New Scuba Diver in Cape Verde but soon to the world

[Dody]

Hello everyone. The name is Dody, the age is 51 and I am a new diver since nov 3rd. New and upset… that I did not start earlier. Maybe because although I am a pretty decent swimmer, I occasionally suffered from sinus infection in the past. Fortunately, since, I came to Cape Verde, it never occurred thanks to the heat and the dry weather. I was fortunate to be professionally based here during the Covid period so I am not very busy. I dive several times a week. My feelings so far: Wow! Wonderful! After 3 weeks training, I spent a couple of thousand bucks to buy my own full gear except the weights and the cylinder. Here is what I have learnt so far since I visited a local SSI diving center for information.

I took it slow and I was right. Even though I could have been OW certified in 4 days, it took 2 weeks of daily practice in a pool. I am very happy that I did not experience in open water my first panic being unable to clear my mask or to control an uncontrolled ascent and purging the (wrong – the one facing downstream) valve or when the stress makes you press both LPI buttons at the same time.

Being a scientist, I think, then plan then act and I am a control freek. So I was not ready to go to the ocean without my plans B, C and D. Ok, that was an overkill. After the first night, I had read all the theory material for Open Water. After the second pool practice, I spent the night studying my fears: sharks, vertical currents, mechanical issues ( faulty 1st stage including free flows), o-ring failures, how can I survive an emergency ascent when I can only hold my breath for 15 seconds ( I knew the “never hold your breath” but if you must exhale while ascending in emergency, the time will come when CO2 makes you want to breath, right?) and some stupid and less stupid things that only experience teaches like how long should you press your BCD buttons and why in hell should you deflate your BCD when ascending ( of course, you did not even notice that you were ascending because you were following the instructor and not looking at your SPG or computer).

Today, being certified with 12 ocean dives up to 20 meters, I feel better. My dives are climax. My training plan should lead me to AOW by Christmas with 20 more dives and 4 specialties. I have already completed Buoyancy control ( Buoyancy is good but trim is not. Can’t do the Budha position yet), Science of Diving and React right. Next is Deep Diving in the coming week. However, even after this, I will not present myself as an AOW. I feel like I still have too much too learn. I have only dived in calm waters with no current so the Tide, Current, … training is on the plan. I will only do my first 2 boat dives tomorrow. And I can’t possibly think I am Advanced if I can’t find my way under water so Orientation is next. I figure that Nitrox is not a must. The depth limit due to oxygen intoxication scares me (downstream current) even though dives are longer and I am far from ready for Heliox. But I need more than 5 specialties to feel comfortable. I still hate buddy check when buddies touch my tank valve (full + ¼ turn back does not fell right for me).

In six months from now, if no new Covid calamity like comes, I will have around 100 dives under my belt. Enough to qualify for Master Diver. Will I feel like it? That’s another question.

I hope that I have at least another 10 years enjoying scuba diving. I am naturally fit (meaning I haven’t done practiced for decades but I am in good shape) and I hope that carrying a 15 liters steel tank walking stairs up/ down and walking on stones will get me better and not worse.

Note: my wife has read this and gave me sh… We are doing it together and I dit not mention her. Not because I do not value my BUDDY but because it was MY post.

 

[adiverslife]

Keep at it. Depending on the type of diving you are doing Nitrox can be the safest way to dive. - reduced nitrogen exposure, greater filtering at the shop, longer bottom times. So, my response for you to consider is keep monitoring your depth, available air, and no decompression limit. If you start to drop below that NDL or the max depth for that O2 gas come up. You should be monitoring this data at least every 1-2 minutes even if you are on air. This will help keep you safe. Have fun diving!

 

[Mr. Dooley]

Welcome to the community! Very cool. As a new diver myself, it's interesting to see the perspective from other recently-certified divers.

I figure that Nitrox is not a must.

However regarding Nitrox, I humbly suggest you consider the benefits of EAN - divers who use it view it as a safety-enhancer - allowing you to absorb less nitrogen on any given dive profile, therefore reducing likelihood of DCS. Especially if doing repetitive dives. You may find that some experienced divers and instructors use it by default, for these reasons. Unless you'll be going particularly deep and past a certain mix's MOD, Nitrox can be your friend.

I'll be getting my Nitrox certification tomorrow as a matter of fact, and if I could do it over again I'd have skipped the Perfect Buoyancy certification and done Nitrox right outta the gates.

This video might prove useful in assessing various certifications and their usefulness to you.

 

[Dody]

Keep at it. Depending on the type of diving you are doing Nitrox can be the safest way to dive. - reduced nitrogen exposure, greater filtering at the shop, longer bottom times. So, my response for you to consider is keep monitoring your depth, available air, and no decompression limit. If you start to drop below that NDL or the max depth for that O2 gas come up. You should be monitoring this data at least every 1-2 minutes even if you are on air. This will help keep you safe. Have fun diving!

Thanks. I understand the benefits of Nitrox but I would prefer to fully understand the in and out of how the mix is made. I am pretty much risk adverse... say the man whi wanted to go 20 meters deep after his 2nd dive .

 

[bmorescuba]

Welcome! I had the privilege of diving in Tarrafal on Santiago a few years ago. It was great:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm9WYxvq

I'm envious of all the incredible marine life you'll get to explore.

 

[Dody]

Welcome to the community! Very cool. As a new diver myself, it's interesting to see the perspective from other recently-certified divers.



However regarding Nitrox, I humbly suggest you consider the benefits of EAN - divers who use it view it as a safety-enhancer - allowing you to absorb less nitrogen on any given dive profile, therefore reducing likelihood of DCS. Especially if doing repetitive dives. You may find that some experienced divers and instructors use it by default, for these reasons. Unless you'll be going particularly deep and past a certain mix's MOD, Nitrox can be your friend.

I'll be getting my Nitrox certification tomorrow as a matter of fact, and if I could do it over again I'd have skipped the Perfect Buoyancy certification and done Nitrox right outta the gates.

This video might prove useful in assessing various certifications and their usefulness to you.

Thanks. Good luck for the Nitrox certification. Unless I am wrong, the only benefit of Nitrox is to dive longer hours but not deep. I do not wish to dive deep for the sake of it. Mentally, my limit is 60 meters (don’t ask me why) and I am still far from it. I know that you can do it with Nitrox. But I haven’t overcome my fear of downstream currents and if one day, I happen to be deeper for a very short time, I figure that EAN 21 (air) should be safer than EAN 32 or 40. Am I wrong?

 

[Mr. Dooley]

Unless I am wrong, the only benefit of Nitrox is to dive longer hours but not deep.

A benefit of EAN is indeed to extend bottom time at various depths. But many would argue that is not the only benefit. For some it's not even the primary benefit, depending on the dive profile. By using a mix that's lighter in nitrogen, you're reducing the amount of nitrogen your body absorbs for any given dive. Even following best practices by not exceeding NDLs, and doing safety stops, etc it's not a guarantee you won't get bent. Using EAN is another safety buffer (sort of like safety stops) to make DCS even less likely. My instructor and the more experienced divers I'm around who use EAN do so less to actually extend bottom time, and more as an additional safety measure to reduce the chances of getting bend - especially for repetitive dives.

Mentally, my limit is 60 meters (don’t ask me why) and I am still far from it. I know that you can do it with Nitrox.

With most common EAN mixes - 32, 40, you would NOT want to hit 60 meters because you'd exceed most-commonly recommended PO2 thresholds. Even with a less conservative PO2 barrier of 1.6, the highest oxygen content you could use and still hit 60 meters would be about 23% - and since normal air is 21% I'm not sure anyone would bother with a 23% mix under normal circumstances.

It's true that the richer the mix (in regards to O2 content), the shallower your MOD. So if you were using EAN 40 and a downcurrent dragged you to 40 meters, you'd be well past a PO2 of 1.6 as an example.

So I guess it all comes down to your dive profile, and where you're diving. If vertical currents are a reality are your dive site and pose a threat of dragging you deep . . . then sure, air will have a greater MOD than EAN. But if you're dive site doesn't exceed say 30 meters, then using EAN 32 would keep you within the 1.4 PO2 threshold, extend bottom time, and reduce your chances of DCS.

Nothing wrong with diving air (hey I've only dived air), but the folks who use EAN often do so because they are also risk averse and looking to minimize the likelihood of any adverse affects from their dives.

With that, of course your instructor should be the best source of this kind of information and again, I myself am a novice. I personally do like deeper dives, where if I were to use EAN I'd have to taking the particular mix's MOD into careful consideration when dive planning. But when I dive a site that doesn't exceed 20 meters, then using EAN 40 should only serve to enhance my safety.

 

[adiverslife]

Thanks. I understand the benefits of Nitrox but I would prefer to fully understand the in and out of how the mix is made. I am pretty much risk adverse... say the man whi wanted to go 20 meters deep after his 2nd dive .

Ah. OK. So, for that you would need someone who blends the gases. This is is on my list of todos for tech diving as PADI has a course on it. So, until then, I am sorry but I can't help with that.

 

[Raphus]

I recommend doing the nitrox course. You can learn something and u have the option to dive nitrox.

The Buddha position is not something a diver needs to learn..
Hovering horizontal without movement is way more important.

Remember its always more Important to dive instead of doing more and more certs. Nitrox deep(and dry suit if you dive cold) are the only really necessary specialty. Also aowd and rescue ofc. But there are a lot of threads about this.

If you got any questions feel free to ask. SB has so many highly trained and experienced divers, there is always someone who did it before.

 

[Dody]

Ah. OK. So, for that you would need someone who blends the gases. This is is on my list of todos for tech diving as PADI has a course on it. So, until then, I am sorry but I can't help with that.

I am still haunted by what happened to Rob (not Rod) Stewart. His DM/ Instructor basely led him to his death and almost died himself with a bad mix, it seems.