F/U from previous thread -- I took my friend diving today

[ScubaSixString]

Well, you may be right.

We went to a known area, where it is very shallow (max depth for this dive was less than 15 feet). In theory, she IS a certified diver, and should be able to go out with a similarly certified buddy and dive. In fact, she's like I was . . . pretty minimally prepared. And I knew that was likely. And she doesn't own her own gear, so she was diving borrowed stuff, and weighting and trim for the gear she was diving was largely unknown. It took a while to get it right, and the weighting problems were compounded by her not having really good skills at doing descents -- something I can really understand, because I had the exactly same problems at her stage of the game. We had to cope with her kicking frantically to try NOT to descend on her back, which of course drove her back to the surface. What eventually worked was to tell her to go ahead and descend on her back if that's the way it went . . . that we would sort her position out once she finally got DOWN.

I think this just underscores why I'm doing DIR-F. I came out of OW just like my friend. I could do snorkel-to-regulator exchanges and sit on the bottom and flood and clear my mask, but I couldn't dive. I couldn't do a descent without ending up on my back, and I couldn't control my buoyancy at the end of a dive. I couldn't navigate, because staying in a belly-down horizontal position was all the task-loading I could manage. And this was the same for my friend. It scares me that people get certified to dive when their skill level is like this. At least I knew what to expect, and chose a place and time where it was as much like a swimming pool as you can get in open water.

I don't know what you do with people like me and my friend, to get them the experience they need to be competent and safe, unless you do what we did today. More experienced and skilled people did it for me -- I was lucky that way.

TS,

I tend to come off like a pompous ***, even when i try not too. I apologize. What do you mean by end up on your back? Like facing the surface?

In real life, i would probably do much like you did. Real shallow and slow as she goes.

I for some reason saw you taking this gal out to the 80 fathom trench and putting her through the ropes....my bad

 

[Jafo123]

Good job! Sounds much like the first time I took my son diving. He had two dives left to finish his OW and we were waiting at the dive site for him to finish, then I was going to take him for a fun dive later in the afternoon. That's when the instructor yelled at me and told me to take him on his last training dive. Navigation, not that difficult but at the same time if you have a bad habit or two you don't want it rubbing off on them. Trying to do everything right and watch him was a task load. We managed and he is still my dive buddy to this day.

jafo123

 

[markfm]

15' is challenging for early dives, really forces you to work on buoyancy and trim, a good thing.
An environment which keeps you shallow minimizes problems if a whoops does happen, and at least when I was first certified being shallow increased my unconscious comfort level.
Going to well-known places when with another really new diver is likewise a good thing.
Being aware that another person needs help on buoyancy/trim, trying to work with them in a positive way, is super.
Good job!

 

[Kim]

That's when the instructor yelled at me and told me to take him on his last training dive.

Wow!!!! :11:

 

[spectrum]

Great job! It's amazing how fast you came from your first tentative dive to dipping your toe into the world of mentoring. It's been obvious from your posts and blog that you care about your diving not just for personal safety but because you are a do it right sort of person.... no not that DIR. Then again maybe you will go that route.

Let's face it she probably blew off a ton of air sputtering her second stage on the surface and while fussing with the weights but that needed to be done. I've had lots of shore dives where I was having a great time on the way back and was amazed to see I only had 5 feet of water left. At 15 feet she sure was diving, that's almost room heights deep, sometimes a visual reference outs things in perspective. By keeping to a modest depth you limited risk and gave her more bottom time, that's wht she needs at this point, not a bounce dive to 60 feet.

I hope you continue to be her friend and mentor. It will do both of you good. Stay within your mutual limits and get her to dive in some of your regular groups to give her more diverse exposure. By being there as continuity you can follow though on her weight fine tuning and stuff like that. She also won't feel like she has to prove her ability or explain her limits every time out and that will encourage her to dive more.

The only thing I read of slight concern was "borrowed gear". As long as it's good stuff that fits from a trusted source that's fine. Rental gear is often not pristine either.

When I was in school I had fairly young instructor for one course. He had been teaching for about 5 years. He said one day that his first years were his best since the difficulty of learing the nuances of the trade were still fresh in his mind. As a fairly new diver you have that same gift that you can share. No you're not a trained instructor, for a modest shore dive that job has been done. Sometimes all it takes is a patient caring friend who has swam a mile in your fins.

Bravo, Keep it up.

Pete

 

[SwimJim]

It sounds like you guys were pretty nervous. Well, that can be good as it forces you to dot your i's and cross your t's. Personally, I think this is a good reason for the certification agencys to go back to training like I received back in the seventies. Instead of a four day two weekend program our classes were once a week for six weeks. Each class had two hours class room followed by a minimum of two hours pool time. There were three open water dives to get to the basic level and two more to get open water certified. By the time you were done, you were confident about doing a basic dive. More time was spent on things like weight and bouyancy so those were already dialed in by the time you got your card. Of course, it could be that I happend upon a good program with good intructors, but it seemed to be a typical set up for the time.
Good luck with your diving. Keep studying and keep diving. The more experience you get the better off you will be.

Jim

 

[theskull]

Excellent job, TSandM!

You showed great judgment and patience. I'm sure it felt good to "pay back" those who have invested quality time with you when you were floundering when they could have been off making cooler dives instead of doing buoyancy checks in 15 ft. of water.

I, too, have enjoyed your stories on this board and lived vicariously through your progression of skill.

Keep up the good, and safe, work,

theskull

 

[RumBum]

but it was her first dive without an instructor, and she did it. My goals were that she not get scared and that we get a little dive in, and we met both. QUOTE]

It sounds to me like y'all did great, you both learned things, and had a nice day of diving. The learning curve is somewhat uncomfortable but this discomfort can only be conquered by doing exactly what you are doing. Congradulations!

 

[zboss]

...We went to a known area, where it is very shallow (max depth for this dive was less than 15 feet). ...

In your friends defence... when I was a brand new diver it was difficult for me to hold perfect bouyancy at 15 feet. Ironically, going a little deeper may have helped...

 

[BigJetDriver]

I'm not sure I'd recommend doing this to someone else. It was nerve-wracking and I really didn't feel like I could help her as much as she needed help, but I sure got a new appreciation for my instructors and the people who have mentored me as I fought through the same newbie problems.

Sandman,

Nice work! Just getting her to relax was a major step in her progression!

Now you know what instructors actually get paid for!