Hi Eric,
So glad you got out for a day
. Did the new gear set up work out for you?
Hi Kathy,
Glad to hear you had some fun on your field trip, even though it was mostly dry.
Saturday turned out to be a great trial for my configuration changes. I was hoping all would just work, but I wasn't so lucky.
The main change was switching to a long hose with a bungee necklace secondary that you helped me tie at AWS. Friday night I was tuning that rig with some shorter, Miflex hoses that arrived earlier in the week. I adjusted the bungee's fisherman's knot as we had discussed, and I tied a small bolt-snap to the long hose. I'm not sure I got the knot right for the bolt-snap, but it held for two dives. (It would not have held for a third, I think.)
I also had Frank at AWS change the mouthpiece on my primary reg when he serviced them. I found out Saturday that the new mouthpiece was a bit too small. It worked, but not as well as the old one. Thankfully Frank saved all my old parts for me. I can swap the mouthpiece for the old one if I don't find a new one I like better. Now I know better what I'm looking for.
The real problem I had in the water was with the long hose getting caught behind my neck. This happened most often when I turned my head to the right. I think I had a bit of a mess behind my head with a somewhat twisted hose on my backup reg and a rather large first stage. I kept having to pull the hose free with my hand. It got to the point where I just avoided looking to the right. (Might be why we never found Kristina's "wheel".)
Prior to our second dive I made some adjustments. I think I got the twist out of the backup reg's hose. I also dropped my tank lower to move the first stage out of the way. During the dive I still had a problem with the long hose getting caught. I'm pretty sure it was getting stuck in my BCD somehow. Maybe between the bladder and my back, or just under some edge somewhere. I need to look at this more closely. I was thinking maybe replacing the long hose with a Miflex hose would fix it, but I hate to just throw money at a problem without understanding what's really going on.
Also on the second dive, I swapped my split fins for a set of Mares paddle fins borrowed from my regular dive buddy (who is vacationing in Spain). I wanted to see if those fins might be better for my upcoming Essentials class. They did seem to give me more control, but I just didn't have enough leg strength to manipulate them properly. I got awful cramps, which were exacerbated by the cold to the point where I asked Matt to turn the dive about five or ten minutes early. I need to figure out a better solution for the fins. Maybe I can try better quality paddle fins. Or, maybe I can make my splits work for a back kick. My split were so much better in so many different ways, I was amazed. (I can't wait to lend my splits to my buddy so he can be amazed, too. He always complains he can't keep up when I'm in a hurry.)
One benefit of ending the second dive early was that we had lots of air left when we swam back to the shallows. Matt had us just hanging out in 6-8 FSW riding the surge back and forth. It was warmer there and I wasn't trying to swim, so no serious cramps. While trying to hover I found I kept drifting to a head down position. I don't know if this was because the Mares fins tend to float or if I had too much weight (10#) in my shoulders or both.
Another thing I figured out with the Mares fins was that my frog kick was pushing me down. I recalled the advice you gave me about not instilling bad habits by trying to figure out the kicks on my own. I just made a mental note that things weren't working as I expected and stopped trying to play with kicks I didn't know.
Overall, it was a great day of diving. I learned that some gear can be a lot worse than my original gear. It seems I made some very wise (or just lucky) choices for my first purchases. I learned that I have a lot more than I thought to learn about kicks and trim and such. I'm glad to have learned that before Essentials. Knowing that will help me get more out of class, I think.
I do regret not practicing breathing off my backup reg. I'm not sure I've got the length of the bungee right. But, I expect I'll get some good help with that in Essentials, or maybe at the M&G if I can make it.
I see that I've written a rather lengthy post. Sorry about that. This is what comes from a day of diving for me. (I think could write write just as much about where we went and what we saw.) Anyway, thanks for asking about my gear.
I'm hoping I can learn to back-kick with my splits.)
