Fresh open-water diver
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New Scuba Guy
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Nice write-up and congratulations on your Openwater Certification. Unfortunately there could be a time when you may ahve to rely on a dive buddy should something go wrong at depth. I've dove with the spectrum of buddies and the vast majority of them I'd dive again with them in a heartbeat. I made a habit of seeking out the more experienced guys early on; Instructors, Dive Masters, Rescue Divers, guys with several hundred to several thousand dives under their weight belt. I benefitted tremendously under their tutelage. I've become a much more relaxed, competent, capable,and confident (but not overconfident) diver. Just keep diving regularly and you'll discover reliable dive buddies. If you go to Dutch Springs, log on to their Dive Buddy Finder. I've always been able to find a dive buddy even on less than 12 hours notice. But, most of all have fun and enjoy yourself with your diving!
OP
Thanks everyone.
Trying to get a few more dive trips in (and finish AOW) before Dutch Springs closes for the season!
Trying to get a few more dive trips in (and finish AOW) before Dutch Springs closes for the season!
OP
Hello again. Just wanted to come back to my post here and add an update. Since my OW certification weekend, I managed to make two more trips (three dive days total) up to the quarry. Spent one day at the quarry at the end of October and completed my drysuit and AOW certifications with a drysuit, navigation, and deep dive (added to PPB and wreck dives already completed). In mid-November my instructor invited me to come along with him and two OW students, plus another certified diver and instructor, just for some fun dives. Of course I was more than happy to take the weekend off. Turns out 50something-degree water in a 7mm farmer john isn't so bad!
I'm proud to say that I've learned something new on pretty much every dive so far. For a newbie I feel like I'm getting pretty good at buoyancy control and trim, as well as air consumption (managed to squeeze two 20-25 minute dives out of a single Al80 with 700psi to spare!). I also realize I have a long way to go, and I'm excited to get back in the water as soon as possible next year and keep learning.
Just a few things I've picked up...
-Pony bottles are really useless if you forget to turn the tank valve on before diving. Luckily I learned this one while simply practicing switching to the pony. All tanks now get triple-checked before every dive.
-Maintaining buoyancy, direction, and situational awareness while using a camera is much harder than one would anticipate. Much practice is required.
-Proper weighting (and positioning of weights) changes everything.
Closing out the season with (if I remember correctly) 14 total dives and 5-6 hours total underwater time.
I'm proud to say that I've learned something new on pretty much every dive so far. For a newbie I feel like I'm getting pretty good at buoyancy control and trim, as well as air consumption (managed to squeeze two 20-25 minute dives out of a single Al80 with 700psi to spare!). I also realize I have a long way to go, and I'm excited to get back in the water as soon as possible next year and keep learning.
Just a few things I've picked up...
-Pony bottles are really useless if you forget to turn the tank valve on before diving. Luckily I learned this one while simply practicing switching to the pony. All tanks now get triple-checked before every dive.
-Maintaining buoyancy, direction, and situational awareness while using a camera is much harder than one would anticipate. Much practice is required.
-Proper weighting (and positioning of weights) changes everything.
Closing out the season with (if I remember correctly) 14 total dives and 5-6 hours total underwater time.
Mustard Dave
Contributor
Good stuff on qualifying! Now just get out and dive! Do you really need to do the full PPB and Wreck courses though? Don't just chase badges for the sake of it though. If you want to continue your training, pick the specialities that have a tangible reward:
- Nitrox - allows you to procure nitrox fills which will extend your NDL. If you ever go down the tech route a nitrox cert is a prerequisite .
- Deep - qualifies you to 40m (130 ft).
- Rescue Diver - great fun and makes you more aware of other divers and also yourself. More people will want to dive with you as you'll be a safer diver. It's also a great confidence builder.
What's a season? You know how to dive in a drysuit so you can dive all year round now!
DukeAMO
Contributor
It's nice to hear that you're having fun and learning a lot.
DH and I found that our buddy skills definitely needed work in the first dozen dives or so, but we're getting much better now. Now we can and do keep track of each other in extremely low vis (<5 feet). If he ever got 50 feet away from me, even in 100 foot visibility, he'd hear a thing or two on the surface (and earlier, via sign language)! Usually we're about 4-5 feet away from each other - quite close, but not kicking each other! In calm, warm, clear water, we might spread out 10 feet. It's just more relaxing when your buddy is nearby and you trust each other.
For the camera - we like the GoPro because you can either attach it somewhere and forget about it, or attach it to your wrist and drop it any time you need to use your hands. The pictures are not usually magazine quality, and you need to add a red filter if you're at any depth, but I've seen some really nice photos and videos from GoPros. Even with that, the times DH has gotten farther from me than I liked, he was either taking a picture of something or doing compass navigation. So you do have to be careful with the camera distracting you.
DH and I found that our buddy skills definitely needed work in the first dozen dives or so, but we're getting much better now. Now we can and do keep track of each other in extremely low vis (<5 feet). If he ever got 50 feet away from me, even in 100 foot visibility, he'd hear a thing or two on the surface (and earlier, via sign language)! Usually we're about 4-5 feet away from each other - quite close, but not kicking each other! In calm, warm, clear water, we might spread out 10 feet. It's just more relaxing when your buddy is nearby and you trust each other.
For the camera - we like the GoPro because you can either attach it somewhere and forget about it, or attach it to your wrist and drop it any time you need to use your hands. The pictures are not usually magazine quality, and you need to add a red filter if you're at any depth, but I've seen some really nice photos and videos from GoPros. Even with that, the times DH has gotten farther from me than I liked, he was either taking a picture of something or doing compass navigation. So you do have to be careful with the camera distracting you.
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