LowDrag
Contributor
As a newer diver myself I can attest to wishing I had been taught neutral and in trim to begin with. My wife and I were planted on the bottom like so many others and it basically sucked. When we got thru our skills we went on the final dive that was supposed to be a tour of the area we were training in. My wife was doing much better than I was although she was pretty close to bottom the entire dive with her fins kicking up even more silt. As for me, I was up then I was down and then up and down again. I was wearing a 7/8mm one piece wetsuit in 55°F saltwater with the visibility extending to about 5' at best. I was stoked that I was actually diving but aggravated that I could not stay with our DiveCon and my wife. After being here on Scubaboard for a while I found myself reading threads like this one talking about neutral buoyancy being in proper trim. I started trying to learn as much as I could including watching YouTube videos on DIR/GUE/UTD techniques. I even talked to Pete via PM and asked about taking his class. Pete suggested that we would be better served by talking to another Scubaboard member that teaches in similar fashion to Pete but in our local waters that we normally dive. We called NWGratefuldiver and made plans to meet up with him and learn new skills. His skills course was huge for us and it was a fantastic feeling to finally know what is was like to be neutral. Thanks Pete for the good advice...NWGratefuldiver's skills course was great. Now we feel comfortable in both warm water and cold. We continue to dive local and have been to Cozumel for a vacation, next up is Roatan. As far as I am concerned, teachin g neutral buoyancy right from the start is the only way to go.
Dive on, Dive safe!!!
Dive on, Dive safe!!!