Path to follow after OW certification

[gcbryan]

Regarding the manual inflate of your BC, it's fine to do and it's good practice and awareness that in an emergency it is an option as well.

I'd give the fin pivot drills a rest however. The idea isn't to become good at laying down on the bottom of the ocean.

A better practice would be to make sure each time you descend as you reach the bottom instead of immediately swimming away stop for a moment and make sure you can hover in one spot without kicking or moving your hands.

That's the neutral buoyancy that you want to attain not raising off the bottom on the tips of your fins.

Sounds like you are on the right track however. Enjoy!

 

[Ytsejam]

Thanks, Bryan. Point taken.

 

[fisheater]

I'm amending my advice, based upon your later posts.

You're obviously head and shoulders above most beginning divers in your awareness of issues and desire to improve. Take classes now. You have the motivation and curiosity to get a whole lot out of them. Then, dive some more.

You'll do great.

 

[Ytsejam]

I've just enrolled for the AOW, EFR and Rescue Diver bundle in my LDS. AOW will start in 3 weeks. In the meantime I will dive some more, at least once with a BP/W setup and once with a back inflation BS, and will work as much as I can on my boyancy.

-->TSandM: I have e-mailed the UTD Instructor about the Essentials course and if there is one starting in the next 2 weeks I will definitelly do it.

 

[TSandM]

Congratulations, ytsejam! You're going to have a lot of fun with your diving. Keep us posted about how the classes go, please.

 

[Ytsejam]

Keep us posted about how the classes go, please.

You can bet your fins I will, TSandM! Both to let you know if my actual ability can cash the checks my determination is writing, and to pick your brains with further questions!

 

[leapfrog]

-->leapfrog: Night diving is allowed in Greece and is in fact one of the AOW dives in my LDS. I will be opting for that, as it will show me a new perspective. Diving in the Med sea in the summer means that the conditions are much better than average. Visibility is usually more than 60 ft, ambient temperature is high, there's no drift, etc. I feel that a night dive will make me work harder on my skills than any of my day dives so far. It will also be interesting to see what it will do to my air consumption. I finished all of my OW dives with roughly the same amount of air left in my tank as my instructor had. It will be good to know what my consumption will be like once I am less relaxed

I have lower SAC on night dives than day dives.. NIGHT DIVE is a GOOD CHOICE.

The deep dive will be conducted inside a verticall "well" which starts at a depth of 30 ft and goes down to over 100 ft. While still OW, the confines of the well (wide enough for 3 divers to descent into) will challenge my claustrophobia (not a phobia per se, but diving in anything other than clear ocean floor with good visibility is bound to shake me some)

I have missed something here. Is this a freshwater well or a strange formation underwater that looks like a well? Anyway, the Deep Dive is mandatory as is the UW Navigation dive.

Lastly I am thinking of diving a wreck, which again is an option offered by my LDS. We're talking about an "educational" wreck, sitting at around 42 ft, with trapdoors and hatches removed or securely welded, Still we will be observing it from a close distance but will NOT enter it. This dive I will opt to do because I have a phobia of shipwrecks, having survived one a few years ago.

You survived a shipwreck? I can see your motivation!

As a fifth adventure dive I would do Search and Recovery. You really learn some skills there.

 

[sabbath999]

I detect I am in the presence of another Dream Theater fanatic.

Whatever you choose to do, I would recommend you keep working on the basic skills you learned in your OW doing your best to master buoyancy and being the best dive buddy you can be.

Sounds like you are on the right track.

 

[Buoyant1]

Ytsejam! (Hey fellow DT fan!) Here's how I did it...

Got my OW in 2004, then did a bunch of diving with a few guys destined for divemaster, and just dove dived etc. They taught me how to dive, took me to places my card didn't specify, but felt I could handle it at the time and I did. I did Nitrox at about 20 dives, then did my AOW at about 50 dives and Wreck at about 60. I did a whole bunch of diving before taking the next step because I didn't want to rush through it. I haven't had time to do Rescue yet...but it's on the list, then I plan on doing Deep and Advanced Nitrox. No plans to go for divemaster, only because I don't want to teach or any of that.

Personally, I think I got more out of AOW because I wasn't stressed over "the navigation dive" the "deep" dive and the "night" dive because I already did them, but was able to focus on the LEARNING part of it, and not the UNKNOWN part of it. Where when I did my OW class I was more concerned about not dying! hahaha!

There's no rush! Do them at the pace you want! Good luck! (And enjoy the new Transatlantic disc when it comes out...I can't WAIT!)

 

[Ytsejam]

I was wondering how long it would be until someone spotted my nick! Yes, a DT and Queensryche fan since the mid 80s... I even thought of putting "Pull me under" as my sig

As for the diving path I chose, I am diving once or twice a week with my regular buddies and an ex frogman. In 10 days I will take the UTD Essentials course (on the good advice TSandM offered me) and mid October I will start my AOW, followed by EFR and Rescue Diver. That should keep me busy and happy until November.

Bought my Oly Tough-8000 too, so expect photos soon.