dgfishy
Registered
Hi all,
First off, it's good to finally post. I've been lurking for about 2 months. I'm an extremely new diver, but I am deeply passionate (and fairly knowledgeable) about the underwater world, especially fish. I'd been meaning to get certified for years, but I finally got around to it this past July. What follows is an account of my first dive after receiving my cert.
I was certified under conditions best described as ideal; an 80 degree quarry with excellent visibility, two other students, one instructor. However, I spend most of my time around the Seattle / Puget Sound region for school, which presents a very different kind of diving. I wanted to do this right, and try to approach situations very carefully. I decided to purchase my BC, computer, and regulators from the start, so I'd be able to get acquainted with most of my gear before I actually got in the water. I rented my exposure gear, tanks, and weights.
I had two buddies for my first dive, both certified rescue divers.
Buddy #1 has ~50 dives, and is fairly inexperienced in Puget Sound / cold water.
Buddy 2 has 500+ and extensive experience in both environments. He's also a photographer, and is bringing his camera.
Dive day comes. Divesite is a popular underwater park. Water is 56 degrees, visibility is ~15 feet. Obviously, there are waves, which I've never encountered before. Entry is from the shore, with ~50m swim to the descent point. We arrive with ample time to set up our gear. I'm by far the slowest to get set up (we planned for this) but we still finish up around slack tide, right on schedule. Dive plan is conservative, we don't plan to venture beyond 30 feet or so, turn around at 1500 pounds, surface with 4-500.
I decide to remove some weight from my belt, so our photographer won't have to deal with me kicking up the bottom from being overweighted. We're about to head out, when I notice that my computer hasn't turned on or synched with its air transmitter, something my buddies tell me will happen automatically when I enter the water. I assume they're right, so I head into the water with them. I was also wearing a hood for the first time, which was making it incredibly hard to hear.
Mistakes 1, 2, and 3: Failure to prep all gear before getting into the water. Failure to adjust the hood so I could hear what was going on. Failure to weight myself conservatively.
As you might have guessed, that did not happen. As we were all trying to don our fins in the swells (which were small, but far larger than anything I'd encountered) I was still trying to get the thing to work. As a result, I failed to notice that my regular had started to freeflow aggressively. I lost ~400 pounds in 20 seconds. In the confusion, buddy #2 loses buddy #1's fins in the surf. I, meanwhile, am forced to trudge back to shore and reset my computer, as they hunt for the lost fins.
I return to the water ~5 minutes later, computer now working. One fin has been found, the other is gone. After ~15 minutes of searching, and no second fin, buddy #1 urges me and buddy #2 to go on without him and not waste the dive. We proceed to the descent point with some difficulty (my regulator was still freeflowing occasionally) and deflate our BCs.
I float.
I struggle in the waves for about 10 minutes as my buddy insists that I have enough weight to descend, trying to give me instructions over the sound of the surf. I try everything, but I simply won't go down. The struggling, intense kicking (trying to push myself downwards when all else failed) and occasional facefuls of Puget Sound cost me another 1000 PSI. I finally descend by "climbing" down buoy by the descent point, extremely frustrated, very tired, and nauseous from being tossed around. It becomes immediately apparent that I do not have enough weight; even at 20 feet, without air pockets in my wetsuit, I'm an absolute cork, and I'd already used more than 1500 pounds of air. We abort the dive after 3 minutes and begin swimming back to shore. I am exhausted, very frustrated, and still quite nauseous. I collapse on the beach, sitting in the sand for about 15 minutes to catch my breath (and feel a bit less sick). This proved fateful.
Mistake #4, letting my gear get covered in sand.
While buddy 2 and I "dove" buddy 1 had been searching for his fin. Sadly, it was gone; he couldn't dive that day. As he has a full tank of air, he suggests that I take it and attempt a second, properly-weighted dive with buddy 2 (who has excellent air consumption; he'd used ~300 pounds this whole time).
With me now overweighted (we weren't going to risk me being underweight again) We swap the tanks on our BCs and get ready to dive again. I clean the sand off of my gear. As we reach the water's edge, I inflate my BC... the sand took it's toll. Runaway inflation. Remembering my training, I struggle to disconnect the inflator hose (not easy, as it's my first time trying to do it in 5mm gloves!), but I finally succeed. I try to clear the inflator of grit, but it inflates out of control again; I repeat the disconnect and try to clear it out again. This time it behaves; no more runaway inflator. We proceed out to the descent point. I was still nauseous from the first episode of bobbing up and down; this didn't help.
Mercifully, I descend without incident, and promptly vomit a bit into my regulator (bizarrely, I'd actually looked up what happens in the event that you puke in your regulator, so it didn't throw me off really). Before we leave the buoy, I push my inflator to get myself off the bottom (as I'm overweighted). I also wanted to test the thing, to make sure it wasn't going to run away on me when I had nothing to grab onto (I'd pretty much established that in the event of an out-of-control ascent, I wouldn't have enough time to disconnect the thing unless I was holding onto something). I push the inflator and rise slightly; it seems everything is fine. Unfortunately, the hood's impact on my hearing took its toll, and I was, in fact, in yet another runaway inflation. I figure this out within a few seconds, and after a few moments of terror (it was 20 feet of water, but still frightening!) I manage to grab hold of the line, start deflating my BC, and disconnect the thing. I try it once more for good measure, but it's hopeless; my inflator simply can't be trusted. We crawl on the bottom for another 5 or 10 minutes, then head back to shore, dejected. My buddy had to tow me in because I was so nauseous and exhausted. Not really the best start.
Despite the mess, I think this was a positive experience for me. I learned how my gear behaves, approximately how much weight I need, what to expect from shore entry dives, and what abuse my kit simply cannot take. I'm having my BC serviced before I use it again; it was purchased in good condition, but I definitely took it over the edge. I'm not diving until it's been overhauled. I also think I might be better served by shorter, stiffer fins, preferably with spring straps. I think would've made the shore entry a lot easier for me, as well as the swimming itself. I know that I should expect a hood to severely impair my hearing, and compensate accordingly. I wish I'd learned all this in a way that hadn't ruined my dives, but it's better to learn these things now, at the cost of my dive, than later, at the cost of getting myself or someone else seriously hurt.
So yeah, that's my first dive in a nutshell. If you think I missed some important issues, I'd love to hear about them so I can plan for the future!
First off, it's good to finally post. I've been lurking for about 2 months. I'm an extremely new diver, but I am deeply passionate (and fairly knowledgeable) about the underwater world, especially fish. I'd been meaning to get certified for years, but I finally got around to it this past July. What follows is an account of my first dive after receiving my cert.
I was certified under conditions best described as ideal; an 80 degree quarry with excellent visibility, two other students, one instructor. However, I spend most of my time around the Seattle / Puget Sound region for school, which presents a very different kind of diving. I wanted to do this right, and try to approach situations very carefully. I decided to purchase my BC, computer, and regulators from the start, so I'd be able to get acquainted with most of my gear before I actually got in the water. I rented my exposure gear, tanks, and weights.
I had two buddies for my first dive, both certified rescue divers.
Buddy #1 has ~50 dives, and is fairly inexperienced in Puget Sound / cold water.
Buddy 2 has 500+ and extensive experience in both environments. He's also a photographer, and is bringing his camera.
Dive day comes. Divesite is a popular underwater park. Water is 56 degrees, visibility is ~15 feet. Obviously, there are waves, which I've never encountered before. Entry is from the shore, with ~50m swim to the descent point. We arrive with ample time to set up our gear. I'm by far the slowest to get set up (we planned for this) but we still finish up around slack tide, right on schedule. Dive plan is conservative, we don't plan to venture beyond 30 feet or so, turn around at 1500 pounds, surface with 4-500.
I decide to remove some weight from my belt, so our photographer won't have to deal with me kicking up the bottom from being overweighted. We're about to head out, when I notice that my computer hasn't turned on or synched with its air transmitter, something my buddies tell me will happen automatically when I enter the water. I assume they're right, so I head into the water with them. I was also wearing a hood for the first time, which was making it incredibly hard to hear.
Mistakes 1, 2, and 3: Failure to prep all gear before getting into the water. Failure to adjust the hood so I could hear what was going on. Failure to weight myself conservatively.
As you might have guessed, that did not happen. As we were all trying to don our fins in the swells (which were small, but far larger than anything I'd encountered) I was still trying to get the thing to work. As a result, I failed to notice that my regular had started to freeflow aggressively. I lost ~400 pounds in 20 seconds. In the confusion, buddy #2 loses buddy #1's fins in the surf. I, meanwhile, am forced to trudge back to shore and reset my computer, as they hunt for the lost fins.
I return to the water ~5 minutes later, computer now working. One fin has been found, the other is gone. After ~15 minutes of searching, and no second fin, buddy #1 urges me and buddy #2 to go on without him and not waste the dive. We proceed to the descent point with some difficulty (my regulator was still freeflowing occasionally) and deflate our BCs.
I float.
I struggle in the waves for about 10 minutes as my buddy insists that I have enough weight to descend, trying to give me instructions over the sound of the surf. I try everything, but I simply won't go down. The struggling, intense kicking (trying to push myself downwards when all else failed) and occasional facefuls of Puget Sound cost me another 1000 PSI. I finally descend by "climbing" down buoy by the descent point, extremely frustrated, very tired, and nauseous from being tossed around. It becomes immediately apparent that I do not have enough weight; even at 20 feet, without air pockets in my wetsuit, I'm an absolute cork, and I'd already used more than 1500 pounds of air. We abort the dive after 3 minutes and begin swimming back to shore. I am exhausted, very frustrated, and still quite nauseous. I collapse on the beach, sitting in the sand for about 15 minutes to catch my breath (and feel a bit less sick). This proved fateful.
Mistake #4, letting my gear get covered in sand.
While buddy 2 and I "dove" buddy 1 had been searching for his fin. Sadly, it was gone; he couldn't dive that day. As he has a full tank of air, he suggests that I take it and attempt a second, properly-weighted dive with buddy 2 (who has excellent air consumption; he'd used ~300 pounds this whole time).
With me now overweighted (we weren't going to risk me being underweight again) We swap the tanks on our BCs and get ready to dive again. I clean the sand off of my gear. As we reach the water's edge, I inflate my BC... the sand took it's toll. Runaway inflation. Remembering my training, I struggle to disconnect the inflator hose (not easy, as it's my first time trying to do it in 5mm gloves!), but I finally succeed. I try to clear the inflator of grit, but it inflates out of control again; I repeat the disconnect and try to clear it out again. This time it behaves; no more runaway inflator. We proceed out to the descent point. I was still nauseous from the first episode of bobbing up and down; this didn't help.
Mercifully, I descend without incident, and promptly vomit a bit into my regulator (bizarrely, I'd actually looked up what happens in the event that you puke in your regulator, so it didn't throw me off really). Before we leave the buoy, I push my inflator to get myself off the bottom (as I'm overweighted). I also wanted to test the thing, to make sure it wasn't going to run away on me when I had nothing to grab onto (I'd pretty much established that in the event of an out-of-control ascent, I wouldn't have enough time to disconnect the thing unless I was holding onto something). I push the inflator and rise slightly; it seems everything is fine. Unfortunately, the hood's impact on my hearing took its toll, and I was, in fact, in yet another runaway inflation. I figure this out within a few seconds, and after a few moments of terror (it was 20 feet of water, but still frightening!) I manage to grab hold of the line, start deflating my BC, and disconnect the thing. I try it once more for good measure, but it's hopeless; my inflator simply can't be trusted. We crawl on the bottom for another 5 or 10 minutes, then head back to shore, dejected. My buddy had to tow me in because I was so nauseous and exhausted. Not really the best start.
Despite the mess, I think this was a positive experience for me. I learned how my gear behaves, approximately how much weight I need, what to expect from shore entry dives, and what abuse my kit simply cannot take. I'm having my BC serviced before I use it again; it was purchased in good condition, but I definitely took it over the edge. I'm not diving until it's been overhauled. I also think I might be better served by shorter, stiffer fins, preferably with spring straps. I think would've made the shore entry a lot easier for me, as well as the swimming itself. I know that I should expect a hood to severely impair my hearing, and compensate accordingly. I wish I'd learned all this in a way that hadn't ruined my dives, but it's better to learn these things now, at the cost of my dive, than later, at the cost of getting myself or someone else seriously hurt.
So yeah, that's my first dive in a nutshell. If you think I missed some important issues, I'd love to hear about them so I can plan for the future!
