My venture into Sidemount.

[Kevin Carlisle]

Congratulations Jax. I knew you would learn a ton from this course. Wish the weather was warmer but I did say the water would be nice

 

[Insta-Gator]

Jax, thanks again for sharing. It helps keep the rest of us motivated :cool3:

 

[irishsquid]

Thanks a ton Jax! What an inspiration you are. Your enthusiasm is infectious.
:kiss2:

 

[DwayneJ]

Congratulations Jax and well done Rob!

Dwayne

 

[The Chairman]

WTG Jax! Glad we could cheer you on from afar!

 

[Jax]

I can't believe it's over already!!!! :depressed:

I had such a wonderful time! Dive-aholic is a super patient, articulate instructor, and I'm pretty that patience was necessary a time or two! The first day, he told me to stop fidgeting, can you believe it?

I learned SO much, and now comes time to practice it until I can do it well. There were a few things I learned, though, that I really could have done without. That double-triple-checking that the drysuit is zipped that last half-inch . . . yeah, wish I'd skipped that lesson. And then there was that part about dipping your head down all the way, so that you get a stream of water down the back of your neck . . . could've done without that one, too.

I did a couple of million valve shutdown drills, and figured out very quickly that if one side's shut-down drill is shortly followed by the other side's shut-down drill, when you switch regs, you'll go "thwooop!" because you forgot to turn the first side back on . . . :doh: I am SO glad no one can understand what you're saying underwater when you do things like that!

Today I learned about unhooking the rear of a tank to put it in front of you so your side profile is smaller. The idea is to keep trim while you do this . . . While I executed the mission, the finesse left MUCH to be desired. The coup de grace was when Dive-aholic hovered in the opening of Jackson Blue, unhooked both his tanks, extended them in front of him, and put them back with endless grace and ease. I'd applauded if I could. THEN he signals, "your turn". I'm all like, "you're kidding me, right?" He signals again, "your turn". That's when I started laughing . . . Now, the video below is my better try. The first time, I couldn't get the freakin' snaps to cooperate -- no, they would just not let go. As soon as I did get them off, the tank butts made like a lawn dart into the sand, and I was upside down. I struggled to get them up - which they did, for a nano-second - and did the lawn dart thing again. Finally, I jerked them up and to my sides, and did a face plant into the sand. Mind you, I am LMAO this whole time, and when I saw the little 2" fishies were having a field day with the sand I stirred up, just inches from my face, I almost choked on my reg. Between the actual excertion and laughing, I'm astonished I didn't have a CO2 headache. I just could not pull up on the tank, and push down on the clip at the same time. I finally wrapped my knee around the tank, kicked it up, and held it while I finally got it clipped. That little maneuver was executed many a time after that.



Which leads to why every part of my body was sore after today's session! My hamstrings and gluts were screaming about holding up those tanks. This is for Jimi: Lie on a bench, stomach down, with light tanks on sidemount. Unhook one, rotate it in front of you, and put it back. Repeat a dozen times. Your back muscles (obliques?) and anterior deltoids will give you fits!!!!

Today, I swapped to a short and long hose. The issue I had when I was first learning, overcoming the tenancy to donate what was in my mouth, was not a problem after all. Several drills later, I had pretty much internalized which reg I was breathing, and my biggest problem was unhooking the $%^&* clip. Think I practiced a lot? Today, my thumbs are so sore, they can't pop open the top to the ibuprofen bottle of which the rest of my body needs so desparately! :lol:

Dive-aholic also ran me through three different sets of tanks - two right-handed ones, like I have at home, to show that my skills translate quite easily to those tanks, two 85's, which gave an interesting change of buoyancy, and two AL80s - AL80s are NOT my favorit tank. Darned things bang my knees, and I find it easier to handle being heavy than to be light. Then again, I am more practiced at being heavy.

Lastly, I had asked about, "how do you guys hook up the stage behind your bottles?" Dive-aholic cheerfully explained and demonstrated . . . and then we were off to a cavern tour . . . but he still had the stage . . . and I'm like, :footinmouth: . . .

The cavern is astonishingly beautiful, with brilliantly white limestone encrusted with an ancient seashore's grasses and habitants . . . here and there, you see fossilized sand dollars, many broken off by vandelistic souveneir hunters, but occasionally a whole one where man's spiteful fingers couldn't reach. The quiet majesty of the cavern is devoid of sound, and movement only occasionally by the large crayfish that make this their home. Rob pointed out a fish - quickly under a ledge, so he tickled it out - I held position, and my breath, as it unhurriedly swam only a foot away. It felt like a welcome to its home. You could trace the locations of the huge boulders that used to be in the ceiling of the cavern, and match them to the cracked giants sitting below. It seems an honor to see this private bit of world, mostly untouched, and while I never 'whacked' anything, I winced with the slightest touch of a fin, or bump of a tank. I felt ungainly in giant but fragile environment.

Rob ran a line over to a slender fissure to introduce me to a real 'flow' -- OMG, how do you withstand that power??? I think now of the videos of the people that pull themselves through that incredible force and can only be in awe of their abilities.

Yes, of course, I will come back for cavern. I don't know when, but I certainly want a whole lot more control over my trim and buoyancy. In the meantime, I have a lot of memories to smile about until that time comes.

Thanks so much to everyone that made me welcome and were so tolerant of my excitement and many questions. I had such a wonderful time, and hope it won't be very long before I come again. Special thanks to Kevin for introducing me to this 'side' of the sport!

Oh, yeah, about that stage . . .

 

[irishsquid]

...This is for Jimi: Lie on a bench, stomach down, with light tanks on sidemount. Unhook one, rotate it in front of you, and put it back. Repeat a dozen times. Your back muscles (obliques?) and anterior deltoids will give you fits!!!!...

That's why I'm in the gym OFTEN.
Thanks, it gives me an idea for a whole NEW workout. I'll use my LP80s.
Congratulations!!!!!!

 

[noreastDIVER84]

Looks like Rob did a great job on getting all your kinks worked out. It takes quite a bit of arm strength to be able to put both bottles out in front of you. Mine are a bit heavier that I will faceplant a lot quicker than you did. I have been watching some amazing documentaries on some of the caves and cenotes, I would definitely like to get inside there sometime, so I guess cavern is in my list of next courses to take.

 

[noreastDIVER84]

That's why I'm in the gym OFTEN.
Thanks, it gives me an idea for a whole NEW workout. I'll use my LP80s.
Congratulations!!!!!!

I am doing it with lp112's, they are even heavier and quite a bit bigger.

 

[Jax]

I actually have a video of a better-executed single bottle up front, but didn't dump the extra air fast enough . . . #%^&* clips kicked my butt! I'm uploading a valve drill now.