When are you no longer a 'newbie?'

[freewillie]

I was reading the post in accident section where a new diver died in Avalon. While discussions are ongoing as to what happened, this particular diver had only 6 dives total and was diving with another equally inexperienced diver.

At what point does a newbie diver shed the mantle of being a newbie? I have been hanging around here long enough to realize that every diver should be able to plan your dive then dive your plan. But, if you certified in warm tropical waters and only dive vacations you technically are a newbie if you went cold water diving and put on a 7 mm wetsuit and hood for the first time even if you had numerous dives before.

I'm also asking because my 13 year old daughter recently certified as a Jr OW diver while we were on vacation. I am taking her to Catalina next month but will have a DM take us on a guided tour of Avalon since that will also be my first time to Catalina for diving. She will also get a brief introduction prior to our tour on cold water gear, and the DM will give her some basics on putting on a wetsuit and hood and hopefully weight her properly.

Afterwards, however, I'd like to be able to take her shore diving on occasion locally. I would take her only to beaches I've dived before and know the reefs well. I would also take her only when the waves are minimal and would not hesitate for a second to call the dive if the waves or conditions were not optimal for beginners.

I have 25 logged dives and just over 800 minutes to date. I feel very comfortable with the gear, buddy checks, and scuba in general. Most of my dives are shore dives and I feel very comfortable at certain beaches where I would dive with my daughter.

Any thoughts on when you are no longer a newbie and when would you actually feel comfortable diving with another diver knowing they would be dependent on you.

fun and safe diving.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Being a newbie doesn't mean you can't do all the things you write about. And while a parent always feels responsible for their child, even as a Jr OW diver, your daughter should not be dependent on you. Guided and supervised by you, absolutely, but not dependent.

From my reading of the incident, it doesn't sound like the woman died because she was a newbie. She died because she was a newbie who dove well beyond her training and experience.

 

[TMHeimer]

When you do everything smoothly and don't have to specifically think of fundamentals during and before and after the dive. And when your buoyancy is quite good.

 

[PittCaleb]

I ask myself the same question freewillie. I have 36 dives in, but 29 of them are at my local quarry. I'll be out on the ocean this weekend, but it's only my 2nd time on a boat in the Atlantic. Headed up north to the St Lawrence Seaway the following week, never been to anything near like that before.

So to answer your question, I definitely don't feel like a newbie at my quarry. I might be more comfortable boat diving after this trip, but a 3rd will really "set" my mind at ease (i.e. would consider 'leading' a buddy team) and the St Lawrence - I'm just going to be happy to have my feet on solid ground come Sunday night - I trust my diving skills and we had a pre-trip briefing already, but it will be follow-the-leader with others who have been there before. Definitely a newbie up there!

I should finish my first year of diving with 50 dives. A "Master Diver" by SSI standards (I have taken 4 specialty classes with Stress & Rescue on the schedule). But I don't consider myself anywhere near a "Master Diver!"

PittCaleb

 

[Dredlok]

I will continue to consider myself a newbie until I complete the Rescue Diver certification.

 

[shmuggy]

To me- you are a newbie until you know you can handle something going really wrong without panicking. I have had 3 equipment "failures". The first one - I freaked- it was on my 17th dive. I was able to get myself under control and finish the dive safely but only because of my buddy. Then I evaluated what went wrong, what I should have done differently and if I still should dive. Well, 500+ dives later and my 1st stage failed and emptied out my tank in no time flat. I didn't freak and surfaced slowly- blowing out air the whole way up. My buddy was there but there was no time to get his octopus. Just last month, I was on a dive and someone had disconnected my bc hose and not reconnected it all the way. I didn't check this out before descending and found myself in a downcurrent and no air going into the bc. Not good. But I didn't panic. I stablized my depth, my buddy came to me. I signalled my problem and he connected the hose and we finished our dive. Not thoroughly checking my gear was a dumb, dumb thing and a good reminder to me.

So I guess to sum it up, IMHO, you are a newbie until you know that stuff will happen underwater and you will deal with it and not panic.

 

[PittCaleb]

my 1st stage failed and emptied out my tank in no time flat.

Just curious if you could define "no time flat" - part of a larger land-based discussion we've been having lately.

So if a single tank, breathing to surface or CESA? Would any buddy have been close enough to help?

If this would have happened on a doubles tank, enough time to isolate or so fast the 2nd tank was useless in terms of secondary air supply?

Just wondering...

PittCaleb

 

[RJP]

So if a single tank, breathing to surface or CESA? Would any buddy have been close enough to help?

Should have been. If not, that's not a gear problem.

If this would have happened on a doubles tank, enough time to isolate or so fast the 2nd tank was useless in terms of secondary air supply?

Again, if not able to isolate fast enough to avoid a set of doubles running empty due to a free-flow... then that's not a gear problem.



PittCaleb[/QUOTE]

 

[diveprof]

When you receive your open water certifiaction card you (and your buddy) are technically responsible for your safety and dive planning. Some think this is "newbie status" still, but you are "responsible adults or junior divers" at this point and are expected to behave so:shocked2:
Read the releases you sign on a dive boat - you are treated as a responsible adult. However, the functional outcome is that this (OW cert) is more of a "learner's permit" like with driving a car.

My motto as a scuba instructor of many years and many, many dives is "teach when I want to, but learn on every dive".
Always be open to new learning. Diving is a journey, not an endpoint.

 

[dallaskincaid]

I'm a newbie myself (10 dives) but I think the second you start thinking you are a veteran or you know everything is the second you start becoming dangerous to yourself and your buddy. You should continue to learn from your dives, not only to be able to enjoy future dives more, but also to be more comfortable so when an emergency DOES happen you can remain calm and live to dive another day.