ascent speeds.

 

[TSandM]

Congratulations -- That "flying" feeling is what I think probably keeps a good many of us hopelessly addicted to this sport.

I commend you for doing PPB right away. Keep working on your buoyancy and trim, even after the class is over. Have a goal of being able to hover in good horizontal position without moving your fins much at all (if you're in true open water, most likely you'll have to move them a little bit to stay in the same place, but if you're willing to drift a little, see if you can do it without moving them at all). It's my opinion now that that single skill lies at the core of really competent and really FUN diving.

 

[philmayer]

Congratulations!

I'm glad you got to experience the fun side of diving, You'll quickly understand why we're all addicted!

Get some experience and practice the skills you learned in class. Very soon they'll be second nature and you'll be comfortable diving.

Now that you've completed your OW, there's something I wanted to say in your other thread, but waited............... find a new instructor. Your current instructor is terrible. He was LIVID because he had to keep popping up with students? He should have had everybody perform a weight check before the damn dives! He should have taught all of you how bouyancy works. He took 9 students through a kelp forest all at once?

I'm glad you finished your OW and everything went OK. Now get out there and dive!

 

[Skeeter1097]

congratulations to you and good job. You did not give up. Know the learning begins. So does the fun!
Whought is PPB?

 

[JahJahwarrior]

I'm with Phil--if your instructor got mad becuase he didn't help you find the proper amount of weight.....I wouldn't have gotten EAN through him. That's just ridiculous and immature and potentially dangerous. Not to mention, when we did our first OW dives, we went to the bottom, did fin pivots, then swam around. Having someone who's never done any OW diving try to stop and adjust bouyancy 20 feet off of the ocean floor could be hard!! Your instructor sounds a little mean and rude and kind of like a jerk. Atleast you got certified.....