Observations from my first Open Water Session

[TN-Steve]

Hey Gang,

Due to overwhelming demand (ok, 1 person) I'm going to post my observations from my first open water training session today.

It was held at a local quarry in the Nashville area that the instructor (Marco) leases. Visibility wasn't like the Florida Keys, especially considering all the rain we've had lately, it was in the 10-15 foot range (that's before we all managed to kick up the stuff on the edge when we were working along the sides. Then it dropped to about 5 -7 feet. Thermocline was at about 18 feet, water was about 75 above it, and about 60 below it. (based on what my computer was telling me). I had on my brand new Pinnacle 5mm Jumpsuit and felt like I was in a bathtub above it, and comfortable below it. Of course, being my first dive with a suit I have no basis for comparison, but according to Marcos, that suit will handle most all I'm likely to run into in this area.

Turns out I was mistaken in my earlier posting, it wasn't an AL tank, it was a steel tank at the pool, as well as here. He set me up with 6#, and off we went. I didn't have much of a problem going down, and as we swam along the edge of the quarry at 15-20 feet, I was able to use the nice horizontal layers in the stone to judge my buoyancy. I was able to maintain a pretty equal (+/- 2 foot) depth with just my breath. I didn't have to use any air in the BC, but imagine as I go deeper that will factor in. Based on my next paragraph, perhaps I should have.

I thought I was weighed fine, but Marcos wants me to try 4# next time. He said I was sinking like a rock (funny, I thought it was taking a while to get down), and that I was swimming at an angle to maintain my depth. He really seems to dislike the idea of overweighting students to get them down easy. He says that less weight will help me swim more level.

I didn't feel like I was Yo-Yoing much, it seemed that once I got down to about 10ft it got a lot easier. The Wetsuit passed his fit test, said I wouldn't want to go much smaller, but that it was just about perfect. I do see how it gets easier to breath and move once it gets a little water in it.

Never felt breath restricted by the suit, never felt like it was really affecting me, or that I even noticed that it was there. I did find watching him that I was working too hard at swimming, that I really needed to slow down and ease out my strokes.

Regarding the low visibility, it didn't really bother me in 15 feet of water when we were swimming from the platform (middle of quarry) to an edge to work on buoyancy skills. I even managed to sneak in a little nav, set the bezel on the compass before we left, and then worked at keeping the needle centered.

Lots of small brim / bluegill type fish, and some were quite aggressive. I had one, about 4 inches total come up, look at me, then proceed to bite at my finger. Too funny, perhaps they are cross-bred with piranha

Couldn't really tell you what my air consumption was, we switched tanks with our dive buddy for the second dive, all I know is that we all started the first dive with the same appx amount, and I wasn't the low tank by any means.

All in all, a very good day. 2 dives, about 45 minutes total underwater, felt very comfortable, but really want to work on my position in the water. I'm not going to freak on it now, but I don't want to develop bad habits to have to undo later.

Steve

 

[Mikeguyver]

Nice job! You did better than I did with your bouyancy/breath control on my first open water dives. It gets easier but your weighting is critical. You need to keep track of your air consumption by checking your guage often. Too many people don't get in the habit of checking their air often and all of the sudden realize and/or panic when they realize how low they are. I know some people are big on not logging their dives but I found that using my log showed me how much longer I could dive as I got better with my breath control and staying calm and relaxed. Your log is also helpful with keeping track of how much weight you needed for future dives. Keep diving! Mike

 

[TN-Steve]

Nice job! You did better than I did with your bouyancy/breath control on my first open water dives. It gets easier but your weighting is critical. You need to keep track of your air consumption by checking your guage often. Too many people don't get in the habit of checking their air often and all of the sudden realize and/or panic when they realize how low they are. I know some people are big on not logging their dives but I found that using my log showed me how much longer I could dive as I got better with my breath control and staying calm and relaxed. Your log is also helpful with keeping track of how much weight you needed for future dives. Keep diving! Mike

I was checking my gauge often, Markos would ask us "How much air" and we had better know to within 200 psi without looking. I can see the value of tracking that stat, (and as a data-geek that's something I can see being uber-valuable for planning). I didn't make a note on my PSI when I got out at the end of the first dive, but I did keep checking it during the dive. Also, he had dive buddies swap tanks between dives, so we got more experience setting up the gear. Add in the fact that we were doing a lot of "go to the top, get a briefing on the next task... go back down... come back up..." I know that my usage wouldn't be good for planning, but it's something I will be tracking.

Markos said to make sure to record weight used, type of tank, type of suit, so that in the future it will be easier to make an initial judgement on the weight you'll need.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[wspalding]

I was checking my gauge often, Markos would ask us "How much air" and we had better know to within 200 psi without looking. I can see the value of tracking that stat, (and as a data-geek that's something I can see being uber-valuable for planning). I didn't make a note on my PSI when I got out at the end of the first dive, but I did keep checking it during the dive. Also, he had dive buddies swap tanks between dives, so we got more experience setting up the gear. Add in the fact that we were doing a lot of "go to the top, get a briefing on the next task... go back down... come back up..." I know that my usage wouldn't be good for planning, but it's something I will be tracking.

Markos said to make sure to record weight used, type of tank, type of suit, so that in the future it will be easier to make an initial judgement on the weight you'll need.

Thanks,

Steve

Good job on the checkout dives. Its good to get into those first dives beyond training in the pool and really put the things you've been learning into application. I had a question though about what you mean by smoothing out your swimming strokes. As a general rule, you want to keep your arms quiet (no swimming) and rely on your legs/fins to propel you through the water. The more you use your arms the quicker you'll suck down your air. I usually just grab my left wrist with my right hand throughout most of the dive, and this is also a good way to remind you not to touch things underwater you shouldn't be touching.Your instructor is right about the weights, you don't want to be overweighted during your dive, but you'll learn what you need for the conditions and wetsuit you are wearing. Don't forget that when you go into salt water you'll need to add a few pounds of lead. Good luck!

 

[drrich2]

Lots of small brim / bluegill type fish, and some were quite aggressive. I had one, about 4 inches total come up, look at me, then proceed to bite at my finger. Too funny, perhaps they are cross-bred with piranha

In this area, they're called Kentucky Piranha.

Cold tolerance & exposure protection needs vary a lot between different people. Years ago, diving at Vortex Spring in Florida in what's supposed to be 68 degree water (but felt colder one day than the other), a 5 mm full wetsuit kept my body okay, but my face and head felt cold; rather 'bracing.'

At Pennyroyal Blue Spring Resort, I wear a 5 mm full wetsuit, 5 mm gloves and a hood (which gives different mm measurements; part of it is 7 mm maybe?), and starting out at the top and passing a couple of thermoclines, I can drop to 45 degree water and be okay. I'm quite aware it's cold down there; a pair of boots designed for cold water would probably help with that. But I can swim around down there without acute distress.

But I'm 6'1" and close to 275 lbs (was heavier at Vortex before blessed with a lot of weight loss). A skinny petite woman might be rattling her teeth after a 45 degree dive in a 7 mm full wet suit plus hood & gloves.

So, in this general region it is possible to find cold water, down to the mid-40's. But there's not a lot down there; I've seen a couple of dead fish on the bottom, but the schools and blue gill and the bass and catfish don't seem to hang out down there.

If you're training with who I think, is it Marcos (with an 's')? If so, ask him when he's organizing another Dale Hollow trip.

Richard.

 

[TN-Steve]

In this area, they're called Kentucky Piranha.

If you're training with who I think, is it Marcos (with an 's')? If so, ask him when he's organizing another Dale Hollow trip.

Richard.

Yes, Marcos. I misspelled it the first time around. I will ask him, I should be doing my next Quarry dive next weekend.

I had a question though about what you mean by smoothing out your swimming strokes. As a general rule, you want to keep your arms quiet (no swimming) and rely on your legs/fins to propel you through the water. The more you use your arms the quicker you'll suck down your air.

What I meant is that I was trying to kick too fast and too hard. I'm used to cycling, and keeping a 90-100 RPM cadence for hours. It's hard for me to accept that I really need to slow down my kicking and not work as hard. I know that yesterday my legs were quite sore from the pool, but today I tried to kick like my instructor, and my legs felt 100 percent better, I felt smoother and easier in the water.

I know that my arms do nothing for me in terms of moving forward. I tried to adopt the 'arms under my chin / face, one hand gripping wrist' position as often as I could, especially when I caught myself letting my arms sort of get out away from the body for no good reason. (like making sure I didn't bump into one of the other CNs in our little pod swimming around).

Right now there are a lot of things that I'm trying to 'internalize', one thing I've learned working as a trainer (computers) is that we can only really process 2 or at most 3 thoughts / actions at a time. I'm trying to focus on 'Buoyancy (position / depth control)' and 'Situational Awareness (where am I? Where's my buddy? What's going on?)' but the swimming things so affect buoyancy that they get lots of attention to.

I guess my point is that on each of my training dives I'm trying to really focus and improve / learn. I'm having a lot of fun, but I'm making sure that I'm doing more than just making bubbles.

Steve

 

[TSandM]

I sure like what I'm hearing about your instructor -- I think you lucked out!

Sounds like a VERY good first day of diving. Thank you for reporting it.

 

[DiversSupplyPDC]

Must agree TS&M think he got an Instructor that's truly interested in producing good OW divers. Too many stories of "Pile on the Weights", "bury them on the bottom", "knock out the Skills...kinda" and hit them with a 2x4 and they are certified.

Listen to his guidance, sounds like a smart guy.

 

[TMHeimer]

drrich, I did several courses at Vortex years ago. My temp. read 63, and it is very accurate.

 

[drrich2]

Thanks, good to know.

Richard.