Ross-
I totally agree with Walter. My wife had a tough time with the mask as well. We try to practice the skill at least once each day of diving until it becomes second nature. The same goes for practicing out of air/sharing air, etc. It really helps you program your brain!
I'm not sure if anyone responded to your "how do you start your descent" question. At the surface, I generally start dumping air from the BC and exhale. As I start to descend, I dump more/less air as needed. Once you start getting deeping you need to add air to stay neutral, so if you empty all your air at the beginning then you just end up adding it back at depth. Plus, if you dump air too fast you can end up sinking quickly. As the others mentioned, it's hard to get used to the idea that adding/dumping air does not have an immediate effect. Give it a few seconds, and then you'll feel the effects. Try practicing fin pivots and you'll get the hang of it.
Good luck! I'm looking forward to hearing how it all goes! Do you know when/where you're going to do your open water dives?
I totally agree with Walter. My wife had a tough time with the mask as well. We try to practice the skill at least once each day of diving until it becomes second nature. The same goes for practicing out of air/sharing air, etc. It really helps you program your brain!
I'm not sure if anyone responded to your "how do you start your descent" question. At the surface, I generally start dumping air from the BC and exhale. As I start to descend, I dump more/less air as needed. Once you start getting deeping you need to add air to stay neutral, so if you empty all your air at the beginning then you just end up adding it back at depth. Plus, if you dump air too fast you can end up sinking quickly. As the others mentioned, it's hard to get used to the idea that adding/dumping air does not have an immediate effect. Give it a few seconds, and then you'll feel the effects. Try practicing fin pivots and you'll get the hang of it.
Good luck! I'm looking forward to hearing how it all goes! Do you know when/where you're going to do your open water dives?