oh god ! trying out for adv.class, i suck help!!!!

[hummer]

hi i drop in and read some of your posts from time to time but have always been too shy to post. so today when im freaking out i thought id try for some advice. im turning 50 soon and have decided to go out and get my adv. diver lic. ive done enough dives but they have always been with my hub he leads i follow and thats usually ok but not at the same time. i have trouble with lifting my gear.but have always made up by cleaning and looking after all our gear, for the both of us ,kind of give and take. ive always wanted to use the compass ,and lead the way,but have never felt skilled(my fault) let hub lead the way .i know more about the first aid part.well told hub for my birthday i put my name down for the class in the next province have to take the ferry and travel there by myself ,take a drysuit course before this course in a drysuit i had on once in our porch.lol dont know what to wear under it b/c its so cold here and its a "whites"soft shell dry suit. im not sure if im nuts or not ?i will have a new partner have to peel my suit off and on many times so i dont pee in it ! plus on top of that im petrified but at the same time i am thinking its a great adventure and i need that in my life i want to be confident in my self in the water and be able to dive with other partners and be a great buddy to my hub and anyone i dive with. so there is my story .sorry to be so long winded.

 

[krawlings]

You should be fine .Just don't psych your self out . Let the dive instructor know how you feel and that you need help w/lifting your gear . nav, is some thing that you can work on . Ask your hubby to let you lead (but keep an eye / bearings on where you are)and with time and practice you will be good leading the pack . Good luch relax and just have fun and it will all go with out a hitch

 

[yodelhawk]

You will be fine! Congrats on taking the next step. I'm sure you and your spouse will have a great time on the more advanced dives.

 

[down4fun]

First off congratulations for deciding to do this on your own! I think for many women it is easy to just let the men lead. We may think they are better at it, or they think they are better at it, whichever, it can quickly become a habit. The problem with this is that it never allows us to lead and thus we don't become skilled at it, because we never practice. And by leading I mean not only navigation, but setting up gear, or many other facets of diving. It is easy to stay in our comfort zone and never push the boundaries but this doesn't allow us to grow as divers.

And this can transfer to any aspect of diving. In cave diving I dive with divers who have many, many more cave dives than I do and so i always let them lead, as they know the cave better than i do. But in doing so I have robbed my self of the opportunity to lead, to put in jumps and so my skills have not blossomed. This last trip to mexico I lead the final day so as to set the pace to my own comfort in a group with four other male team members. And it was pointed out to me that I had done myself no favors by allowing myself to always follow and not lead and my skills were not fine tuned. Following was comfortable and easy. But easy doesn't make me a better diver. A confident skilled diver is a better diver, and a better buddy.

I can't help you on what to wear under your drysuit as I don't dive anywhere that cold. But I am sure others will share their experience with you. As far as the gear there are some tricks that can make things a little easier. If your bc has removable weights take them out when setting the bc up on the tanks. It makes the bc lighter and easier to move around. Once the bc is on the tank and secure, reinsert the weights. I would do the same when switching tanks (if you are on a boat for a two tank dive). Take the weights out switch tanks, reinsert the weights. When coming up ladders. if you can lean forward and keep the weight over your legs it will be easier. Your legs are the strongest muscles in your body let them do the work.

Good luck and let us know how your class goes.

 

[hummer]

well thanks for replying back so fast i have been working on how to better use my dive planner and growling at myself that i am so slow to catch on.
, and i will never be able to get through this .i popped on the comp. and read your posts and it gave me a boost .thanks . when i decided to take my first dive class .i was over 240lbs. and 4ft 11 inch tall and it took almost a year for my friend to teach me how to swim. my hub took the class first passed with flying colours like always never seems to have any troubles! but me nooo i went in to try on a suit i was 220 lbs and was soo embarrassed but this woman instructor fitted me with a suit right off ,she said if she could suit up a 350 lb football player she could do the same for me and she did too thank god !she was so nice i was the worst in the class .i sucked so bad even i knew i sucked my teacher didnt have to say anything ,and that was just in the pool lol went out for the first boat dive dove off the water was rough ,paniced and got back in the boat. but i never gave up went to pool and practised alot of morning 6am took open water dives in mexico passed and tada! got my ow.lic.im like a dog with a bone i just hope i didnt bite off more than i can chew this time

 

[Maples]

Thankyou for your story down4fun, as I too am guilty of just letting my buddy lead. I never really learnt nav skills and have no confidence leading. He has pushed me to lead a couple of times and I find it really stressful. Starting to feel much more comfortable in the water and thinking I need to learn these skills, but admit that the prospect of stuffing it up scares me. And I am only talking about rec dives in the ocean, not caves!

 

[SubMariner]

hi i drop in and read some of your posts from time to time but have always been too shy to post. so today when im freaking out i thought id try for some advice. im turning 50 soon and have decided to go out and get my adv. diver lic. ive done enough dives but they have always been with my hub he leads i follow and thats usually ok but not at the same time. i have trouble with lifting my gear.but have always made up by cleaning and looking after all our gear, for the both of us ,kind of give and take. ive always wanted to use the compass ,and lead the way,but have never felt skilled(my fault) let hub lead the way .i know more about the first aid part.well told hub for my birthday i put my name down for the class in the next province have to take the ferry and travel there by myself ,take a drysuit course before this course in a drysuit i had on once in our porch.lol dont know what to wear under it b/c its so cold here and its a "whites"soft shell dry suit. im not sure if im nuts or not ?i will have a new partner have to peel my suit off and on many times so i dont pee in it ! plus on top of that im petrified but at the same time i am thinking its a great adventure and i need that in my life i want to be confident in my self in the water and be able to dive with other partners and be a great buddy to my hub and anyone i dive with. so there is my story .sorry to be so long winded.

First of all, take a DEEP breath, and relax. Remember this is supposed to be FUN, not a chore. Do not put so much pressure on yourself.

Am I correct in assuming that this is a suit that you bought and are going to dive in all the time? If so, it was a VERY smart move; I wish I had switched to a drysuit long before I did! It would have made my OW & AOW dives in Ontario much better. Meanwhile, if you are doing the drysuit course, the Instructor will be able to help you decide what type of undergarments are best for the temps in which you are diving. Some people go the "dedicated drysuit woolie bears" route, and others layer on undergarments starting with a good wicking layer like you would use for skiing (then build up from there). Personally, I did layers because I didn't want to buy something that I only could use in that specific temperature range and layering allows you to vary the thicknesses depending on water temps.

Meanwhile, if you have trouble lifting your gear might I suggest that you do some weight training? Gearing up doesn't mean that you won't get some aid from your buddy, whomever that might be. But in order to be a self-sufficient diver you will need to be able to handle your own gear.

Since you are in PEI I'm assuming you'll be taking your training in NS? Personally, I've not dove there, but I understand the diving is wonderful!

Feel free to post more about your adventures, we'd love to see how you're doing.

Happy May 2-4!

 

[BabyDuck]

also, use some baby diapers with the edges turned back in case you can't get out of the gear quick enough. if you're liking the drysuit diving, look into the she-p. there is definitely a learning curve, but it is waaay worth it.

and take some deep breaths. you'll be ok, you'll learn, you don't have to do it all in one ten minute span. try to dial your anxiety down a couple of notches.

 

[Quero]

hummer, so nice that you've finally got up the courage to post! Use that same courage to approach your upcoming courses.

First of all, your drysuit worries--you live in a cold place, so wear undergarments of the sort you normally wear in winter time for when you're doing activities outdoors, and if you're worried about needing to pee, slap on some Depends as "insurance" (the new "Silhouette" product is said to be very comfortable, and you can even write in for a free sample).

Next, your navigation worries--think about how you find your way around when you drive to a new place... you use landmarks, right? Well in diving, the most-used navigational skills involve the same sorts of observations and is called Navigation by Natural Features. If you go out diving again before your course begins, practice looking at the stuff you pass, and turn around to look at it as you pass as well since it may look different coming from the other direction. Then you can use these landmarks as aids in finding your way back to where you came from. If you're insecure about compass use, work on it on land before you go diving. Get some of those little cones coaches use for youth sports and set them up in a place without a lot of trees or other obstacles; then put a towel over your head and practice doing reciprocal paths by starting at one cone, taking a compass heading, and counting out a number of steps, say 20 or 30, turning for the reciprocal heading and counting the same number of steps back. When you're done, you should be fairly close to your starting point. You can do the same thing with a square or a triangle, leaving a cone at each turning point for later analysis in case of a mistake. If you don't get back close to where you started, think about what you might have done to get off course. Often it's a mistake in how you hold your arms, but sometimes it's because of a wrong turn or simply forgetting the numbers for the next heading.

I'd wish you luck, but you don't really need it. You just need determination!

 

[hummer]

all good ideas family is





















thanks for the posts. My family is suggesting i wait till july b/c i have only 3 weeks to get everything sorted out,like travel accomodations ,travel around halifax to and from dive class , and boat ,sort out different stuff to wear under the suit, practise setting up gear quickly and efficiently,and still learn the dive planner and how to use the compass well enough going into this program to feel somewhat less stressed ,always makes a person feel less stressed when you plan ahead for whatever you can ,im a planner! my hub is not, thats why the give and take works well with us. so im still plugging along with the dive planner till it makes some sence to me ,never was good at math,just memorise everything when i was yougner after haveing kids a lost even that ability lol!!




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