Feeling like a blimp

[jehle]

Hi!
Looking for some guidance from you experienced folks.
I finally was able to get my Poseidon se7en into clear blue water of the Caribbean and out of the cold quarry for a week!!
It was amazing and I loved it.
I was diving with a mix of OC and CCR divers and felt like I was a big balloon in the water compared to them.
I was struggling to keep up the pace on the dives and felt very slow and not very maneuverable.
I had decent trim and buoyancy the whole time... but felt like I was really working to move through the water.
My question is, is this normal? Is CCR diving just a slower pace and being with OC divers caused the frustration and it would be more enjoyable if I was just with a CCR group going at a CCR pace?
I don't have any exposure to other units, but the se7en is big and bulky. Would I feel differently with another unit?
I ended up switching over to OC for a few dives when we would lion fish hunt because I didn't think I would be as maneuverable going in and out of crevices.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

Thank you!

 

[mcohen1021]

My first question would be do you look like a blimp?

 

[grantctobin]

Hi!
Looking for some guidance from you experienced folks.
I finally was able to get my Poseidon se7en into clear blue water of the Caribbean and out of the cold quarry for a week!!
It was amazing and I loved it.
I was diving with a mix of OC and CCR divers and felt like I was a big balloon in the water compared to them.
I was struggling to keep up the pace on the dives and felt very slow and not very maneuverable.
I had decent trim and buoyancy the whole time... but felt like I was really working to move through the water.
My question is, is this normal? Is CCR diving just a slower pace and being with OC divers caused the frustration and it would be more enjoyable if I was just with a CCR group going at a CCR pace?
I don't have any exposure to other units, but the se7en is big and bulky. Would I feel differently with another unit?
I ended up switching over to OC for a few dives when we would lion fish hunt because I didn't think I would be as maneuverable going in and out of crevices.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

Thank you!

How many hours do you have on your unit?

 

[jehle]

My first question would be do you look like a blimp?

Fair question, but no. 5'10 170 lbs

 

[jehle]

How many hours do you have on your unit?

52 hours, but most of that time was in a cold dark quarry where I wasn't moving long distances

 

[mcohen1021]

Fair question, but no. 5'10 170 lbs

I know I know, I was only kidding

 

[davehicks]

What is a CCR pace? To me, all diving should be done at a slow pace. If you feel you can't keep up, then let them go. Find a group that is not in a rush to get through their dives.

 

[Still Kicking]

What is a CCR pace? To me, all diving should be done at a slow pace. If you feel you can't keep up, then let them go. Find a group that is not in a rush to get through their dives.

There's a saying in diving: The slower you go, the more you see.

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

Are you comparing yourself to experienced OC divers on a single cylinder? Yes they will be more nimble, they don’t haul a fridge on their back and bailout(s) and can change depth easily. On the other hand, you should be able to run circles around the average flutterkicking vacation diver with 10 dives a year in any config - maybe except backfinning, I find that sometimes tricky on a CCR due to different trim.

50 hours is I think still quite early into the journey, especially if most of those hours were diving in a quarry - it’s really important to stop diving OC for a while when you switch to CCR. OC is so so so tempting because it’s so much easier… CCR is generally slower and more task loaded than OC.

I’m at 250 hours and I do occasionally dive my twinset because it’s more “fun” - toss it in a car and dive it, no build and checks. Swim 10 meters head down or up - no problem because there are no counter lungs to manage, no PPO2 change and little gas in my suit. I guess feeling like a blimp is a good description .

If you were deep, you could also put some helium in your mix - CCR work of breathing is different to OC.