Finally AOW!!!

[on_two_wheels]

Want the long or short version? I mentioned previously that my basic instructor was great but that was during private instruction. So I started the AOW with him a couple months ago along with 4 other students. On the deep dive, 2 of the 5 ran out of air. If I didn't have a 95 cf tank, I would have, too. Having lost faith, I located another instructor doing the nav/night dives with one other student. Ironically, I first talked to him on weds and he was taking her out on sunday (25th). PERFECT!!

So we hit Shaw's Cove in Laguna Beach, CA and it was a good day to dive. Water temp was about 63 degrees and viz was around 10-15 feet. I liked the nav dive and it makes me want to learn more. Might actually go with the actual course becuase it was so fun!! We then did the night dive which went great, too. Another instructor joined us just for fun along with her buddy (5 of us now). We saw many round rays, a diamond ray, lobsters, crabs and even an eel. Good times!! On the exit, the other student hurt her knee. Those of you that have dived Shaw's will feel for me....I climbed those stairs with a full loaded bc twice!! Ugh!! Hopefully she's okay, though. Otherwise, everyone was great to dive with and a much better experience with this instructor.

Now I'll dive all summer long and look at doing rescue cert toward the end of summer. Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend!!

 

[stairman]

Running out of air is the guy breathing its fault.The instructors poor planning didnt help much.

 

[kidspot]

Isn't the point of the deep dive to work on gas management? Doesn't sound like the students grasped the idea ... or maybe it was not covered in depth (pun intended )

Glad to hear the next instructor piqued your interest on navagation - I gotta say that is a skill I'd like to work on in your neck of the woods - It's too easy over here where you can see for 100+ ft.

btw - if you've not seen it before, NWgrateful Diver here on Scubaboard put together a wonderful article on gas management for AOW students that I'd recommend you take a look at to suppliment your own education - Understanding Gas Management by Bob Bailey

Have a great summer diving!

Aloha, Tim

 

[TASims]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm interested in doing an AOW class, now I have something to watch for and something to look forward to.

 

[on_two_wheels]

Running out of air is the guy breathing its fault.The instructors poor planning didnt help much.

Perhaps I should have clarified....I showed my gauge to one of the 2 instructors when I was just under 1200 psi. They said to let them know when we were at 1000. I had a 95 cf tank, everyone else was on 80s. One of the other students said he let the instructor know, as well. Both notices seemed to go unheeded.

When I reached 600 psi, I began to surface. I was the only student not specifically buddied up with someone. The instructor grabbed my fin and pointed me to go the other direction. Apparently I would have ended up further from the boat. I wouldn't care where I surface as long as I do so still breathing!!! I returned to the boat with just under 300 psi. To me, the instructor didn't have control of the group and exercised poor planning.

 

[kidspot]

Thanks for clarifying two wheels,

Reminds me of something similar during my OW course - when we surfaced (I was at 100 psi) our instructor told us "You and your buddy have to make decisions and do what is best, do not wait for someone else to make decisions for you." He had done it intentionally so we would not blindly follow him (or someone else) around. At least when he did this we were in 10 fsw ... the lesson has stuck with me and now I try to pass it on to my students (in other ways than letting them run out of air however )

Aloha, Tim

 

[on_two_wheels]

Thanks for clarifying two wheels,

Reminds me of something similar during my OW course - when we surfaced (I was at 100 psi) our instructor told us "You and your buddy have to make decisions and do what is best, do not wait for someone else to make decisions for you." He had done it intentionally so we would not blindly follow him (or someone else) around. At least when he did this we were in 10 fsw ... the lesson has stuck with me and now I try to pass it on to my students (in other ways than letting them run out of air however )

Aloha, Tim

If that was the goal, I'd have been cool with it. But then he should have checked with me about my air when he grabbed my fin to turn around as I was beginning to surface. On the plus side, it's all in the past and the new instructor I went with on the last couple dives was GREAT!!!

 

[MissyP]

Those of you that have dived Shaw's will feel for me....I climbed those stairs with a full loaded bc twice!!

So will you carry my gear if we dive Shaw's , huh Matty ?

 

[ucfdiver]

If anyone runs out of air, it's their fault, no one else's, period.

 

[on_two_wheels]

If anyone runs out of air, it's their fault, no one else's, period.

I get that....however, as a trained professional A) it's your job to take care of those in your charge and B) should heed the warnings of the students when advised of low air C) should make sound judgement, like not allowing a 1st dry suit dive & 1st deep at the same time.

While you're right, his actions and attitude were completely unprofessional and certainly contributed to the problem. Had he turned the dive when he was first notified of a student reaching 1000psi, it would have been fine. Lessons learned for everyone, hopefully including the instructor.