Done with AOW & EANx class

[emttim]

Well, haven't posted in awhile because I got busy with college, work and being on disability from work (thankfully that crap's over now, tendinitis can kiss my ass), but anyway, just got back from the trip to Monterey for my AOW class...finished & got my PADI AOW cert along with Enriched Air, Underwater Naturalist, and Equipment Specialist. Fortunately, my instructor is pretty good so UW Naturalist and Equipment didn't just become part of the card collection, I actually learned a fairly good amount from both...Enriched Air too for that matter since I didn't just learn how to use the 32 & 36 tables but how to use the formulas so I can use whatever blend I damn well please inbetween 21 and 40% O2 with exact EADs and NDLs to limit loss of time or longer SIs from rounding.

Me and my dive buddy ended up doing 3 dives outside of AOW class too so ended up getting 9 dives out of that 4-day trip. Was kind of funny actually, we were so self-sufficient in the class that our instructor and the DMs apparently noticed, since while everyone else was busy taking forever to gear up, asking a bunch of questions and staying 15 feet or shallower, we were geared up within 5 minutes, descending within 10 minutes and gone for twice as long as everyone else at 2-3x the depth. One of the DMs pulled us aside and basically told us that "management" is kicking our ass if we /don't/ continue to DM at least if not further. My air consumption is already getting a lot better too...at dive #5-7 it was about 36 psi/min on average and now at dive #23-25 it's at about 23 psi/min on average. Hell on most of the dives that we did to around 30 feet (dive site we did most of the cert dives at doesn't go out much past 30 feet unless you want to swim 300+ meters which im too lazy to do to see more of the same) I could have probably stayed down for an hour if not a little more but my buddy's air consumption isn't as good as mine so we came up on almost every dive with him having about 500-600 psi left and me having 1100-1500 psi left. Still got a 39 min dive and 42 min dive in though so he's getting a lot better too.

All in all I'd say the AOW class went pretty well...starting Rescue this Friday and after that going to do the Altitude specialty, going on a trip outside of class the first weekend of June to do some more shore dives at the new dive site we tried today before we left Monterey (McAbee Beach, dear god that dive site is awesome) and maybe a night dive somewhere in there then a couple deep dives in Carmel the next day via boat charter with the Cypress Sea...probably with EANx36 so we can get some decent bottom times. And then of course there's the 3 or 4 day Channel Islands liveaboard I'm setting up for us in September....it's gonna be a good year for diving, I can feel it. :14:

 

[ucfdiver]

Congrads on passing the classes.

Careful mixing gases to whatever you please......one thing the rec nitrox classes fail to mention is make sure that your nitrox blends match with your buddy's. Also, while 36/40% seems like the best idea for 90% of your diving out of the class, you'll quickly learn that 32% is nice to keep your tanks filled with, "just in case", you can't dive them when you plan, as it's the most versatile mix.....Not to mention if things go wrong and you have to go deeper, it's nice to have "wiggle room". Just my experience, your mileage may vary. I typically find I avoid deco as long as I stay on 32% all day with the generally accepted 1 hour surface interval.

 

[emttim]

Congrads on passing the classes.

Careful mixing gases to whatever you please......one thing the rec nitrox classes fail to mention is make sure that your nitrox blends match with your buddy's. Also, while 36/40% seems like the best idea for 90% of your diving out of the class, you'll quickly learn that 32% is nice to keep your tanks filled with, "just in case", you can't dive them when you plan, as it's the most versatile mix.....Not to mention if things go wrong and you have to go deeper, it's nice to have "wiggle room". Just my experience, your mileage may vary. I typically find I avoid deco as long as I stay on 32% all day with the generally accepted 1 hour surface interval.

Well, I figured it goes with out saying that the blend you dive with should be the same as your buddy's. I actually consider anything above 36% not really ideal for diving much deeper than 30-40 feet due to maximum operating depth limits. 36% would be ideal if one knows he/she won't be diving past 90 feet, however, I do agree that 32% is a good, all-around versatile nitrox blend since it can go in excess of 100 feet, still provides plenty of added bottom time, and it's $8 to get that fill at the dive shop in Monterey as opposed to $15 for EANx36 since 33% and up they charge $7 extra. Due to the much higher cost, I don't plan on using EANx33 or higher unless I really want it, and in most cases, I'd imagine I wouldn't since I'm limited by my buddy's air consumption anyway.