My first Pool Session

[hinchu]

In a few hours I'll start my first pool session. I'm really excited. I've read the PADI book twice as my class start was delayed due to weather, so I'm all booked out. Fortunately I had received a carreer grant from the company I used to work for when it terminated our site, so I applied to begin my diving certification and it was approved. Basically all of my gear and class was paid for, so I'm pretty stoked as I'm finding out this venture can certainly be a pricey one.

I already spend a lot of time in the water surfing, and spearfishing with a pole spear I purchased a few months ago, so I hope my level of comfort in the water, and my knowledge that mother nature can really slap you around when she wants to, keeps me from making too many foolish mistakes. Then again, how much mother nature, other than her stringent laws and principles of h2o pressure, exists in a pool. I'll soon find out.

Wish me luck!

 

[DivingCRNA]

All the rules apply in a pool. Be most aware of the ones regarding your ears. Being uncleared at 12 feet can hurt!

I hope you had fun! I still remember sitting on the bottom of the pool in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, breathing from a reg and thinking it was the coolest thing in the world.

 

[spectrum]

Sounds like you have a good foundation. Have fun, keep breathing and come back with a full repeort.

Pete

 

[jsmharley]

hope all has gone well for ya today....i got bit by the scuba bug last year and love it.

 

[hinchu]

Hi, Everyone:

The pool session was so much fun. It was a little bizzare at first getting used to the dryness of the compressed air and also a feeling like I was taking in too much air. I usually breathe quite deep and long when I'm exercising, so I think I have to learn not to breath so long and deep. Every few minutes I would have to take a really long exhale which seemed to last about ten seconds to get rid of what felt like excess, trapped air. I really noticed when we were learning to do fin pivots.

Buoyance control is also a little tricky. By the end of the session I felt more comfortable with trying to adjust my breathing more than my BCD for fine tuning, but every once in a while I breathed too deep and up to the surface I went (we were only in 3 1/2' of water). I found myself laughing underwater quite a few times.

The instructors were great. There are only five of us in the class with two PADI Instructors and another PADI Dive Master. It's really nice to have a lot of personal interaction with them, escpecially when orienting oneself with the principles of depth. I must admit that I was surprised that in the four feet of water we were working in, I found myself clearing my ears at least twice from the surface to the bottom of the pool. It's also much easier to equalize with a constant supply of air.

The five hours in the pool went too fast. I can't wait till next weekend to learn more.

 

[markfm]

It sounds like a good experience -- awesome I tended to whistle and smile a lot -- when you get to deeper water, you have to watch the smiling (if you do it), or you'll get a bit of water in your mouth.

 

[spectrum]

Splendid!

That deep breathing technique will be your friend, you will just fine tune it a bit for scuba diving.

Have Fun,
Keep in Touch,
Pete

 

[rascal1933]

Congats hinchu!

Sounds like your on your way to a Diving addition < Really Not a bad thing at all!

Your breathing will improve,Not to worry...

Getting a little more diving in will increase your comfort level + this will help you improve and master better breathing and equalization~ear clearing skills.

Heres to Safe and Great diving hinchu!

Cheers

 

[moneysavr]

Hey
You live in a state you can dive year round,Enjoy and let us know how it was!
Brad

 

[boulderjohn]

I usually breathe quite deep and long when I'm exercising, so I think I have to learn not to breath so long and deep.

Breathing long is a very important skill. Just control the amount that is coming in when you do it--you don't have to suck the tank dry with each breath. I suggest you try to take 4-5 seconds on a normal inhale, pause slightly without actually holding your breath, then take 4-5 seconds on a normal exhale. The key is that it should be relaxed breathing. You used the word exercising--good diving technique is as effortless as you can make it. On the activity scale, it is a heck of a lot closer to sleeping than sprinting.