Probably a silly concern

[RICHinNC]

Biggest thing is to stay calm and in control......no matter what the situation. You can put yourself in more jeopardy by going into a panic than you were to start with.

I would imagine you will be with other students. Follow the dm's lead, unless of course he/she has to bolt off after a surface rocketting student.

Like indicated earlier, stay negative and slowly fin your way to the top. Just remember you will need to vent your BCD every now and then to stay negative. Use your ears. Most divers I know can tell if they are accidentally going deeper because of pain (need to equalize) or are surfacing (popping and cracking in ears). But some people dont experience this.

If you have to surface on your own, watch your bubbles. Dont go up any faster than the smallest one. And, that is the smallest one with EACH exhaled breath.
Remember, the bubbles will expand and start to go up faster.

Hang in the and let us know how it went.

 

[TSandM]

ust vent your bcd before you begin your ascent and kick up to the stop,you will be negatively bouyant,at the stop you will probably have to add a little air to become neutral.

I'm not sure this is the best advice or strategy. Kicking up negative and then trying to dose the precise amount of air into the BC to hold the stop seems like a recipe for a problem to me.

The best way to ascend is to stay close to neutral and control the ascent mostly with your breath. Somebody give me some good advice when I was starting -- Inhale until you begin to rise. Exhale; if you continue to go up, vent until you stop. This keeps you close to neutral, produces a nice, slow ascent, and avoids the likelihood of losing control.

 

[shellim123]

I am so glad I found this board before I decided to get certified! Everyone is so helpful and encouraging! This is a scary, but very exciting sport! I can guarantee everyone once I get certified it will be a very long time before I will dive without an experienced diver! Thanks again!!! Will be updating on cert soon!

 

[hvulin]

Don't vent your BCD - you'll just get used to it and it's not a good way....

Try to keep your balance neutral and talk about it with your instructor before the dive! He should be able to help you!

 

[xscreamsuk]

Well I've got peak performance bouyancy on Sunday as well as Dry Suit and Nav as part of AOW, I'm getting so much good info from here. I have to say I hardly used my BCD in the few dives I've done, did most control by depth of breath, only toward the end of the dive as the tank became buoyant did I have to vent a little from the BCD.

Dry Suit orientation in the pool tomorrow, first dive for 2 months, can't wait! Slowly does it.

 

[shellim123]

Good for you! Let me know how it goes! I will be cheering!!! Thanks again for all the advise. I think I am feeling a little better already!

 

[ClayJar]

Sounds like everyone's done a pretty good job of covering the technicals, so I'll just go to the emotionals...

Don't sweat the safety stop. It may take a bit of work to figure out the "stop" part of it at the beginning, but as long as you have something to key off (such as watching an anchor line), it really shouldn't end up seeming that difficult at all.

When I was new, the safety stops were my little "coffee break" before hitting the surface (where suddenly that weightless feeling is *GONE*). You've already done all the "hard" parts, and you've seen what was there. Now, you just get to hang out and think, "That was *so* cool! Oh, and I'm hovering here and *breathing* underwater!" Take the time to just chill out -- keep an eye on your air, of course, but you'll be using it more slowly near the surface, so you can watch and still relax. Simply taking the time to relax underwater will be good for your diving. (I spent *many* tanks just reclining on the bottom of my pool after I got certified.)

Anyway, *enjoy* the safety stop. As long as you remember the cardinal rules of scuba, you'll be fine.

By the way, the cardinal rules are: 1. NEVER hold your breath, and 2. Don't run out of air.

 

[60feet]

Shellim123,

Different people use different ascent techniques, whichever works for them. For example, what works best for me is to start my ascent from neutral buoyancy and using breathing or occasional very light finning (to go up) and venting (to slow down). Regardless, once you get to 15’ having ascended at about 30’ per minute, just hang out there, look around, and just relax (make funny faces at your buddy, etc.) for 3-5 minutes.

A couple more things that may be worth mentioning:

1) Venting – air rises and is most easily vented at the highest point. When you’re head-up vertical, hold your BCD inflate/deflate line high, well above the rest of your BCD to vent. Otherwise, you’ll find it hard or impossible to vent air from your BCD.

2) Final ascent – slow ascent from the 15’ safety stop is most difficult to execute because this is where the air volume in the BCD expands the most and fastest. The final ascent should be performed with breathing and venting. You should never add air into the BCD here. And be quick with the vent button if needed. A little venting early is better than a lot of venting late and chasing a runaway ascent. If needed, invert yourself head down and fin downward to regain control. Just don’t panic or let yourself go corking to the surface. Ascending from 15’ feet should take 30 seconds or more, the longer the better. Be patient. Take your time and you’ll feel physically better post dive.

 

[jeckyll]

Just remember that your lungs provide quite a large amount of 'swing' in your buoyancy.

If you feel yourself rising, breath out. This is especially important if you are worried about it. By breating out (quickly) you can make a very quick adjustment to your buoyancy while you work on letting a bit of air out of your BCD.

I would of course mention your concern to your instructor to get the 'official' response and any other tips they can provide

Best of luck

Bjorn

 

[CompuDude]

There's different kinds of stops. Decompression, mandantory and non-mandantory safety stops. Most "stops" for a majority of diving will fall under the non-mandantory category (it's not necessary to prevent DCS, but is an extra added "safety" measure). Remember is just a "safety" stop, not because if we miss it, DCS is going to happen, we're just being extra cautious. That should help you overcome the fear of "absolutely" doing or missing it. It's kinda like buckling up your seatbelt when you drive your car ... you don't always need it, but it's safe to do it anyways, because if you do and an accident is going to happen, it will lesson or completely prevent injury

Well put. I'll note that safety stops are a *relatively* new concept. When I was first certified, we didn't have safety stops. And we ascended at 60fpm, twice the now-taught 30fpm. And millions of people had a blast scuba diving without getting bent.

Safety stops are an added safety measure, and I approve of them, and I do them. But there's generally no reason to be overly concerned if, for whatever reason, you CAN'T do one, especially at this stage.