JanR
Contributor
After doing BOW in Tahiti and AOW in Hawaii, I ventured out to expand my diving experiences by doing the PADI Peak Performance Bouyancy Course at a local query.
Following my LDS's recommendation, I purchased a Henderson Gold Core 5/3 Hooded Vest to go under my 5mm suit and a pair of gloves.
I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that this was going to be a rather boring and cold afternoon with the only saving grace that I was going to get to go make bubbles over two dives.
It turned out to be a beautiful day: clear with the air temperature just at 90 degrees. Fully suited up, getting to the water was a huge relief: 8mm of neoprene under the hot sun tends to become rather toasty.
Upon getting into the water, I was able to cool off, but got a false-sense of what was awaiting me. The surface water temperature was 81 degrees. After taking some time to get everyone through the bouyancy check: bobbing at mask depth with another 4 pounds tacked on to compensate for the AL80s on our back, we proceeded to snorkle out to the platforms.
As we descended, I thought to myself, this isn't too bad. Then at 25 feet, we hit the thermocline. What was a calm, "warm" day in the sun just became "holy goly", this is cold. (Except it wasn't "holy goly" that was going through my mind).
Upon getting to the 30ft platform, I found myself working to control my anxiety as the water around my face was awfully cold. However, I worked through it and found that although my face was cold, the rest of my body was actually fairly comfortable. Problem solved: just accept the frosty checks and enjoy the dive. After spending ten minutes having everyone do some fin pivots and drills, it was time for cruising around using our bouyancy skills at different depths.
The deepest point for this dive was 47 feet which was also obviously the lowest temperature: 50 degrees. However, I never found myself to be chilly. In fact, my air consumption didn't seem to be significantly worse than usual (although that still doesn't mean it is good--1355 PSI over 28 minutes)
I also found myself to find the 5-10 feet of visibility plenty enough to be enjoyable. In fact, moving through the water with features forming through the murk became exciting...never knowing what the next 20 feet was going to reveal.
The second dive went just as well.
What did I learn:
1. Diving is diving. As long as you have safe descents and even safer ascents, I'm going to love the dive.
2. In limited visibility, buddy contact is very, very important and diving in larger groups is incredibly difficult to achieve constant contact.
3. I still can not use fin pivots as a reliable method of finding my true bouyancy...not really a lesson here, but I can determine my bouyancy much faster and accurately by putting a few quick bursts into my BCD until I "feel" bouyant. Not the right answer, I'm sure, but it works.
4. Integrated weights are so much easier to use than a weight-belt. For this dive and this dive gear configuration, I found that my weight distribution (18 pounds) worked well with 6 pounds (3 each) in my trim pockets and remaining 12# (2x4# & 2-2# with the #4 weights near my center line) in the forward weight pockets left me very balanced and horizontal throughout the dive.
5. I need to work much more on paying attention to my periphial vision while diving, especially when diving with more than a single partner in limited visibility. Too easy to zig when someone else is zagging.
6. My kicks are horrible. My favorite is a gentle scull which works well for slowly moving over the bottom, but I still find myself working way too inefficiently whenever following a guide/group from point A to point B.
I'm still a novice diver, but I feel that this weekend really opened up my diving...
Just my thoughts.
Jan
Following my LDS's recommendation, I purchased a Henderson Gold Core 5/3 Hooded Vest to go under my 5mm suit and a pair of gloves.
I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that this was going to be a rather boring and cold afternoon with the only saving grace that I was going to get to go make bubbles over two dives.
It turned out to be a beautiful day: clear with the air temperature just at 90 degrees. Fully suited up, getting to the water was a huge relief: 8mm of neoprene under the hot sun tends to become rather toasty.
Upon getting into the water, I was able to cool off, but got a false-sense of what was awaiting me. The surface water temperature was 81 degrees. After taking some time to get everyone through the bouyancy check: bobbing at mask depth with another 4 pounds tacked on to compensate for the AL80s on our back, we proceeded to snorkle out to the platforms.
As we descended, I thought to myself, this isn't too bad. Then at 25 feet, we hit the thermocline. What was a calm, "warm" day in the sun just became "holy goly", this is cold. (Except it wasn't "holy goly" that was going through my mind).
Upon getting to the 30ft platform, I found myself working to control my anxiety as the water around my face was awfully cold. However, I worked through it and found that although my face was cold, the rest of my body was actually fairly comfortable. Problem solved: just accept the frosty checks and enjoy the dive. After spending ten minutes having everyone do some fin pivots and drills, it was time for cruising around using our bouyancy skills at different depths.
The deepest point for this dive was 47 feet which was also obviously the lowest temperature: 50 degrees. However, I never found myself to be chilly. In fact, my air consumption didn't seem to be significantly worse than usual (although that still doesn't mean it is good--1355 PSI over 28 minutes)
I also found myself to find the 5-10 feet of visibility plenty enough to be enjoyable. In fact, moving through the water with features forming through the murk became exciting...never knowing what the next 20 feet was going to reveal.
The second dive went just as well.
What did I learn:
1. Diving is diving. As long as you have safe descents and even safer ascents, I'm going to love the dive.
2. In limited visibility, buddy contact is very, very important and diving in larger groups is incredibly difficult to achieve constant contact.
3. I still can not use fin pivots as a reliable method of finding my true bouyancy...not really a lesson here, but I can determine my bouyancy much faster and accurately by putting a few quick bursts into my BCD until I "feel" bouyant. Not the right answer, I'm sure, but it works.
4. Integrated weights are so much easier to use than a weight-belt. For this dive and this dive gear configuration, I found that my weight distribution (18 pounds) worked well with 6 pounds (3 each) in my trim pockets and remaining 12# (2x4# & 2-2# with the #4 weights near my center line) in the forward weight pockets left me very balanced and horizontal throughout the dive.
5. I need to work much more on paying attention to my periphial vision while diving, especially when diving with more than a single partner in limited visibility. Too easy to zig when someone else is zagging.
6. My kicks are horrible. My favorite is a gentle scull which works well for slowly moving over the bottom, but I still find myself working way too inefficiently whenever following a guide/group from point A to point B.
I'm still a novice diver, but I feel that this weekend really opened up my diving...
Just my thoughts.
Jan
