Phish-phood
Guest
Reading about the trainee DM who wouldn't bin the dive when asked made me think about a recent dive I did with my more experienced buddy.
Last week I did my first dive in what I thought was a strong current. Having never had experience with a current before I was getting quite nervous in the water, even though I had been told how to deal with currents during my training. Anyway the point is I was not happy, I didn't feel in control and was having a hard time slowing my breathing down so after twenty minutes I turned to my buddy and signalled that I wasn't happy. He made me stop in the water, shelter up against some rocks to try and calm down a bit and asked what I wanted to do, when I gave the thumps up he didn't ask any questions, didn't try and convince me to continue the dive, he sent up the surface marker and we ascended normally.
The point I am trying make here is that in that short dive I realised a number of things!
1) The importance of good training and self reliance - this dive made me sure of the fact that I want to do my rescue course at some point in the near future. If for some reason the current had seperated my buddy and I, I like to think I would have had the presence of mind to do the right thing.
2) The importance of a buddy who pays attention - he was there for the whole dive knowing I'd never dived these kind of conditions and the minute I said I wasn't happy he helped me to somewhere where he could safely assess the situation and sort things out one way or the other. He never once made me feel bad about cutting the dive short. On the other side of this I was paying enough attention to myself to know I wasn't happy and wanted to bin, had I not done this I could have put both of us in danger.
3) Most importantly it made me realise how easily and quickly a situation can go from a mild and easily solvable problem to a full blown disaster. More than once I felt like all I wanted to do was bolt for the surface or take off my mask or spit my hood out, or thought I was going to swept away by the current and be lost at sea, lucikly for me I kept my wits about me and was reasoning with myself that it wouldn't help to do any of those things and that of course I wasn't going t get swept away. I was breathing quite heavily and although I stopped and tried to calm myself I just couldn't get comfortable with my breathing.
This dive was a lesson for me....never be afraid to call a dive and if some-one calls one on you never try and stop them - a split second can turn a small problem into a life threatening situation for you and your buddy
Last week I did my first dive in what I thought was a strong current. Having never had experience with a current before I was getting quite nervous in the water, even though I had been told how to deal with currents during my training. Anyway the point is I was not happy, I didn't feel in control and was having a hard time slowing my breathing down so after twenty minutes I turned to my buddy and signalled that I wasn't happy. He made me stop in the water, shelter up against some rocks to try and calm down a bit and asked what I wanted to do, when I gave the thumps up he didn't ask any questions, didn't try and convince me to continue the dive, he sent up the surface marker and we ascended normally.
The point I am trying make here is that in that short dive I realised a number of things!
1) The importance of good training and self reliance - this dive made me sure of the fact that I want to do my rescue course at some point in the near future. If for some reason the current had seperated my buddy and I, I like to think I would have had the presence of mind to do the right thing.
2) The importance of a buddy who pays attention - he was there for the whole dive knowing I'd never dived these kind of conditions and the minute I said I wasn't happy he helped me to somewhere where he could safely assess the situation and sort things out one way or the other. He never once made me feel bad about cutting the dive short. On the other side of this I was paying enough attention to myself to know I wasn't happy and wanted to bin, had I not done this I could have put both of us in danger.
3) Most importantly it made me realise how easily and quickly a situation can go from a mild and easily solvable problem to a full blown disaster. More than once I felt like all I wanted to do was bolt for the surface or take off my mask or spit my hood out, or thought I was going to swept away by the current and be lost at sea, lucikly for me I kept my wits about me and was reasoning with myself that it wouldn't help to do any of those things and that of course I wasn't going t get swept away. I was breathing quite heavily and although I stopped and tried to calm myself I just couldn't get comfortable with my breathing.
This dive was a lesson for me....never be afraid to call a dive and if some-one calls one on you never try and stop them - a split second can turn a small problem into a life threatening situation for you and your buddy