discouraged...

[kidspot]

...45 min at 40 degrees in 5 foot vis...I started breathing in water and the DM took me up from 40 feet. ...

WOW - most of our dives in OW were under 45min. at 84* in 10-30ft vis with a max depth of 30ft... One of the guys went through an entire tank in 20 min under those conditions and had to swap with the instructor underwater (he was about your size too) for the second half of that dive... I'd say quite impressive for one of your first dives...

Best wishes on getting back on that horse and learning to enjoy diving!

Aloha, Tim

P.S. I hope I do as well on my first cold water dive... (later this year I'm hoping)

 

[bgi]

Hi all,
I had a bad experience for my OW...lips froze after 45 min at 40 degrees in 5 foot vis...I started breathing in water and the DM took me up from 40 feet. And promptly got a speech about "fixing problems underwater", although I'm not sure what I could have done to stay warmer- my rental suit didn't fit well. Anyway, I've done 10 dives since then, each time practicing skills on the platform to get more comfortable and staying relatively shallow. I feel like I'm getting more comfortable, but the OW thing still haunts me.

Simple. Do three things.

1) Fire your instructor for taking you in 40 deg water for 45 mins with poorly-fitting gear. It's a wonder you didn't get hypothermia.

2) Fire your DM for not knowing any better, either. Geeze Louize! What an idiot! Your lips are too cold to function, so you get a speech about coming up? Who is this person. I'd like to have a little chat with the moron.

3) Get into some warm water and have fun during all of this.

It's supposed to be fun! If you're staying in there that long when it's that cold, you're doing awesum!

You: "Instructor and DM, YOU'RE FIRED!"

 

[steelemagnolia6]

First off like the others have mentioned find another instructor. No one was born to dive.... What a butthead...

Second... relax and breathe in breathe out. It works....have fun and get in some warm water


When you feel a bit panicky put your arms around yourself and hug yourself. I know it sounds dumb but I know that it works. For some reason it gives you the feeling of security and something to hold on to. I do it when I get that way. It gives me a few seconds to regroup and think about what I need to be doing.

You can recover from this and go on to love diving. I had the worst expereince on my OW cert dives that you could imagine. Cold water 47 degrees, vis of less than 2 feet, my "dive buddy" knocked my reg out of my mouth 3 times and knocked me backwards off the platform and I fell to about 50 feet before the DM could find me. We had glo-sticks tied all over us so that the instructors and the DM could see us and we could see them. I was so totally freaked out by my experience that I couldn't finish the skills on the other dive. It took me 2 tries at my OW dives to get it done.

Lucky for me my pool/classroom instructor and my brothers kept me from giving up and helped me finish out my OW dives.

Find someone to dive with that has patience and expereince and is willing to help you overcome your first dives...

 

[smash731]

First off like the others have mentioned find another instructor. No one was born to dive.... What a butthead...

Second... relax and breathe in breathe out. It works....have fun and get in some warm water


When you feel a bit panicky put your arms around yourself and hug yourself. I know it sounds dumb but I know that it works. For some reason it gives you the feeling of security and something to hold on to. I do it when I get that way. It gives me a few seconds to regroup and think about what I need to be doing.

You can recover from this and go on to love diving. I had the worst expereince on my OW cert dives that you could imagine. Cold water 47 degrees, vis of less than 2 feet, my "dive buddy" knocked my reg out of my mouth 3 times and knocked me backwards off the platform and I fell to about 50 feet before the DM could find me. We had glo-sticks tied all over us so that the instructors and the DM could see us and we could see them. I was so totally freaked out by my experience that I couldn't finish the skills on the other dive. It took me 2 tries at my OW dives to get it done.

Lucky for me my pool/classroom instructor and my brothers kept me from giving up and helped me finish out my OW dives.

Find someone to dive with that has patience and expereince and is willing to help you overcome your first dives...

Holy cow! That would really have terrified me to have the reg knocked out 3 times!!! You are a trooper....in response to whoever asked about shivering, I started shivering the minute I got below the thermocline. I felt darn toasty at 52F at the top lol. Everyone in the class was cold, we tried to make the dive "quick" but because termperature and manual dexterity seem to be directly proportional, it took each person FOREVER to do the most simple of tasks, and the class was full. I'm just glad it's over.....and I did get certified a month later once the water warmed up, but haven't gotten the first experience out of my mind. You all have given me some excellent advice and now I know there's hope! smash

 

[Bill51]

Holy cow! That would really have terrified me to have the reg knocked out 3 times!!! You are a trooper....in response to whoever asked about shivering, I started shivering the minute I got below the thermocline. I felt darn toasty at 52F at the top lol. Everyone in the class was cold, we tried to make the dive "quick" but because termperature and manual dexterity seem to be directly proportional, it took each person FOREVER to do the most simple of tasks, and the class was full. I'm just glad it's over.....and I did get certified a month later once the water warmed up, but haven't gotten the first experience out of my mind. You all have given me some excellent advice and now I know there's hope! smash

Contrary to some opinions, the rum’s not gone, and soon you’ll only be an hour drive away from the Bacardi Limon Beach Dive Team’s favorite haunt, so get ready to forget about that anxiety and move on to warmer waters, better vis, and fun under the sea.

 

[String]

Not convinced the warm clear water is essential - if you want to dive in local conditions you should train in them.

Proper equipment and fitting gear though is essential. In that temperature id say a drysuit.

 

[bgi]

Not convinced the warm clear water is essential - if you want to dive in local conditions you should train in them.

Proper equipment and fitting gear though is essential. In that temperature id say a drysuit.

Ok, so let's take a poll. Who wants to dive in 48deg water with 2 foot vis? Anyone? Is that fun?

 

[markfm]

Me, me!
Actually, try 38F water, but better viz (combined OW/dry cert dives). It's something I wanted to do for years, just got around to it. On the other hand, my Instructor and DMs were all gung-ho types, positive people, good comments and frequent checks to see if I was comfortable or wanted to thumb the dives. Watched me like hawks to make sure I wasn't showing signs of over-stressing.
Perhaps a tough way to cert, compared to Coz? Absolutely. Am I really glad to have done it, been doing a LOT of diving and looking forward to more drysuit time this Winter -- you bet!

 

[toodive4]

So much to see and find and discover. I dive these conditions all the time. Baltimore Harbor is full of neat things to find. Best to dive when the water cools and the vis improves to 2 feet on the bottom. Lots of salvage stuff to make money on... Anchors, boat parts (railings, ladders, staircases,) wallets with money in them, $200 sunglasses, and the list goes on and on... If you haven't done it... don-t - Leave all the goodies to me. MINE MINE MINE - as Daffy Duck once put it...

Ok, so let's take a poll. Who wants to dive in 48deg water with 2 foot vis? Anyone? Is that fun?

 

[steelemagnolia6]

Hey Hey Hey.... I dive in the cold fairly often now, Sorry boys and girls but there is not a lot of 86 degree water here in the mountains in Tennessee... Gosh I miss Texas and warmer water.... but I think that some warm water dives are just what this brave soul needs to help get over the bad taste left from the cert dives.... and maybe a few colorful fishes, a beach and some of those rum infused unbrella drinks...