Had 2 scary experiences: How to avoid in future?

[DandyDon]

Breckgir, welcome to SB. It will help with discussions if you'll click UserCP above on the bar, then Edit Profile, then complete and save it.

I doubt the lady is a troll, more likely a basically trained vacation diver who doesn't know the names of the lines. At least she didn't call it a rope. But I will agree with the rest of this...

First of all, none of your problems were created by PADI, they were created by your lackof experience. Why does eveyone always blame someone else when you are a rookie and can't dive. >>>> Thirdly both you and your husband-buddy ran out of air. Try a couple of shallow shore dives before getting on a boat again.

Or make sure you're going on a newbie boat to newbie dives. Or take Alcina's excellent advice and hire a DM for the first day. After OW, you learn to dive by diving within your training, obtaining experience, then maybe more courses. How did you pick your Dive Operator? By price....??

Talk to an ENT about your ears, call DAN (I trust you are an insured member?) about your ears - some of us take Sudafed, some don't. Ears do have to be cleared, tho - got to be done. As Ron stated, clear before you get in. One Inst I know suggests clearing three times before you go in. My home buddy still forgets to do this, still forgets his Sudafed, and I forget to remind him because I have no problems and I'm checking & reminding on so many things, but he is getting better. I like to stop and 15 ft and do a bubble check on each other, even tho everyone else says get down fast, and this give him time to clear more. But as suggested above, even tho you're at 15 ft and they're below (I suspect you were not on an appropriate boat for your experience level), you should be drifting along almost the same speed.

Good luck to you both, dive safer...

 

[Web Monkey]

Webby, you are too mean. SSI certainly will not teach drift diving skill any better than PADI... PADI deserve it just because they pumped out three times as many divers as SSI.

I wasn't singling out PADI. In fact, that's why I said "this isn't a knock specifically against PADI"

None of the cert agencies that I'm aware of turn out fully qualified, well-rounded divers from an OW class, although if the OP's OW class was a little more comprehensive, they might have recognised that they weren't ready for the dive and abandoned it.

Terry

 

[haha49]

i did that same dive.. and well at least you didnt have tons of boats zooming around when you surfaced... that was scary..

 

[DandyDon]

i did that same dive.. and well at least you didnt have tons of boats zooming around when you surfaced... that was scary..

This is why it is important to surface close to your DM's safety sausage which he sends up when you give him the 1,000 psi/going up signal. If away from the DM, then inflate yours and hold in your hand so it goes up 5 ft before your high hand does - unless you are experienced at sending it up on a reel like the DMs do. They do not burst with reduce pressure of ascending, no matter what you hear.

Of course, I have seem some really unprepared divers in Coz waters without a safety sausage each. :shakehead Mine has made every dive with me since right after OW.

 

[bluewatertoy]

So after going back and reading the OP again, we are to understand that this happened 3 years ago . And now haha 49 says he was on the same dive. Just checking his profile he says he has only been certified for 1 year. Keep the stories coming people. The ice is still on our local lakes for another 2 months and I am getting bored.
Kelly

 

[donooo]

1) Never seen an anchor line in Cozumel. Spent three winters there.

2) About a 100 operators on Cozumel. Should be one that meets your requirements. (Smaller boat, fewer people, hand holding) Interview the shop, pick the right one or move on.

3) You're the certified diver, why is it someone else's fault.

4) You might have problems on a cave dive or a wreck dive or a night dive or a lot of other things you haven't been trained for. Get training. Your certification, is your license to learn, not the end.

5) You're suppose to tell them you're low on air. Did you miss the briefing ?

6) My wife couldn't get down in a hurry either. Just spent two weeks on Bonaire beach diving. Cured that.

7) Not a lot of beach dives on Cozumel, but I can think of three or four with little current.



adios don O

 

[DandyDon]

So after going back and reading the OP again, we are to understand that this happened 3 years ago . And now haha 49 says he was on the same dive. Just checking his profile he says he has only been certified for 1 year. Keep the stories coming people. The ice is still on our local lakes for another 2 months and I am getting bored.
Kelly

Nah, he was speaking poetically - "Same dive, different year." Aka "Been there done that."

1) Never seen an anchor line in Cozumel. Spent three winters there.

Yeah, it was probly a drift line...

Breckgirl, who are you diving with next week? Have a hard talk with them before you get assigned to a boat. 3 yrs of no diving, refresher course - you're a newbie. Make sure they understand that and agree to put you on a newbie boat all week.

The personal DM for the first day is a wonderful idea - won't cost much.

 

[Gombessa]

Wow, this thread was really quick to call troll. Nothing to indiciate troll-like activity to me, sounded like a perfectly natural and reasonable question for SB. We're here to help each other right? IMO one way to do that is to embrace a "no question is too stupid" attitude.

Back to the topic at hand: I was hoping some experienced divers could clear up a few of the suggestion made:

1) my OW class taught not to use any kind of decongestant or medication prior to a dive to help with equalization (or to dive with a cold), particularly because it could wear off in the middle of the dive and leave you prone to a reverse squeeze that you can't unblock. Does this still stand for experienced divers?

2) I had a lot of trouble equalizing on the way down, until I started *constantly* equalizing - basically grabbing the anchor line with one hand, and keeping my other hand on my nose, blowing gently the entire way down. This let me descend at a fairly fast, constant rate, with no squeeze problems. Are there any drawbacks to this over the standard "descend a few feet, stop, equalize, repeat" method?

 

[meekal]

However, it was during ASCENT that I ended up with a reverse block (!)…. One of the most painful things I’ve ever encountered. This occurred (I'm sure!) because I was rushing on the decsent and didn't completely clear.

maybe "Ask Dr. Decompression" can reply to this part..... ummmmmmm

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i just wouldn't get on the SEEKER though - PADI didn't train you for the Andrea Doria either - as mentioned; PADI (and all agencies) trained you dive in conditions in which you were taught. If you weren't taught to dive in a current, don't expect to know how. To avoid this (and all other scary experiences) get the proper training.

 

[do it easy]

2) I had a lot of trouble equalizing on the way down, until I started *constantly* equalizing - basically grabbing the anchor line with one hand, and keeping my other hand on my nose, blowing gently the entire way down. This let me descend at a fairly fast, constant rate, with no squeeze problems. Are there any drawbacks to this over the standard "descend a few feet, stop, equalize, repeat" method?

I'll do fast drops with one hand on my nose and the other hand on my inflators (wing and drysuit). The drawback is you have to time your breathing so you don't overwork the reg (breathe and inflate at different times) and you have to manage your buoyancy so you don't slam into the bottom (inflate regularly on the way down so that you are only slightly negative throughout the descent.) Also, it's harder to stay with your buddy.