Fin Pivot and Hovering

[Babs-Would-Be-Diver]

OK, 2 weeks to go before my OW referral.

I have the first half, however, due to weight belt removal and replacement problems I did NOT do the hovering bit of the CW course. The Fin Pivot was easy and I did both methods with the BCD (inflating using the Low pressure regulator and oral).

The instructor still signed me off saying I could practise the hovering once I go for my OW.

I am concerned about this and thinking of booking a pool session next week to do Fin Pivot, hovering, weight belt removal underwater and at surface. I have now purchased my own belt with pockets.

I am also concerned that we did not practise correct weighting at the start.

Am I being too fussy!!

 

[smartecosse]

i'm confused a bit............. you got signed off for a skill that you didnt learn?

moving past that you are not being fussy, the more practice and better you are with the skills the more comfortable you will be in open water.

 

[JimC]

Considering buoyancy is one of the most, if not the important thing to learn about scuba...

 

[TSandM]

Book the session. The more comfortable you are, and more stable you are in the water, the more you will enjoy the OW dives.

Try this instead of or in addition to the fin pivot: Lie on the bottom with your knees bent; inhale until your whole body comes a little off the bottom, then exhale until you come back in contact with it. This is the same buoyancy exercise, but teaches you to think about being horizontal rather than feet down in your positioning in the water.

Time spent getting your weighting correct, and distributing your weights so that you can be horizontal in the water, is time VERY well spent.

 

[boulderjohn]

Book the session. The more comfortable you are, and more stable you are in the water, the more you will enjoy the OW dives.

Absolutely.

Work on that hover in the pool. Once you get it there, you will find it to be much easier in the OW classes. That is because the shallower you are, the more slight changes in depth affect your buoyancy. Hovering at 40 feet is much, much easier than hovering at 8 feet.

 

[Damselfish]

Think of the fin pivot as hovering with training wheels, rather than a separate skill.

 

[cerich]

Explain to your open water Instructor what you covered vs. what was signed off. With luck the OW instr will be a good one and teach you to dive. If you never got off your knees in confined water the first instructor was taking your money, not teaching you to dive.

Have fun!

 

[tedtim]

Book the session. The more comfortable you are, and more stable you are in the water, the more you will enjoy the OW dives.
<snipped>
Time spent getting your weighting correct, and distributing your weights so that you can be horizontal in the water, is time VERY well spent.

I agree completely and it took me a couple of years to sort this out myself.

Here is what I do for buoyancy practice, especially after a long period of time away from diving (sorry, I am a wimp and don't do those ice dives).

In the pool I first identify a specific point on the wall at depth. It can be a small tile with a mark on it or anything else that you can identify. I swim up to that point, remain horizontal and point my finger at it. I then maintain that position for a few minutes. Next, I do a partial mask flood and clear trying to maintain the position. Following that I do a full mask flood, removal and replacement. Note that this is not while kneeling.

I also have a small styrofoam ball on a string connected to a weight that I put in the bottom of the pool. At the top is a slot with a weight keeper in it. I swim up to the float and remove the weight keeper using two fingers. I then move back from the ball by a few feet, return and put the weight keeper back in the slot. Repeat as necessary.

These are simple exercises that sure help me to get a better grip on buoyancy. I may not be anywhere near the most proficient, but I find that doing this helps me in terms of both concentration and to slow my breathing.

Just my 2 psi.

 

[BarryNL]

Considering buoyancy is one of the most, if not the important thing to learn about scuba...

True, but it's not something you're going to master in the OW course. Generally it seems to take about 50 dives to really get it sorted out.

Having said that, any pool time spent practising will help.

 

[TSandM]

Wonderful ideas, Ted!