Sean C
Contributor
Every now and then a thread comes along that tends to be a bit harsh on the new diver, usually for good reason, but I know that that can get an inexperienced diver down. So I decdided to make all you new divers feel like diving gods, and tell you about my first fresh water quarry dive. BTW, I have my AOW and so does my buddy, we just usually dive down south, Rescue soon.
Anyhooter, I will tell you that the water was 70 degrees, 5 ft vis, 28 ft max depth and we were diving new 5mm suits. Predive check was good and we did a buoyancy check before dive.
Well, just before we went down I told my buddy to control her descent so we did not stir crap up at the bottom and down we went. For your entertainment, I promptly slammed into the bottom because I could not even see it. We got neutral and set off to our first destination only 30-40 yards away, heading taken on surface. After 8 whole minutes we surfaced because we missed it, not even close. Actually we probably only missed it by 5-10 ft, but in the process of searching around we got a bit screwed up. New heading - found it.
Next target, on approach, while looking at compass swam into a tree, not a little tree, a big freakin' tree. Started laughing- almost drown.
To sum the rest up: dive buddy drove me into the mud and swam into a rock ledge, I had a sneezing attack, we had real difficulty trying to execute a 15ft safety with no visual reference point and finally we survived. Hell, we had FUN.
So whats the point, well it wasn't a picture perfect dive, we are better divers for it. Everything got a lot easier the longer we stayed down and got used to the conditions.
Suddenly, we could navigate around and see things that weren't there earlier. We slowed down and adjusted for the conditions. But, most importantly, we know we have to go back, that neutral hoover thing with no vis is a b&%@% and we have to figure it out. So take heart and don't give up, stay safe and it will get easier. The humbling experiences will make you better if you learn from them.
They really should put light on sunken trees!!!
Anyhooter, I will tell you that the water was 70 degrees, 5 ft vis, 28 ft max depth and we were diving new 5mm suits. Predive check was good and we did a buoyancy check before dive.
Well, just before we went down I told my buddy to control her descent so we did not stir crap up at the bottom and down we went. For your entertainment, I promptly slammed into the bottom because I could not even see it. We got neutral and set off to our first destination only 30-40 yards away, heading taken on surface. After 8 whole minutes we surfaced because we missed it, not even close. Actually we probably only missed it by 5-10 ft, but in the process of searching around we got a bit screwed up. New heading - found it.
Next target, on approach, while looking at compass swam into a tree, not a little tree, a big freakin' tree. Started laughing- almost drown.
To sum the rest up: dive buddy drove me into the mud and swam into a rock ledge, I had a sneezing attack, we had real difficulty trying to execute a 15ft safety with no visual reference point and finally we survived. Hell, we had FUN.
So whats the point, well it wasn't a picture perfect dive, we are better divers for it. Everything got a lot easier the longer we stayed down and got used to the conditions.
Suddenly, we could navigate around and see things that weren't there earlier. We slowed down and adjusted for the conditions. But, most importantly, we know we have to go back, that neutral hoover thing with no vis is a b&%@% and we have to figure it out. So take heart and don't give up, stay safe and it will get easier. The humbling experiences will make you better if you learn from them.
They really should put light on sunken trees!!!
Many a time I would start my ascent with no real idea of where I was in relation to where I started. I practiced and finally got better at keeping a striaght line of travel even with out a compass and learned to make free ascents without much to reference visually--sometimes with my eyes closed. Like you noted, it all gets better with time and experience.
