Felt tired at 65"

[greg454]

At first I couldn't sink, I was doing a 70" and only had 10 pounds of weight (I'm 6'00, 256 pounds). Then I at the boat I got 10 extra pounds. So I go back to the ocean, sink well, but then when I'm at 65" I'm not swimming as fast as my dive buddy, I'm moving too slow, like a turtle. Plus I was breathing too fast. It felt like I was overweighted. Ironically, this was supposed to be my 7th dive, and I've had no problems with the previous 6th dives.

So I don't know what happened, it was scary, had to go up, didn't even get to spend 10 minutes down there. Did my 5 minute safety stop with my dive budy. I felt really scared and embarased. You ever been humiliated in front of people like that?

Anyone here uses those power things? The ones where you turn on a rotor and they do the swimming for you?

Would I have done better with nitrox?

 

[Ken abucs]

Don't feel embarassed, if you don't feel comfortable with a dive, the best thing to do is to thumb the dive. Nitrox would not have helped. You need to get more experience before before adding more gear like scooters.

Experiences like this can be a valuable learning tool. You need to ask yourself a bunch of questions.

What was different about this dive?
Was the gear different?
Did you need more weight because of a gear change?
Was the environment different?
Were you uncomfortable before you got in the water? Why?

 

[victor]

What was different from your previous dives?
What wetsuit, 3mm 7mm dry?
What tank?

Did you have to put air in your BC to stay at 70ft?
Were you finning hard to stay at 70ft?

Neither nitrox or a scooter is a solution to this problem. :no

 

[gangrel441]

Off the top? 10 pounds sounds like an awful lot to add. I beleive you were in fact overweighted. This would cause you to have to swim up as well as forward, while your buddy was only swimming forward. Fatigue ensues, and anxiety follows that as you try to figure out what is wrong.

My recommendation is that you do a bouyancy check prior to your descent to make sure that not only can you get neutral, but that you aren't going to sink like a rock. A few pounds too light OR too heavy can make a huge difference. 10 can make it downright hairy!

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

You're only at your 7th dive so go easy on yourself. I've had plenty of embarassing dives, they happen as we learn. Your post does raise a few questions though.

You say you started with 10 lbs and then had to go back for 10 more. Would I be correct in assuming this was your first salt water dive? Anytime you dive salt you do need more lead, but you need to make sure you properly weight yourself. Perhaps 20 lbs was too much.

Nitrox is also certainly not your answer. What Nitrox will do for you is extend your no decompression limit and also shorten your surface intervals. Chances are being a new diver you could not take advantage of the extended NDL (no decompression limits). Some claim diving Nitrox makes them feel less tired but I believe a double blind study was done on this and it pretty much debunked that myth.

As for diving with a scooter. This is a classic example of trying to solve a technique problem with equipment. You really don't want to start down that path. My guess is you got pretty worked up having to go back to the boat and were rushing the dive and that is what got you out of breath and tired, but this is only a guess.

I suggest you find an experienced dive buddy, DM, or Instructor and go on some nice easy dives just to increase your comfort level and get your confidence back. Make sure they know you are a new diver and you had some issues on your last dive and you want to take it nice and slow. Also have them check your buoyancy to make sure you aren't overweighted.

 

[jeckyll]

Hmmm couple of additional observations (beside the previous advice about buoyancy checks etc).

First, I've seen people get quite stressed when they can not descend. Not sure why this is, but it does seem to make a difference. Make sure you take you time and don't rush. If you do have a problem at the surface, get the issue solved, then take a bit of extra time to mentally prepare for the dive, think through what you are going to do (profile, direction, goals of dive etc), make sure your breathing and heart rate are close to 'at rest' before trying to descend. I often take a minute, sometimes several, to chill at the surface when we've had a long swim. None of my dive buddies have ever minded, it seems to set the right tone. If you're a new diver, take the time to get into a comfortable hover once you are at your desired depth, so that you are not swimming up the weight. Nothing wrong with taking a couple of minutes at the beginning of a dive to get everything sorted out.

Second, why trying to keep up is not an enjoyable way to dive. You'll see much more when you slow down, it's amazing how some of the coolest critters can bend into the environment. So unless you have a goal that requires you to get someplace, slow it down. Given that you are on your first few OW dives, I think this is especially important. When I started I used to "power dive". I'd cruise around the dive sites at full speed. Now (some 70 dives later) I take my time. Often I'll just hover in one spot and see what's going on. The number of small camoflaged octo's I've been finding recently are definately part of the slower technique. You'll use less air, have more fun and get closer to that pure serentity and relaxation piece of mind

Third, why was your buddy not beside you? It sounds like a 'slow down a bit' signal would have been in order. If this is someone you plan on diving with more, I'd say it's time you guys sat down and discussed guidelines a bit more. How do you communicate, what position will you be in relative to each other etc. If you had an out of air emergency with your buddy swimming away from you, how would he have helped?

Sounds like you had a real learning experience. But remember that most people here had to learn things the same way, so don't feel bad. It will all help you become a better diver in the long run

Best of luck

Bjorn

 

[dlent]

Is it possible that your trim is off? My trim was way off on a dive I did about a week ago and it was causing me to use air to quickly. Make sure your in a good horizontal position while swimming.

 

[CAPT HOOK]

Don't feel embarassed; starting out EVERYONE has bad dives. Your OK, so sit back and figure out what went wrong and why. Lots of good advice in above posts.
BTW, you're in Miami so don't be in a hurry to go "deep", drive down to Key Largo and do some 30'-40' dive to get things worked out. 70'+ will be there later.

 

[greg454]

Thanks for all the advice, I've been too busy at work to check out the board regularly. I'll take it all into consideration for the next time.

 

[harleythedog]

you sound like me a few dives back. I had very similar experiences when I started diving. I remember the first maybe half dozen times I would get no more than 20-30 min air time at 35ft. I was overweighted, trim was something you put up around a door or window to make it look nice. It was hard for me to handle, I am in good shape, run 20 miles a week - dive buddy is overweight, doesnt exercise, has a year more experience and he would get triple air time. just didnt make sense to me.

I have to second everyones comment here, take it easy, go slow. As you get more comfortable you will do better. I have about 40 dives so I am still very green but no longer overweighted (shed 8lbs from my original OW weight), trim still needs work (steel tanks may me roll face up) but getting better and of course air time has dramatically increased - last 4 dives I beat dive buddy on air consumption.

I realize I haven't said anything someone else hasn't already commented on but maybe knowing other people had very similar experiences may put your mind at ease. I think its the normal progression from new diver to not new diver.