Newbie issues. What is your dive problems stats?

[Noemi]

I am a newly certified diver with only 8 dives under the fins (including 4 certification ones). Was certified in warm water, but now diving in cold conditions of Monterey, CA. Recently got my own gear which I am looking forward to get wet in the ocean soon.

Love love love diving, but been looking through my logbook recently and realized that out of my 4 after-certification dives only two went on without major issues. As for the rest, on one I had troubles descending into the deep and breathing from a rental regulator so had to abort the first part. On the other one my mask kept flooding way too much, and in the end of the dive I ran out of air. In both cases I did panic, lost the regulator and gulped some sea water, but got a hold of myself, found and cleared my air source, ended up solving the situation with buddy's help and continued with the dive afterwards.

So now, the questions. How often did you have issues in the beginning of your diving career? How many of them were serious? How did you solve these? Were you panicking often in the beginning?

I am sure that things will get better with experience and also with having my own gear. My plan is to spend some more time on the drills, especially now that I am diving in the cold water, and get accustomed to the new gear I acquired. But some part of me is still worried that I will have problems every second dive or so and that would prevent me from enjoying the activity.

 

[fmerkel]

Since you love love love diving.....I'd say you are pushing yourself far beyond your operating skill set. Like you say, slow down, do a bunch of dives within your competency level, and make sure to do some per-planned practice drills.

You should not be having serious problems at that high a rate. Since they are your dives you need to take responsibility for them and take appropriate steps to minimize their occurrence.

 

[Storker]

How often did you have issues in the beginning of your diving career? How many of them were serious? How did you solve these? Were you panicking often in the beginning?

I can't say I've ever had any serious issues. A few minor issues, but none more serious than a moderate annoyance.

It seems as if you're diving a little too far beyond your comfort zone. If I were to give you advice, it would be to take it easy, stay shallow, do very benign dives and work up your experience and self-confidence gradually. Preferably with a more experienced buddy who can mentor you. Having your own gear is a good idea IMO, but make sure it's maintained properly. Doing drills and repeating the exercises you were taught during OW is a very, very good idea. A flooded mask shouldn't be more than an annoyance, as for losing a reg (didn't you learn reg recovery during OW?) and running out of air is a clear sign that you have to check your SPG a lot more often than you do now. With proper routines, you should never run out of gas.

 

[PatW]

I am an experienced swimmer. I had extensive experience with dangerous surf, body surfing, distance swimming, under tows, rip tides and so on. I have never had an issue that pushed me into panic. Being in FL and diving in the Caribbean, most of my dives have been warm water, good vis and so on. My major problem has been un learning my swimming experience which put an emphasis on high energy and to instead slow way down and expend no energy.

You are facing challenging conditions: low vis, cold temperatures and probably rough shore entries. I would suggest to try to do dives that are as easy as possible until you pick up the skill levels necessary.

You really do not want to put yourself into a situation where you are likely to panic. Panic is extremely dangerous for divers or swimmers. Try to learn your limits and keep a good safety margin.

 

[Noemi]

I do have a very experienced buddy who is a Rescue Diver and can help in a difficult situation. He stayed amazingly calm while I was on the edge of panic and helped me sort out the issue fast.

At the last dive, I made a mistake of buying a huge sized mask. It kept flooding and after trying to clear it for about 5 minutes while following the group, I felt the creeping onset of panic and had to stop my buddy to try and sort out the issue. Didn't work, I started panicking more and lost the regulator for a second. Right away realized it won't work this way, so caught it, cleared and then since I couldn't calm down or clear the mask, we surfaced to fix the issue.

Continued the dive normally after that. I always make sure to check the air gauge often, so I notified my buddy about half tank, then 1200psi, then 1000, then 800 and then at 500 showed there is little air left. We started going up and he offered to share the air. I was surprised cause I thought my 500 would be enough to finish the ascent from 20ft. So not entirely OOA, but close enough.

The underwater time was about 45 minutes total including the attempts to clear the mask, and I didn't panic at all at 500psi since I wasn't entirely out of air.

Thank you for the advices! I do plan to take it slow and do the skill drills in safe shallow water until it's second nature.

 

[Storker]

At the last dive, I made a mistake of buying a huge sized mask. It kept flooding and after trying to clear it for about 5 minutes while following the group, I felt the creeping onset of panic and had to stop my buddy to try and sort out the issue.

This I just can't relate to. I've jumped in and descended together with another buddy pair on occasions, but we've always agreed that while it would be nice to stay together, we're not diving as a group. Every buddy pair for themselves, and if one of them sees something interesting or for some other reason wants to stop while the other buddy pair continues, it's instant bye-bye time.

Even diving in a threesome, keeping track of two buddies, is often more tasking than diving just with a single buddy. I would never sacrifice comfort, concentration or ability to dive comfortably just to try to follow a group. When I dive, I'm responsible for staying with my buddy and my buddy is responsible for staying with me. The rest of the world will have to manage without us, thankyouverymuch.

 

[fmerkel]

You have to buy a mask that FITS.......FITS, all other considerations are minor. Don't buy dive gear on an impulse, and think hard about what you are buying, and why.

 

[Noemi]

This I just can't relate to. I've jumped in and descended together with another buddy pair on occasions, but we've always agreed that while it would be nice to stay together, we're not diving as a group.

We were following a person who knew the location well and the wiz was quite bad. I was initially in the middle as most inexperienced, but due to mask trouble ended up last. I did tell my buddy in advance that I would be uncomfortable diving more than a pair, so we agreed that in the event of separation he would stay with me and other three would continue on.

Thinking of it now, I did feel the pressure to keep following the group and was in a hurry to clear the mask even when we stopped. Have I thought to breathe slower and let the rest of the group go, maybe we even wouldn't need to surface. But my brain was in 'run-run-run' mode and mask clearing wasn't working. I will make sure I stop fully, breathe and then act next time.

 

[Noemi]

You have to buy a mask that FITS.......FITS, all other considerations are minor. Don't buy dive gear on an impulse, and think hard about what you are buying, and why.

Yep. My mistake was I tried friend's mask, loved the fit and comfort and decided to buy the same one online relying only on the name of the model. Turns out there are quite a few variations in volume and width. I have since returned that one and gotten the one that fits right.

 

[Storker]

We were following a person who knew the location well and the wiz was quite bad.

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. IMO this is a perfect example of how it's a lot safer to dive as independent buddy teams, accepting that I might not get as much out of the dive as I was hoping for. Been there, too.

A good dive is a dive where everyone surfaces safely. Anything else is secondary.