New Diver here from South Florida waters.. just a little nervous.

[rac6300]

Hey guys -


I'm doing my certification via SDI and just finished my first 2 pool dives..


This weekend (tomorrow) I will start my OW ocean dives to finish my certification. I am excited and a little nervous .. reason? Well, my 2nd pool dive I didn't feel great. I had problems with comfort, buoyancy control and equalizing in 12 feet of water.


Here was my situation...


When on the surface of the water - BC inflated - I couldn't relax with my equipment and lay back like the other students. I kept tilting forward as if something was pushing me forward. All other students were chill and I was the awkward one.. This work made me work up my heart rate...


Then it was all a domino effect. Upon descend (and breathing heavy from the workout) I could not establish myself as neutrally buoyant.. i couldn't do calm exhales/inhales... I would ascend/descend too quickly which only lead to sinus pressure... ouch. Too many things going on at once..


I told my instructor and he suggested that I take weights out of my weight integrated BC and wear my weight belt.. shift the weights to the back. Helped a little.. not much though.


Another instructor told me that never fight anything cause you will fight only the problems you create. I was like wow.. Zen mind.


So now i know that when something goes wrong simply stop what I'm doing and correct it.. versus fighting it cause all else will form problems.


Just nervous cause I don't want what happened to me in the pool out in the open ocean. Any experience out there with my situation?

 

[00wabbit]

One thing that can help is don't over inflate your bc. Just inflate enough to get your head out of the water.
Some BCs will push you forward if overinflated becuase they are designed to help you stay horizontal underwater.

Also keep the snorkel or reg in your mouth. Even if you are face down you can still breath so you are ok. Try to make sure to really get your feet out in front of you when you are on the surface If your legs flost some it will help you lay back.

Equalizing is different for everyone. I usually start equalizing my ears gently on the surface 1-2 days ahead of a dive so that my ears can get used to it. I always equalize my ears right before going under and then very often under. If you have pressure then stop and go back up to equalize. Don't force it.

Just try to stay calm and go slow. Also let a DM know your concerns so they can keep a closer eye on you.

---------- Post added March 1st, 2013 at 04:07 PM ----------

Oh - I forgot to say welcome to the board!

 

[purepursuit]

I'd pay more to get some individual attention. Going open water if you aren't 100% comfortable would suck.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

That is some damn good advice. Do not go into open water before you are ready.

 

[CaliDenna]

Welcome to the board! Most all new students have some sort of issues which create anxiety. If you can stop the anxiety from being your focus you can work through all the rest of the stuff When you start feeling like you are starting to breath too fast or getting anxious or panicky, Stop everything you are doing, sometimes you really have to shout STOP in your head to really stop, then take a deep breath or two and then think through what you are doing or experiencing and then act upon it.

Sounds like your BCD was over inflated, a mistake many make, it doesn't take much air in it to keep you up at all, tap your inflator button very quickly and then wait, it takes a moment to get results from it.

I've had problems equalizing "as fast" as others. I always tell my buddies about it and that I will hover over them but be descending slower. If I feel a problem, I kick up a foot, wait about 10-15 seconds and that is usually enough to do it As the poster above said, practice days before and on the boat prior to entering the water.

Nervous is normal, you'll be comfortable with it all in no time and we are always here to answer all those questions you're going to have!

Have fun!

 

[iluvtheocean]

I agree with CaliDenna here. Possible Over inflation -- would also consider moving some of the weight to the trim pockets if haven't already. you didn't say if you were renting or bought your BC. If you're renting it -- see if you can try out a diffrerent model. I switched to a back inflate which helped me-- and honestly? it doesn't matter if you're leaning forward or back -- just relax and enjoy yourself. Once you're finished with the course there are plenty of divers and "dive clubs" in the area thru meetup.com -- I can think of 3 offhand. Gold Coast, Dixie Divers, and Force-E all run dive groups both boat and shore dives. Lauderdale by the Sea, Dania Beach, Hollywood all have great shore dives that are easy to get to and shallow.

let us know how your OW dives went this weekend and where they took you

I'm not going diving this weekend -- too cold for me! I miss the warm weather we're supposed to be having.

 

[rac6300]

thanks iluvtheocean! I'm renting for now.. def. planning on buying a BC of my own. back inflated sounds comfy.. i'm about to head to the dive shop now to get my air for tomorrow's dive. I'd postpone.. but it's all paid for so I'll have to head out while its cold.
brrrrr for us Floridians! I'm hoping for at least a little sun. water temp shouldn't drop like the weather temp.. i'll let you know where we head out...

;-)

---------- Post added March 1st, 2013 at 05:34 PM ----------

it's time for me to leave the office behind and just relax.. ;-)

 

[beaverdivers]

Welcome to SCUBAboard!

You should ask yourself & your instructor " Am I ready for Open Water? "

If the answer is " Yes " by both, you & Your instructor, then go for it.

If the answer is " No ", then get back into the pool until you are ready.

Do not get pushed into it due to cost or peer pressure.

 

[danvolker]

I say get snorkeling down first.....get dead neutral perfect buoyancy on the surface with a half full lung full of air--this means using whatever wetsuit you would scuba dive with, and a weight belt, and just add a couple pounds at a time till you get to more like a half a pound either way...get this perfect. Again, perfect is you have added exactly the amount of lead to make you neutral on the surface with a haf breath....you dont sink, you don't really float....In this state, if you point your head down, and kick down 3 to 5 feet down--then just go limp...just relax, slow your heart rate down, and you should just hang there without floating up, or dropping deeper. Get this as perfect as possible...it is important.

Most new scuba students are so far off here it is stupid. You do need to get good at the using the snorkel part before you can learn anything beyond buoyancy/weighting.
The snorkel use needs to be as easy as breathing--this is so critical, consider it separate from all other skills....you should be so good at using a snorkel swimming flat on the surface of the water, that it is exactly as easy to breathe with it, as it is to breathe on the surface sitting on the dock...this should pull zero effort from your brain and coordination....from this, you work on the propulsion....when kicking is strong and efficient, you will need to work on deep breathing and descending 5 to 20 feet. Aside from being an incredibly efficient way to learn to move around in the water, some day if you are ever left some place by a boat, with a snorkel you could be safe for 8 hours or more with no assistance from anyone, and not even a need for a BC( if it was leaking)....it is critical safety gear for anchor diving, and not a bad idea to have for drift dives( BUT IS USUALLY TUCKED INTO A POCKET BY DRIFT DIVERS,AS THIS STYLE OF DIVING DOES NOT TYPICALLY REQUIRE A SNORKEL)

Get used to propelling your self effectively with your fins and never your hands. Get used to equalizing every 2 or 3 feet you descend with a breath hold to the bottom of the pool or shallow ocean site. This could take a day or two for these first steps....

Once you are used to swimming efficiently and horizontally with your fins, you will know what it feels like to move properly through the water and being at perfect balance and trim, at neutral buoyancy.

Then, and only then, when you put the BC and tank on with your instructor there, YOU yourself will know if your buoyancy and trim is good or bad, and you will not be relying on an instructor that may or may not have been paying attention to this before....If the BC or bp/wing is configured correctly, you will barely know it is on you, as far as trim here, versus when you were snorkeling....you should only need to use a very tiny bit of air in the wing/bc with the full scuba tank--in order to find that dead neutral point you had reached before when snorkeling.....start with the same weights you perfected with snorkeling on your belt, and again, you need just enough weight so that with only a tiny bit of air in the wing, you can be neutral. I would rather see you a bit positive when your tank is near empty, than a bit heavy in the beginning( meaning you would be forced to dump more air into the bc than ideal....learn how it feels to use the minimum weight needed.

At this point if you are head heavy in trim, or leg heavy, then you know it is the fault of the type of bc you are using, or that it is confIgured wrong--and this will not be your fault--this will be YOUR JOB TO SORT OUT....AND....the CLEAR RESPONSIBILITY OF THE INSTRUCTOR TO HELP YOU FIGURE OUT.....DO NOT LET HIM OR HER ABROGATE THAT RESPONSIBILITY!!!!!!