I completed my SDI Open Water certification today.
We did all 4 OW dives in one day at the local quarry. Water temps were 52-55 and visibility was about 10 feet. I had a Lavacore farmer john and socks with a 7mm suit and hood (and boots, of course) over it and I was actually very comfortable.
If you read my thread from last weekend about the weighting and trim issues I had in the pool, you may appreciate how happy I was today. I had a back inflate BCD and 20 # of weight today and I had absolutely no trouble staying vertical on the surface and staying horizontal (or vertical) at depth.
The only thing I felt challenged by was the last skill of the day - underwater navigation. I'm a grown up Boy Scout and lifetime backpacker. Navigating with a compass was not an issue. Navigating using a compass, in 10' of visibility, while trying to maintain a consistent depth of 20' was what was challenging.
I felt pretty good about my buoyancy control before today. I was already looking forward to taking Advanced Adventure Diver, but I wasn't thinking that I would select Advanced Buoyancy Control as one of my electives for that course. Now I think I will. Seeing a clear opportunity for improvement definitely motivates me.
Riviera Maya (in December) here I come! Woohoo!
We did all 4 OW dives in one day at the local quarry. Water temps were 52-55 and visibility was about 10 feet. I had a Lavacore farmer john and socks with a 7mm suit and hood (and boots, of course) over it and I was actually very comfortable.
If you read my thread from last weekend about the weighting and trim issues I had in the pool, you may appreciate how happy I was today. I had a back inflate BCD and 20 # of weight today and I had absolutely no trouble staying vertical on the surface and staying horizontal (or vertical) at depth.
The only thing I felt challenged by was the last skill of the day - underwater navigation. I'm a grown up Boy Scout and lifetime backpacker. Navigating with a compass was not an issue. Navigating using a compass, in 10' of visibility, while trying to maintain a consistent depth of 20' was what was challenging.
I felt pretty good about my buoyancy control before today. I was already looking forward to taking Advanced Adventure Diver, but I wasn't thinking that I would select Advanced Buoyancy Control as one of my electives for that course. Now I think I will. Seeing a clear opportunity for improvement definitely motivates me.
Riviera Maya (in December) here I come! Woohoo!