I was scheduled to take Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures together in January 2025 in cavern country but a hurricane had previously blown though and all of the deep caverns were temporarily closed due to downed trees and debris, that meant I couldn't take DP. To make the most of my trip, I completed Advanced Nitrox at Blue Grotto and we planned on completing Decompression Procedures in July at Gilboa Quarry. This gave me ample time to practice, prepare and ask questions. When the big day arrived, we started out by doing a fun rec dive where I would do weight checks and ensure all my gear is working properly. My instructor then took video to help point out areas of deficiency and improvement. My first issue, which I had identified prior to leaving was that I had happy feet, meaning I was constantly moving my feet to compensate my trim. Originally I had used lighter fins thinking the heavier fins were weighing me down (Whenever I stayed completely still my head rose and feet sank). After reviewing the video we discovered that my sidemount tanks were too low on my body, which had the effect of forcing my feet downward. We ended up moving the clamp bands down, which moved the tanks closer to my armpits and made me balanced! That adjustment corrected my trim and virtually eliminated my happy feet!!! I was amazed that a small change made a huge difference!
Afterwards I began to run through all the required drills and skills. I had a slight issue with the SMB deployment and that was mainly because my instructor had me do it differently than the way I practiced and it took me a bit of practice rounds to be proficient at it. Gilboa, like most of the deep bodies of water in the northern part of the country, has water temps ranging from 37 to 43 degrees at 60 ft and deeper. This cold water has been known to cause free flows in regulators, especially when removed from your mouth to orally inflate a smb. So he had me use my inflator hose to air up the SMB. After a few attempts I was able to deploy the smb with no issues. Staging and transferring a stage bottle and valve drills went well as I extensively practiced those skills prior to coming out. I've discovered that putting the work in and practicing beforehand does make a difference, so if you can practice a skill prior to taking a course by all means do so. IF you do, you also need to check with your instructor to make sure you practice it the way they prefer. (i.e. SMB)
Next we were preparing to do our deep and deco dives and those went fine. On the last deep dive of the eval, I was preparing to do a gas switch at 20 feet. As soon as I opened the valve, there was a massive freeflow! The free flow caused me to go up about two feet or so and my instructor had a very concerned look on his face. Instinctively I grabbed the ascent line to stop my ascent and at the same time with my other hand I shut off the O2 and began to feather it. Once I got stabilized I moved back down to 20ft (from 18ft) and feathered the O2 during the entire deco stop. This was totally unplanned and just happened, my training just kicked in. As we surfaced my instructor was very pleased and happy with how well I handled the situation without panic and without any assistance. So at that point my eval was completed and I earned my DP certification!!!
So the next day I was going for helitrox but after my first practice dive the call was made to do Helitrox at another time, it was a long week, I was getting cold, fatigued and losing focus. Prior to Gilboa, I had done some wreck diving in Lake Huron, so it was a long week indeed. Overall it was a great weekend and I'm happy with the progress I've made.
Afterwards I began to run through all the required drills and skills. I had a slight issue with the SMB deployment and that was mainly because my instructor had me do it differently than the way I practiced and it took me a bit of practice rounds to be proficient at it. Gilboa, like most of the deep bodies of water in the northern part of the country, has water temps ranging from 37 to 43 degrees at 60 ft and deeper. This cold water has been known to cause free flows in regulators, especially when removed from your mouth to orally inflate a smb. So he had me use my inflator hose to air up the SMB. After a few attempts I was able to deploy the smb with no issues. Staging and transferring a stage bottle and valve drills went well as I extensively practiced those skills prior to coming out. I've discovered that putting the work in and practicing beforehand does make a difference, so if you can practice a skill prior to taking a course by all means do so. IF you do, you also need to check with your instructor to make sure you practice it the way they prefer. (i.e. SMB)
Next we were preparing to do our deep and deco dives and those went fine. On the last deep dive of the eval, I was preparing to do a gas switch at 20 feet. As soon as I opened the valve, there was a massive freeflow! The free flow caused me to go up about two feet or so and my instructor had a very concerned look on his face. Instinctively I grabbed the ascent line to stop my ascent and at the same time with my other hand I shut off the O2 and began to feather it. Once I got stabilized I moved back down to 20ft (from 18ft) and feathered the O2 during the entire deco stop. This was totally unplanned and just happened, my training just kicked in. As we surfaced my instructor was very pleased and happy with how well I handled the situation without panic and without any assistance. So at that point my eval was completed and I earned my DP certification!!!
So the next day I was going for helitrox but after my first practice dive the call was made to do Helitrox at another time, it was a long week, I was getting cold, fatigued and losing focus. Prior to Gilboa, I had done some wreck diving in Lake Huron, so it was a long week indeed. Overall it was a great weekend and I'm happy with the progress I've made.
