How Long?

[JamesK]

Originally posted by large_diver
913) OW comfort 35 miles out to sea in the middle of a chum slick with Makos seen minutes earlier at the back of the boat nuzzling the ladder......30 foot swim from stern of boat to the shark cage (true story)....not sure if this "comfort" is ever achieved...

LOL. No thanks. I don't think I could be comfortable in that situation.

 

[The Chairman]

I got Jacques Coustea all straightened out. The guy couldn't get into the water without a camera. I wanted a few pictures for myself, but everytime the photographer got close to me, in comes Jacques! What a camera hog!

In reality, I always felt at ease in the pool and in fresh water. Not many things cause me grief! I did over a hundred dives before I got my first real taste of being "out of my element". It was my first salt water dive nad was off of a boat to boot. My instructor said I had eyes as big as saucers... of course I was listening for the Jaws theme. As soon as I hit the water and everything else was clicking, I did a few scans for the ocean's apex predator and I never looked back.

 

[ScubyDoo]

I just finished my confined water dives and knowledge reviews about 3 weeks ago. Going into the first pool dives I was a bit nervous. I didnt really know what to expect. After breathing underwater in the shallow end for for awhile I became really comfortable. I was a bit nervous going into most of the skills, but didnt have any problems with any of them. Our first mask flood was only half full and I cleared it easily. The regulator retrieval was very simple. I guess it helped to know the surface was only inches away if I screwed up. After that I never had any problems whatsoever. When we did our deep water swim arounds after our skills, I would practice the skills most people dont like. Taking my mask off and putting back on never bothered me at all. I know that I have plenty of air to breathe right there, so there is no need to panic. Just relax, take your time, and complete the skill.

That said, I havent experienced my open water dives yet and I must admit Im a bit nervous about that. I will be in a lot colder water than my confined dives, and that alone worries me. My confined dives were in 85 degree water and my open water dives will be in 68 degree water. Brrrrr!

I have to agree with Large_Diver....It will be an ongoing experience of "first times", all of which will make me very nervous. But I think that is a good thing. Being nervous will help to keep me focused on what Im doing and the dangers involved if I dont do it right.

 

[Rooster1]

Comfort comes with experience, the more u dive the more comfortable u will be with various conditiions (ie) cold, deep, dark, large animals, etc., but I never dive with out a prayer first even a dive I have done before and is mostly an easy one. I believe in being confident, knowing your limits, and staying within them, but most of all never allowing myself to be fully comfortable in an environment where my body was not designed to be. I always keep this attitude because it always keeps me sharp and doesn't allow me to over look anything before or during the dive. I like to think this kind of thinking will help keep myself and any other dive buddy I am with alive to see another diveut:

 

[neil]

Big James,
I have had a few students like you, who have taken to diving very naturally, and quickly. It's not arrogance at all. In this anti-elitist time we live in it's not PC to say, but some people are simply more talented than others.

Neil

 

[Jazzy]

I took the OW course with a friend & we had some interesting differences. I expected the first underwater experience to be scary, and that first time I was breathing off a reg underwater, even though I knew I was getting air just fine, a tiny voice in the back of my brain was saying "you'regonnadrownyou'regonnadrownyou'regonnadrown" (took me another pool session or two & I managed to convince that part of brain that all was well). I did pretty well with the mask removal & replacement, though. On the other hand, my friend had no fear whatsoever going into first pool session, but couldn't cope with taking the mask off & wound up popping to the surface. She was very frustrated with herself, probably more so because she did not expect to have any trouble. Her later pool sessions were fine, though.