Mission Accomplished

[Mick]

Well, we did it !!!
Yipeeeeee
My girlfriend and I completed our OW cert on the weekend. Give me more, I want more and I want it now!
What a blast, so much to look at and so little air.
With the exception of my girlfriend having a couple of panick attacks, everything went well.
First panick was on the first OW dive, she looked up and freaked because she thought it was a long way to the top. That problem was easily overcome by one of our instructors taking her to the surface and discussiong her fears and reassuring her that he would look after her.After that, she returned to the bottom and had a good time. One of her biggest problems was that the mask kept fogging and made her feel chlaustraphobic. The second dive went well and we all enjoyed.
On day 2, we completed our skills practice and our last dive was to the end of the jetty. This is where panick attack number 2 came in. All three of us students were to plan the dive and complete it while our instructors looked on. Our plan was for the three of us to scuba slowly to the end of the jetty and then have a really good look on the way back. As we got to the end of the jetty there seemed to be what looked like a dark patch (school of fish was blocking the light) my girlfriend stopped, not sure if she could handle it. While we were sitting on the bottom, our other buddy didnt bother to stop and my girlfriend panicked even more because she couldnt see him and got worried. If that wasnt bad enough, this guy didnt follow the lost buddy procedure that we had been taught. Instead of turning around and looking for a while before surfacing, he decided to surface where he was and snorkel back !! I saw him above us on the surface but my girlfriend couldnt see him so she just kept panicking until one of the instructors made hime come back down (I think there were some quiet words to him for leaving his buddy) After that, the dive went on and it was the best thing I have ever done. Thankfully, my girlfriend has not been put off and was assured by the instructors that her fears would go as she became more confidant.

Finally, thank you all so much for you help and answering my questions, you really helped more then you will ever know.

Thanks

Mick

 

[DennisW]

Congratulations on completing your course. You are in for a lot of fun as you have probably found out by now. You can use nearly any kind of soap for an anti-fog solution. A lot of people use Johnsons & Johnsons baby shampoo since it won't burn your eyes if you don't completely wash your mask out. I use plain old dish washing liquid. Put it in your mask after you rinse your mask after your day of diving. Then rinse the mask out just before you get into the water the next time you dive. This really helps with keeping the mask from fogging. If I still get a little fog, I will let a little water into my mask and swish it around to clear the fog.

 

[Mario S Caner]

Congradulations on being an official member of the underwater realm!

Have you guys treated your new masks with a non-gel toothpaste yet? The non-gel toothpaste is just abbrasive enough to clean off the layer of silicon that builds up on a new masks lens during the manufacturing process. Once cleaned that way, you can apply a mask defog solution that any dive shop carries. Many studies and tests have indicated that the brand called "500 psi" is one of the better ones... which I will agree with. Check it out, you can't go wrong.

 

[Warhammer]

And welcome to our world! Isn't it incredibly lovely? Like nothing else on earth.

For defog, I usually use Sea Drops. That is until this bottle runs out, then I think I'm going with J & J baby shampoo. I tried 500PSI, and I didn't like it at all. It works well, but it's hard to get out of the mask.

 

[Mick]

Thanks you all.

I should have mentiond that after the first day's diving I cleaned my girlfriends mask again with the toothpaste and that seemed to fix the problem. Amazing what you can do with toothpaste and a bit of spit !

Words cannot describe what it is like to dive, better off just trying it yourself !


Mick

 

[Fishkiller]

just my .02

 

[DiverDave]

Congratulations to both of you. I hope you get a much pleasure from diving as the rest of us do.

As for mask anti-fog, I find spit works just fine.

 

[Walter]

..........it also contains bacteria that should not be near your eyes. Soap works better than spit, especially if you apply it 12 or more hours in advance. I might be diving on Friday morning, my mask has had dish soap in it since Saturday evening. It will not fog all day Friday without additional treatments. Dish soap and shampoo are cheaper than commercially available defog solutions yet they work just as well as any and better than most. Tooth paste works quite well on new masks, but so does soft scrub.

WWW™

 

[large_diver]

I remeber the "rush" from my OW cert dives last year -- it's an awesome feeling!

 

[DivingGal]

Awesome. Bravo. Jobs well done. Welcome to you both to the world down under. <<he-he did I say that?>> I know the feeling about . . . OK I'm certified now, when can I go again?. . . Keep up diving, if you can't get to open water (like here where things are cold, white and frozen -- and I refuse to Ice Dive) check up pool sessions to keep up your skills.

I too caution about using spit in the mask. Although "sort of OK" in a pinch, as was stated it does contain a bacteria that is not good for the eyes -- especially if you where contact lens. Also, have you ever seen the rental masks? Ugh. When helping out in the dive shop, it is not my favourite tasks -- have you seen the creepy crawlies that grow in around the seal. Enough to get you screaming!