Scared Newbie

[jobowker]

Actually, yes, a wet face helps me clear my mask. I think it's because the water is quite cold, and when I flood it, it's a little shocking to your skin. Maybe I'm just weird, but I found that ever since I started dunking my face before I went under, it was easier. Also, I breathe out very slowly through my nose (using as little air as possible) to keep water out. When the mask is back on and I'm clearing it, I don't tilt my head back until there's only a little water left, and then only while I'm exhaling. If I tilt it back earlier, any time I'm not exhaling, a little water runs in my nose, which I don't like. Hope this helps.

 

[Starfish]

I too had an experienced diver husband that was over anxious about my training (he took the pool course with me as a refresher). My Instructor always mixed up buddies each time we hit the pool, so I didn't spend much time actually with my husband in class.

I did have to look him straight in the eyes and say, "I have to be able to do this myself!" and he got it straight.

My hubby didn't do my open water dives with me, which was a good thing. I worked my way through several challenges in the quarry including low visibility. He had only been diving in Florida where the water was clear and the visibility at least 50 feet.
NOW I HAVE BETTER confidence in murky situations then he does.

As for the first ocean dives, we solved my anxieties about keeping safe and keeping up with the group, by hiring our own DM on my first trip into the ocean. The DM was only with my hubby and I, and we had her individed attention. [acutally i think my hubby was releibved to not have to worry about me on my first ocean dive.] Having our own DM was excellent as I too am stuggling with bouyance [I've almost mastered it after 12 dives ] The $40 cost was well worth the equivalence in confidence.

Relax, enjoy, and take the time you need to learn. --Starfish

 

[SubMariner]

You're coming along nicely!

1) Exhaling through your nose will help you overcome the discomfort over having your mask off. While there is nothing wrong with pinching your nose while doing a mask removal & replacement, eventually you will be doing skills that require you to swim a certain distance with your mask off. So you might want to practice no-mask breathing to de-sensitize yourself. Just relax. Long, slow inhalation through your mouth... long slow exhale through your nose. Eventually you won't even have to do that, but will just keep a bit of "positive pressure" in your nose to keep the water out. Soon you'll be inhaling/exhaling through your reg like you were born with it in your mouth.

2) Tangled hair is a pain. You can change your mask strap to a wide neoprene one, or tie your hair back. Either one would help. The other thing is to make sure that when you take your mask off, that you prep it for putting it back on by holding it in two hands: one hand straightens out the strap & puts it back properly on the back of your head while the other puts the mask itself back on your face.

3) I'm assuming that the "walking into the water thing" was the giant stride entry. The easiest way to do this skill is to look OUT at something in the distance, then simply step off. (Of course it goes without saying that you should have some air in your BC, and one hand on your mask & reg and the other securing your gauges against your weightbelt when you step off.)

4) Local diving may seem daunting, but in the end you will be a better diver for it. Don't totally dismiss it.

5) "I may ask my husband to join me during my last class session so he can see me doing scuba… if he’s got any concerns about my skills, he can observe them, plus he could then talk to my instructor about any concerns he may have." Y'know what? This is none of your husband's business! This is tantamount to saying that you are incapable of learning scuba on your own & making your own decisions as an adult. It is up to YOU and YOUR INSTRUCTOR as to how you progress in this course, not your husband and your Instructor. If you are looking for approval from your husband by taking this this course, then you are taking it for the wrong reasons.

6) Good bouyancy comes with practice. Remember that two things are important with this skill: how much air you have in your lungs and how much air is in your bc. When adding air to your bc, do it in small bursts and WAIT for the reaction... it won't happen immediately. When you do skills like fin pivot and hovering, you'll see how inhaling & exhaling also affects your position in the water column. And don't forget that you can hover in any position you like...even upside down.

Take care, eh?!

~SubMariner~

 

[kelpmermaid]

I, too, think it would be a mistake to have your husband join you at the pool session. Really, at this point,it should be between you and the instructor. Let the instructor do his/her job. Having your husband there creates the potential for an awkward mix of loyalties on your part as well. Besides, if your husband is also just getting his open water card as well, I don't see what he adds to the mix. I got certified a couple months after my sweetie, and he wouldn't even go out on my final boat dive -- he felt it was important for me to have my own space and feel confident in my own skills.

P.S. Lots of us with soft contact lenses close our eyes on mask clearing/removal.

 

[jbd]

Glad to hear about your progress. I like the enthusiasm I "hear" in your posts.

I do have to agree that you should finish your class on your own as your husband is doing. I recently sat poolside during my 11 y/o daughters classes since the classes were 75 miles from home in a town I know nothing about. There is a very strong urge to involve oneself in these sessions. The reality is that it is not a spectators place to get involved. I saw some things that were different than what I was taught but felt that the instructor did an excellent job throughout the entire program. Even though I will be the only one diving with my daughter for the next several years we will dive the way she was taught so as not to add any confusion by dear ol' Dad.

 

[Casana]

OK OK I hear ya loud & clear, hubby stays home!

Don’t worry, Submariner, taking this class has nothing to do with my husband (other than it being another activity we can share), just with ME wanting to see more fish, and the fact that we're going to Bonaire. Hubby has been very supportive and not pushy at all. Although I can already predict he’ll be fussing (in a caring way) over me when we get to the ocean… I probably will have to do like you did, Starfish, look at him in the eye and tell him to allow me to make my mistakes so I can learn from them.

Yeah, I know buoyancy will come with time. Thanks for explaining that I need to wait for the air in my bc to “react” after I add it. I’m sure its nothing that practice can’t cure. As for hovering… I’ll stick to the basic positions for now, I’m having enough trouble with them – LOL!

 

[jobowker]

i was there at my sister-in-law's OW dives. She wanted a familiar faces there. I talked to her while she was gearing up, but tried to stay out of it. In hindsight, it would have been better not to be there, and my answers to her questions may not have been exactly the same as the instructors. Mostly little things, but still enough to add possible confusion and encourage a dependent buddy (not a good thing). Now that I think I finally have my wife convinced to try diving, I definitely won't be there during her classes or interfere during the dives.
To give a small example, when I turned my air on, I first laid the spg face down, so it was facing away, for safety reasons. That was how I was taught. My sister-in-law was taught to hold it against the boot on her tank, presumably for the same reason. Although her method doesn't seem to be the best way to do it (IMHO) it doesn't help to have the instructor saying one thing and me saying something else. That's why I have to stay out of it.

 

[SubMariner]

You have got the right idea, Casana. Go for it!

I know what you mean about wanting to "see more fish". That's exactly the reason I got into scuba. I was freediving in Chancanab Underwater Park in Cozumel, looking down at all the scuba divers who were down with all the fish saying to myself "I want to be down there with the fish too!" So as soon as I got home from that vacation, I enrolled in an Open Water class. And just kept going...

You will have a blast in Bonaire. It is some of the best diving you can do in Caribbean... and some of the easiest. You don't even have to get on a boat, if you don't want to... the shore diving is fantastic! You just drive around the island looking for the yellow rocks that mark dive sites. We've been there twice and I can assure you we'll be back there again next year. If you want to look at some underwater pics from Bonaire and other places we've dove, take a look here:

http://y42.briefcase.yahoo.com/pgdaley2001

BTW, the "family shot" is Jeff & Sandrine (Pearce's son & daughter-in-law), Pearce & I. We certified Jeff & Sandrine as Open Water divers on that trip to Bonaire. It was a blast!

Take care, eh?!

~SubMariner~

 

[keuka1]

ohhh,