OP
Oside Jimc
Contributor
Off I go! I'll keep everybody posted.
Taking the plunge
- Thread starter Oside Jimc
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OP
Oside Jimc
Contributor
Home from a most amazing (and exhausting) adventure. Mission accomplished. I'll post a trip report when I get caught up a little.
Congrats! Can't wait to hear your report! Looks like I may get a chance to finish up this next weekend.
OP
Oside Jimc
Contributor
Trip Report:
OK, first some background, then my trip report, then you guys can crank up the flame throwers and let it rip!
As for me, I am an experienced recreational diver, certified 38 years ago. I have dove most of my adult life as a warm water vacation diver. About 3 years ago I renewed my commitment to dive locally so I invested in equipment and started diving when/where I could. 2 years ago I got interested in the Cenotes and started entertaining thoughts of getting proper training for the overhead. My plans had been to take fundies but I travel a LOT for work and this never panned out. Late last summer it was decided that we would be returning to PDC this spring and this re-kindled thoughts of cave training. My wife was 100% supportive, she always encourages me to "get out of your comfort zone" and she really pushed me to give it a go (she even insisted that I go a week early even though it meant missing her birthday). So I started researching and my late fall I was setup with Bil Phillips @ Speleotech for my training. My plan had been to get a set of doubles and dive them before the trip, but we all know about those best laid plans.... I ended up with a double whammy, first a minor medical issue that kept me out of the water until early December, then gawd awful weather set in here in SoCal so in the end I was getting on a plane on 3/6 not having been in the water for almost 4 months. So here I was, flying to MX, no experience in doubles, never used a can light, and rusty to boot, probably should have scrubbed the whole thing then and there, but WTF, life's short right? Maybe the prefect time would never come...
So I arrived on 3/6 and met Bil for the first time. I had arranged for a private class but when I got there another experienced diver from Sweden (and long time friend of Bil's) had shown up with his GF wanting to get her trained. It was agreed that Mia could join the class, but with a clear understanding that she would be far ahead of me (she has over 150 dives in Sweden in doubles).
Day 1:
Early the next morning we started right in with academics, then after lunch equipment setup, and some dry work with the line. A "short" 12 hours later we were free for the evening.
Day 2:
The next morning we were joined by Tony, a certified intro diver who wanted to get a tune up for his upcoming full cave class. We went to Mayan Blue since some photographer rented Car Wash for the week, closing it to everybody else. Got geared up and hit the water, holy crap, it was like I had never been in the water before. The complete and utter humiliation I experienced on the first dive was indescribable. Trim was for nil, couldn't do an 'S' drill for squat, sinking, floating, then sinking, flapping around like a wounded bird. 3 decades of diving meant 3 decades of bad habits (like why can't I use 2 hands to change regs??? ), honestly, an hour in I was ready to walk home. I was having a major issue with floaty feet, then all the air in my wing would go to the back, and since a DSS LCD50 is wide in the back next thing I was doing a handstand so Bil swapped my light OMS slipstreams for his Jets, that helped a lot. so on to propulsion, happy to say this went better (except the cursed back kick). By the end of the 2nd hour I didn't know which end was up. So after lunch back in the Cenote for open water line drills, more 'S' drills and so on, finally nailed a couple of 'S' drills. Watching video at the shop of my performance was absolutely sickening. Bil told me that I needed another O/W day (although I didn't need to be told!), so Mia got Tuesday off and we went back to the O/W. That night I was seriously thinking that maybe I should just scrap it all, 4 hours in the water just to suck less? What was the point? Lucky for me I had 3 things in my favor, I'm pretty hard headed and don't give up easily. Also we had a group of Norwegians staying with Bil and they were very encouraging, lastly I shared my pain with a few trusted friends from the board and they were also encouraging. So I took a deep breath and resolved that I would stick with it, after all, even if I didn't get a card, I was getting a phenomenal education.
Day 3:
Just to srart day 3 off right while loading up gear I added injury to insult by crushing my big toe with a set of doubles, so like WTF else could go wrong? After some quick first aid and Advil it was back to Mayan Blue and 'S' drill hell, then valve drills which I nailed first time in the AM, After that it was equipment deployment and so on, then back to the back kick, no luck, only succeeded in giving myself a wicked leg cramp (and back kicks were also extra yummy for my crushed toe). After lunch back in but apparently I left my buoyancy control and valve drill skill at the truck, it was like WTF!!! finally got that worked through (thanks to Bil's EXCELLENT instruction) so after 'S' drills, and valve drills it was back to the back kick, finally some fleeting success, it feels like the most unnatural kick possible but at least I got it to work some. After that Bil ran a fiendish line and it was time for line drills. Solo I think I did fine, even during the mask off part where Bil was shutting down my air, pulling out my primary reg, and finally pulling off a fin. Touch contact was dicier since I was a little heavy handed when I was getting the donation, but Tony gave me some good pointers so I could improve. Tomorrow we go underground!
Day 4:
Back to Mayan Blue. We did 3 dives on day 4 in the cave (all in 'A' tunnel). All 3 had air share on the exit, and on the last dive I had the reel, or maybe the reel had me... Pretty challenging since Mayan Blue has a pretty steep ascent from the secondary to the primary tie off, but mission accomplished. After that we spent the rest of our air in the Cenote, more 'S' drills, propulsion, and equipment deployment. But things were starting to click, even did a couple of decent back kicks.
Day 5:
Off to Ponderosa. no Tony though, I think he had enough of the rookie patrol.. So 2 dives in River Run, amazing going through the Halocline, then 2 dives on the Little Joe Line in the afternoon. Lots of "fun" on these dives. zero viz air share, mask off exit, light failures, just too much fun. Trim is getting pretty close to spot on, nailing the 'S' drills, but the reel, that cursed device of torture is my nemesis. From the time I clip it onto my butt 'D' ring until the end of the dive it eats my brain. Plus when leading I tend to swim a bit too fast so I'm having issues not outpacing the team.
Day 6:
Finally Car Wash is open! First dive was the siphon side. Bil made it clear that the cave would be our judge on this side. A really cool dive, finally no air share, everybody's lights worked and nobody's mask fell off, and best of all, not a speck of silt! Dive 2 was the spring side, again the cursed reel. With 2 other teams in the cave we had to do a rather long run so I was a little stressed. Then off into the cave and again swimming a little fast and next think I know, time for the lost diver drill! This Mia and I executed pretty well, Mia got an arrow down, I put a spool on and off to find Bil. Got him back on the line and turned the dive. When I started retrieving the reel I had a glitch, there was only a couple of turns of line on the reel and when I turned the handle it was just spinning and not taking up line, WTF! OK, got through that but this was going to prove to be the climax of the reel owning me. I let myself get fixated on retrieving the line and made a non-trivial f-up, passing Mia & Bil between the secondary and primary tie offs, holy crap, how stupid was that??? Lunch was hard to swallow, I tend to be a very harsh self critic and this was beyond stupid, but also in the end a turning point, never again will the reel own me.
Last dive of the day was off to the chamber of horrors for the ever popular lost line drill. After the humiliation of the morning I volunteered to go first hoping for redemption. Got tied in, secondary good, off to find the line, a few minutes later I felt something brush my left fin, freeze, check to see if it my line, no, cool! 8 minutes after the mask went on I was clipped into the main line. It was cool seeing the video, I actually went straight for it, then at the last minute veered to the right (I thought I was going straight!), just brushing the line with my left fin. I had a little excessive silting, but acceptable for intro. Mia would have beat my time but she took over 3 minutes for the primary tie in. After the dive Bil pronounced us a "weird" team, what should be easy was hard, and what was supposed to be hard was easy, go figure.... Time for a well deserved day off on Saturday since my wife was arriving.
Day 7:
Day 7 started with a morning of academics at the shop, dissimilar tank size calculations and going over our tests. Then back to Car Wash. For this dive I was team 1 and back to the siphon side. I learned my lessons from Friday and mechanically the dive went well, although running the reel took a tool on my gas consumption during the exit. We burned the rest of our gas in the Cenote doing cut line, rescue diver, and other drills. Another exhausting day was done, and so was the formal part of the class. After the dive had a heart to heart with Bil, he admitted that I had completed everything satisfactorily, but he wanted to see me dive outside of the formal class before he made a final decision on certification. So we decided that I would take a couple of days off to spend with my lovely wife, than back on Wednesday for some fun dives.
Day 8:
Wednesday dawned with the rumble of thunder at 5:00am, so I was up at 6:00 and on the road from PDC to Tulum at 6:30. Once I got to Bil's we loaded up and made the drive to Taj Majal. Geared up and in the small Cenote for 'S' drills, than a nice dive on the siphon side to the "room of cheers", a perfect dive, then after a short break we repeated the dive with me as team 1. Nailed the reel work and set a good pace down the line, turned the dive on gas and exited nicely, this felt REALLY good. Once we got up I just couldn't shake the cold so I thumbed the remaining dives and the diving part of my trip was over.
Conclusions:
I learned a ton over the class, both about diving and myself. As someone with NO tech background, in retrospect, I can say this was probably a reach, but through hard work and determination I made it. I also learned that you can turn off my air, rip off my mask or reg, or cover my mask and that doesn't faze me in the least, but tasks like the reel that lend themselves to perceptional narrowing are my weakness, so I know what I have to work on. My plan is to get the doubles built first, then get a can light and work on practicing my skills. Maybe take a wreck class since we have a nice one right here and that will let me practice reel work, and above all dive more, more, more. I have work plans for Orlando in June so I can get 2-3 days in there, then back to Mexico in September for 4 days of diving (already booked for Labor Day!). If all goes to plan then apprentice next winter. I know a lot of you are thinking this sounds like a lame plan from a lame diver, too bad, I'm not you and you're not me. I know me and my strengths & weaknesses and this is a plan that will work for me.
Ok, NOMEX panties in place, let the flames begin!
OK, first some background, then my trip report, then you guys can crank up the flame throwers and let it rip!
As for me, I am an experienced recreational diver, certified 38 years ago. I have dove most of my adult life as a warm water vacation diver. About 3 years ago I renewed my commitment to dive locally so I invested in equipment and started diving when/where I could. 2 years ago I got interested in the Cenotes and started entertaining thoughts of getting proper training for the overhead. My plans had been to take fundies but I travel a LOT for work and this never panned out. Late last summer it was decided that we would be returning to PDC this spring and this re-kindled thoughts of cave training. My wife was 100% supportive, she always encourages me to "get out of your comfort zone" and she really pushed me to give it a go (she even insisted that I go a week early even though it meant missing her birthday). So I started researching and my late fall I was setup with Bil Phillips @ Speleotech for my training. My plan had been to get a set of doubles and dive them before the trip, but we all know about those best laid plans.... I ended up with a double whammy, first a minor medical issue that kept me out of the water until early December, then gawd awful weather set in here in SoCal so in the end I was getting on a plane on 3/6 not having been in the water for almost 4 months. So here I was, flying to MX, no experience in doubles, never used a can light, and rusty to boot, probably should have scrubbed the whole thing then and there, but WTF, life's short right? Maybe the prefect time would never come...
So I arrived on 3/6 and met Bil for the first time. I had arranged for a private class but when I got there another experienced diver from Sweden (and long time friend of Bil's) had shown up with his GF wanting to get her trained. It was agreed that Mia could join the class, but with a clear understanding that she would be far ahead of me (she has over 150 dives in Sweden in doubles).
Day 1:
Early the next morning we started right in with academics, then after lunch equipment setup, and some dry work with the line. A "short" 12 hours later we were free for the evening.
Day 2:
The next morning we were joined by Tony, a certified intro diver who wanted to get a tune up for his upcoming full cave class. We went to Mayan Blue since some photographer rented Car Wash for the week, closing it to everybody else. Got geared up and hit the water, holy crap, it was like I had never been in the water before. The complete and utter humiliation I experienced on the first dive was indescribable. Trim was for nil, couldn't do an 'S' drill for squat, sinking, floating, then sinking, flapping around like a wounded bird. 3 decades of diving meant 3 decades of bad habits (like why can't I use 2 hands to change regs??? ), honestly, an hour in I was ready to walk home. I was having a major issue with floaty feet, then all the air in my wing would go to the back, and since a DSS LCD50 is wide in the back next thing I was doing a handstand so Bil swapped my light OMS slipstreams for his Jets, that helped a lot. so on to propulsion, happy to say this went better (except the cursed back kick). By the end of the 2nd hour I didn't know which end was up. So after lunch back in the Cenote for open water line drills, more 'S' drills and so on, finally nailed a couple of 'S' drills. Watching video at the shop of my performance was absolutely sickening. Bil told me that I needed another O/W day (although I didn't need to be told!), so Mia got Tuesday off and we went back to the O/W. That night I was seriously thinking that maybe I should just scrap it all, 4 hours in the water just to suck less? What was the point? Lucky for me I had 3 things in my favor, I'm pretty hard headed and don't give up easily. Also we had a group of Norwegians staying with Bil and they were very encouraging, lastly I shared my pain with a few trusted friends from the board and they were also encouraging. So I took a deep breath and resolved that I would stick with it, after all, even if I didn't get a card, I was getting a phenomenal education.
Day 3:
Just to srart day 3 off right while loading up gear I added injury to insult by crushing my big toe with a set of doubles, so like WTF else could go wrong? After some quick first aid and Advil it was back to Mayan Blue and 'S' drill hell, then valve drills which I nailed first time in the AM, After that it was equipment deployment and so on, then back to the back kick, no luck, only succeeded in giving myself a wicked leg cramp (and back kicks were also extra yummy for my crushed toe). After lunch back in but apparently I left my buoyancy control and valve drill skill at the truck, it was like WTF!!! finally got that worked through (thanks to Bil's EXCELLENT instruction) so after 'S' drills, and valve drills it was back to the back kick, finally some fleeting success, it feels like the most unnatural kick possible but at least I got it to work some. After that Bil ran a fiendish line and it was time for line drills. Solo I think I did fine, even during the mask off part where Bil was shutting down my air, pulling out my primary reg, and finally pulling off a fin. Touch contact was dicier since I was a little heavy handed when I was getting the donation, but Tony gave me some good pointers so I could improve. Tomorrow we go underground!
Day 4:
Back to Mayan Blue. We did 3 dives on day 4 in the cave (all in 'A' tunnel). All 3 had air share on the exit, and on the last dive I had the reel, or maybe the reel had me... Pretty challenging since Mayan Blue has a pretty steep ascent from the secondary to the primary tie off, but mission accomplished. After that we spent the rest of our air in the Cenote, more 'S' drills, propulsion, and equipment deployment. But things were starting to click, even did a couple of decent back kicks.
Day 5:
Off to Ponderosa. no Tony though, I think he had enough of the rookie patrol.. So 2 dives in River Run, amazing going through the Halocline, then 2 dives on the Little Joe Line in the afternoon. Lots of "fun" on these dives. zero viz air share, mask off exit, light failures, just too much fun. Trim is getting pretty close to spot on, nailing the 'S' drills, but the reel, that cursed device of torture is my nemesis. From the time I clip it onto my butt 'D' ring until the end of the dive it eats my brain. Plus when leading I tend to swim a bit too fast so I'm having issues not outpacing the team.
Day 6:
Finally Car Wash is open! First dive was the siphon side. Bil made it clear that the cave would be our judge on this side. A really cool dive, finally no air share, everybody's lights worked and nobody's mask fell off, and best of all, not a speck of silt! Dive 2 was the spring side, again the cursed reel. With 2 other teams in the cave we had to do a rather long run so I was a little stressed. Then off into the cave and again swimming a little fast and next think I know, time for the lost diver drill! This Mia and I executed pretty well, Mia got an arrow down, I put a spool on and off to find Bil. Got him back on the line and turned the dive. When I started retrieving the reel I had a glitch, there was only a couple of turns of line on the reel and when I turned the handle it was just spinning and not taking up line, WTF! OK, got through that but this was going to prove to be the climax of the reel owning me. I let myself get fixated on retrieving the line and made a non-trivial f-up, passing Mia & Bil between the secondary and primary tie offs, holy crap, how stupid was that??? Lunch was hard to swallow, I tend to be a very harsh self critic and this was beyond stupid, but also in the end a turning point, never again will the reel own me.
Last dive of the day was off to the chamber of horrors for the ever popular lost line drill. After the humiliation of the morning I volunteered to go first hoping for redemption. Got tied in, secondary good, off to find the line, a few minutes later I felt something brush my left fin, freeze, check to see if it my line, no, cool! 8 minutes after the mask went on I was clipped into the main line. It was cool seeing the video, I actually went straight for it, then at the last minute veered to the right (I thought I was going straight!), just brushing the line with my left fin. I had a little excessive silting, but acceptable for intro. Mia would have beat my time but she took over 3 minutes for the primary tie in. After the dive Bil pronounced us a "weird" team, what should be easy was hard, and what was supposed to be hard was easy, go figure.... Time for a well deserved day off on Saturday since my wife was arriving.
Day 7:
Day 7 started with a morning of academics at the shop, dissimilar tank size calculations and going over our tests. Then back to Car Wash. For this dive I was team 1 and back to the siphon side. I learned my lessons from Friday and mechanically the dive went well, although running the reel took a tool on my gas consumption during the exit. We burned the rest of our gas in the Cenote doing cut line, rescue diver, and other drills. Another exhausting day was done, and so was the formal part of the class. After the dive had a heart to heart with Bil, he admitted that I had completed everything satisfactorily, but he wanted to see me dive outside of the formal class before he made a final decision on certification. So we decided that I would take a couple of days off to spend with my lovely wife, than back on Wednesday for some fun dives.
Day 8:
Wednesday dawned with the rumble of thunder at 5:00am, so I was up at 6:00 and on the road from PDC to Tulum at 6:30. Once I got to Bil's we loaded up and made the drive to Taj Majal. Geared up and in the small Cenote for 'S' drills, than a nice dive on the siphon side to the "room of cheers", a perfect dive, then after a short break we repeated the dive with me as team 1. Nailed the reel work and set a good pace down the line, turned the dive on gas and exited nicely, this felt REALLY good. Once we got up I just couldn't shake the cold so I thumbed the remaining dives and the diving part of my trip was over.
Conclusions:
I learned a ton over the class, both about diving and myself. As someone with NO tech background, in retrospect, I can say this was probably a reach, but through hard work and determination I made it. I also learned that you can turn off my air, rip off my mask or reg, or cover my mask and that doesn't faze me in the least, but tasks like the reel that lend themselves to perceptional narrowing are my weakness, so I know what I have to work on. My plan is to get the doubles built first, then get a can light and work on practicing my skills. Maybe take a wreck class since we have a nice one right here and that will let me practice reel work, and above all dive more, more, more. I have work plans for Orlando in June so I can get 2-3 days in there, then back to Mexico in September for 4 days of diving (already booked for Labor Day!). If all goes to plan then apprentice next winter. I know a lot of you are thinking this sounds like a lame plan from a lame diver, too bad, I'm not you and you're not me. I know me and my strengths & weaknesses and this is a plan that will work for me.
Ok, NOMEX panties in place, let the flames begin!
Belmont
Contributor
Good report, no flames here.
I was there at the same time with my dauther doing her intro.
Strange, we were at Carwash then and we did not see any film making.
BTW there is a small Cenote near Carwahs (did you notice the writing on the sign?) it's called Luke's Hope or Zacil Ha.
You can reach the main line and turn right to get to the Chamber of Horrors. If you turn left you are close to the Room of Tears and have lots of gas left. (That's a full cave destination tough)
I followed your description of your adventure. I was lucky to get my initial training locally and do the same circus in familiar waters.
With your description I could visualize every minute of your "ordeal". Been there done that.
The rewards are worth all the pain.
I was there at the same time with my dauther doing her intro.
Strange, we were at Carwash then and we did not see any film making.
BTW there is a small Cenote near Carwahs (did you notice the writing on the sign?) it's called Luke's Hope or Zacil Ha.
You can reach the main line and turn right to get to the Chamber of Horrors. If you turn left you are close to the Room of Tears and have lots of gas left. (That's a full cave destination tough)
I followed your description of your adventure. I was lucky to get my initial training locally and do the same circus in familiar waters.
With your description I could visualize every minute of your "ordeal". Been there done that.
The rewards are worth all the pain.
kanonfodr
Contributor
That's what a scuba class should be!! Plenty of cursing, fumbling, and looking like idiots but in the end you look like good divers and have fun doing the diving you were training for.
Thanks for the report, Oside JimC. It was very entertaining.
Peace,
Greg
Thanks for the report, Oside JimC. It was very entertaining.
Peace,
Greg
OP
Oside Jimc
Contributor
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