Did some practice, NEED ALOT MORE

[bill-da-ho]

went diving tonight, were at about 30 feet, tried an emergency ascent for practice, added some air to the bc, didnt really fin up to much, was exhaling all the way, but didnt make it to the surface without having to take a breath. Also tried our first safety stop. now that was interesting, I snuck up on 15 from 20 feet like suggested on here, but,, well, lets just say its easier read than done. I didnt blast to the surface or anything, but I did bounce between 20 feet and about 5 feet. well, we need more practice,, I didnt really figure to nail these on the first try anyway. But it was nice being in the water. about 10 to 15 feet vis, and 60 degree water,, very nice.

 

[Tigerman]

Sounds like a productive dive

 

[nereas]

The first thing to check is at the end of your dive, when you have 500 psi in your tank, whether you are neutrally buoyant when you empty your B/C while holding onto an anchor line at 15 ft.

This test tells you whether you are overweighted or not.

Being overweighted makes it harder to keep a 15 ft stop.

Next time you go out, you should check this out, at the end of your first dive.

 

[RJP]

went diving tonight, were at about 30 feet, tried an emergency ascent for practice, added some air to the bc, didnt really fin up to much...

Why did you ADD air to BC on ascent?

Why didn't you fin up?

Seems like you've got those two things a bit reversed...

 

[Tigerman]

The first thing to check is at the end of your dive, when you have 500 psi in your tank, whether you are neutrally buoyant when you empty your B/C while holding onto an anchor line at 15 ft.

This test tells you whether you are overweighted or not.

Being overweighted makes it harder to keep a 15 ft stop.

Next time you go out, you should check this out, at the end of your first dive.

Actually I find it a LOT easier to keep the safety stop being a little overweighted than underweighted.. Infact, I need to be pretty BADLY overweighted to have a problem doing my safety stop. Underweighted however is a pain in the lower back area. Atleast it could become one

 

[nereas]

Why did you ADD air to BC on ascent?

Why didn't you fin up?

Seems like you've got those two things a bit reversed...

I think the starting point for this novice diver is to solve his overweighting.

Then the next step would be to stay neutrally buoyant at all times, at which time kickup up would be successful, and from that point onward the rig would float itself.

But while there appears to be an overweighting problem to start with, this will need to be fixed first-ly.

I do however agree with you RJP, that the O/P seems to have his procedures mixed up.

This is what happens when someone Puts Another Dollar In and the class goes really fast, too fast. John Cronin was wrong about speeding up scuba training and making it easier and faster. What really happens then is that they get a plastic card that is worth virtually nothing.

The O/P needs to Put Another Dollar In for the adventures/AOW course, and get more dives.

Or else take any SSI or NAUI course to get up to speed.

 

[dkktsunami]

went diving tonight, were at about 30 feet, tried an emergency ascent for practice, added some air to the bc, didnt really fin up to much, was exhaling all the way, but didnt make it to the surface without having to take a breath. Also tried our first safety stop. now that was interesting, I snuck up on 15 from 20 feet like suggested on here, but,, well, lets just say its easier read than done. I didnt blast to the surface or anything, but I did bounce between 20 feet and about 5 feet. well, we need more practice,, I didnt really figure to nail these on the first try anyway. But it was nice being in the water. about 10 to 15 feet vis, and 60 degree water,, very nice.

You should not be adding air to bc to ascend - inflator is not an elevator button for up and down. Actually you should be venting air from the bc to control your ascent. And if this were an emergency ascent where would the air have come from? You would be out of air.

 

[bill-da-ho]

I think the starting point for this novice diver is to solve his overweighting.

Then the next step would be to stay neutrally buoyant at all times, at which time kickup up would be successful, and from that point onward the rig would float itself.

But while there appears to be an overweighting problem to start with, this will need to be fixed first-ly.

I do however agree with you RJP, that the O/P seems to have his procedures mixed up.

This is what happens when someone Puts Another Dollar In and the class goes really fast, too fast. John Cronin was wrong about speeding up scuba training and making it easier and faster. What really happens then is that they get a plastic card that is worth virtually nothing.



The O/P needs to Put Another Dollar In for the adventures/AOW course, and get more dives.

Or else take any SSI or NAUI course to get up to speed.

We did do an emergency ascent, finning up in the class, maybe I shouldnt have called it an emergency ascent, as far as "putting another dollar in" and taking the AOW, I'd rather get some experience in, practice some of the things that I need to work on. Then take that cert.
My bouyancy is fairly decent, I dont have too much trouble swimming horizontal and level without bouncing, dont crash into the bottom or anything. just on the practice safety stop, I wasnt able to stick the 15 feet, so yea, need more practice on sneaking up on the 15 feet and maybe taking a little more time to do it, stop over correcting.
I wear a 3 mil farmer john suit, boots and hood, and 16 pounds of weight, I tried more, and it was too much, tried 12 and it was too little. 16 seem to work out for me, at least while I have all my gear on, its way to much if I dont wear the bottoms tho. I'll keep on practising tho, and take the AOW next spring just as I planned all along.
And really, I dont see how making a remark about putting another dollar in does anyone any good.

 

[mkutyna]

Practice some skin dives the next time you go diving. You'll build up your breath hold capability which will help with the ESA.

And no, I'm not suggesting that he hold his breath during the ESA.

 

[TSandM]

Don't feel bad about the safety stop! Holding a stop in midwater is definitely a learned skill, not something most of us were born with.

A couple of tips: It is easiest to hold the stop if you are neutral. If you are negative and finning, then any distraction or change in the frequency of your finning will either allow you to drop or cause you to rise. I never like to have my buoyancy dependent on something I can be distracted from doing

If you are neutral, you need to be pretty horizontal; otherwise, ANY movement of your fins will drive you off your depth. If you are neutral AND horizontal, then the only thing that's going to cause yo-yoing is changing your breathing pattern. But if the thing you are using as your visual reference is moving, you WILL change your breathing pattern. I don't know why this is, but it's true. I've sat in the water, watching an animal crawl up a wall, and darned if I don't go right up along with him. No intention to do it, it just happens. So when you have two novice divers trying to hold stops, the yo-yoing is almost unavoidable. This is one skill I'd HIGHLY recommend practicing with somebody who's got it nailed, before trying to practice it together.

As far as practicing the ESA, just be careful, and don't do it often. I never practice this skill. I have many layers of equipment, procedures, and buddies between me and the need for a CESA. I think the likelihood I'll ever do one is low enough that it isn't worth the risk involved in practicing. I did it once, I know it's possible, and if someday in extremis I need to do it, I will.