blue steal
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Yes let us know you progress. Couple of my friends got certified at PW last year and now we are thinking of doing the Nitrox class with PW.
Just Certified . . . for scuba that is . . . Long Beach, CA
- Thread starter Selchie in LB
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Selchie in LB
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So yesterday I did my first real OW dives at Catalina. The first dives were somewhat disasterous from my perspective as a new diver. I have heard from experienced divers that they don't want to get stuck with the newbie! Anyway, I buddied with Chris who has 20 or so dives. She was very patient with me.
The first dive went wrong when i tried to compensate for buoyancy and ended up like a helium balloon that had just been let go from the Rose Bowl parade! I was yanking on my BC vents to dump air to no avail. All I could see were Chris's bubbles as I was floating up. I tried to swim along the surface to find her bubbles. We did/she did as we were trained and surfaced and met each other.
Second dive was going great and we were surfacing and again I started my rocket ascent at about 15 - 20 ft.
I realize a couple of important points that I need to consider. 1st, more weight! I have a new 7mm full wet suit with integrated hood. buoyant doesn't begin to describe my circumstance! 2nd, I know why we have buddies. Chris grabbed me at one point and I was able to dump air and stay down. 3rd, learn to navigate! I havent' gotten that far in my Advance class. but I was totally turned around even while trying to follow my compass!
I told Chris that I consider the dives successful and realize how much training and learning from other divers is required. I am grateful to Chris for her patience and tell myself when get my skills better, I will be patient with the newbie!
The first dive went wrong when i tried to compensate for buoyancy and ended up like a helium balloon that had just been let go from the Rose Bowl parade! I was yanking on my BC vents to dump air to no avail. All I could see were Chris's bubbles as I was floating up. I tried to swim along the surface to find her bubbles. We did/she did as we were trained and surfaced and met each other.
Second dive was going great and we were surfacing and again I started my rocket ascent at about 15 - 20 ft.
I realize a couple of important points that I need to consider. 1st, more weight! I have a new 7mm full wet suit with integrated hood. buoyant doesn't begin to describe my circumstance! 2nd, I know why we have buddies. Chris grabbed me at one point and I was able to dump air and stay down. 3rd, learn to navigate! I havent' gotten that far in my Advance class. but I was totally turned around even while trying to follow my compass!
I told Chris that I consider the dives successful and realize how much training and learning from other divers is required. I am grateful to Chris for her patience and tell myself when get my skills better, I will be patient with the newbie!
joe, those are unfortunately pretty typical issues for new divers. Navigation takes time, and remember that things like depth contour (which is pretty useful at Catalina) and landmarks should be used, with the compass to augment, when visibility permits.
Buoyancy control is always more difficult in the shallows, because everything is expanding faster there. The key to buoyancy is anticipation -- when you know you are moving upslope, be proactive about venting, before you begin to feel yourself getting floaty. Also remember that your first, emergency vent is . . . from YOU! Your lungs are the fastest air chamber you can empty, so when you feel yourself starting to get floaty, EXHALE. That will buy you some time to get air out of your BC.
A formal weight check is a good idea, too. Don't fall into the trap of assuming that all your buoyancy issues are underweighting, because packing on weight can create even more instability, since you have to have so much air in your BC to counter the excess.
I hope you at least had a chance to enjoy the sunlight through the kelp, and the wonderful colors of the Garibaldis and the Catalina gobies!
Buoyancy control is always more difficult in the shallows, because everything is expanding faster there. The key to buoyancy is anticipation -- when you know you are moving upslope, be proactive about venting, before you begin to feel yourself getting floaty. Also remember that your first, emergency vent is . . . from YOU! Your lungs are the fastest air chamber you can empty, so when you feel yourself starting to get floaty, EXHALE. That will buy you some time to get air out of your BC.
A formal weight check is a good idea, too. Don't fall into the trap of assuming that all your buoyancy issues are underweighting, because packing on weight can create even more instability, since you have to have so much air in your BC to counter the excess.
I hope you at least had a chance to enjoy the sunlight through the kelp, and the wonderful colors of the Garibaldis and the Catalina gobies!
ligersandtions
Contributor
Welcome, Eileen!
Like TSandM mentioned, I'm also a small woman who does a lot of shore diving (I also have a number of other small female dive buddies), so I am sympathetic to not-so-graceful surf exits!
Conditions this year have been pretty pathetic....big surf, low vis, surge, etc. So if you are enjoying it so far, you're off to a really great start....and conditions will improve (or so I keep telling myself
).
The surf exit takes a bit of practice, and you will get stronger much faster than you might expect. The first time I put on a single Al80 and had to walk to the edge of the pool, I thought to myself, "There's no way! I can't possibly do this much longer!" Now I can lug double tanks across a parking lot, down the stairs, across the sand, through the surf, and back (back is harder...).
In addition, there are some tricks to timing your exit. I generally hang out just outside the surf zone (where the waves are breaking) and watch for a few moments while taking my fins off. Sometimes there are some big waves, and then a lull....during the lull, I make my exit. If there is no appreciable lull, you can use the waves to your advantage. Let the wave do the work....it'll bring you up to the beach and often it will help you "climb" the sandy ledge.
Please let me know if you'd like to go out someday and dive. I'm busy this weekend, but the following two are free, and I'd be more than happy to head down to Laguna to meet up with you. We'll take it slow, swim around and look at neat things, work on maintaining buoyancy....and if you haven't done so yet, we can do a weight check at the end and make sure you're not overweighted. Hope to see you out diving soon
Like TSandM mentioned, I'm also a small woman who does a lot of shore diving (I also have a number of other small female dive buddies), so I am sympathetic to not-so-graceful surf exits!
Conditions this year have been pretty pathetic....big surf, low vis, surge, etc. So if you are enjoying it so far, you're off to a really great start....and conditions will improve (or so I keep telling myself
). The surf exit takes a bit of practice, and you will get stronger much faster than you might expect. The first time I put on a single Al80 and had to walk to the edge of the pool, I thought to myself, "There's no way! I can't possibly do this much longer!" Now I can lug double tanks across a parking lot, down the stairs, across the sand, through the surf, and back (back is harder...).
In addition, there are some tricks to timing your exit. I generally hang out just outside the surf zone (where the waves are breaking) and watch for a few moments while taking my fins off. Sometimes there are some big waves, and then a lull....during the lull, I make my exit. If there is no appreciable lull, you can use the waves to your advantage. Let the wave do the work....it'll bring you up to the beach and often it will help you "climb" the sandy ledge.
Please let me know if you'd like to go out someday and dive. I'm busy this weekend, but the following two are free, and I'd be more than happy to head down to Laguna to meet up with you. We'll take it slow, swim around and look at neat things, work on maintaining buoyancy....and if you haven't done so yet, we can do a weight check at the end and make sure you're not overweighted. Hope to see you out diving soon
C2001
Registered
It just takes time and practice. You also have to be willing to put all pride aside and if you have to crawl out on your hands and knees. I am a female that is only 5'1 and I still get knocked down by the waves when exiting, my buddy is 6'3 and he has no problems at all. He is very patient with me and I know if something goes wrong he will be there to pull me up. I have had a lot of the same problems that you are having, you will figure it out with a few more dives. I do a lot of shore diving in Laguna Beach. I live in Long Beach, it takes about half and hour to drive to Laguna. If you want to hook up with me and my buddy let me know, we are always willing to dive with new divers. I was also certified thru Pacific Wilderness @ the Orange store. Join us at the next meeting for the club at El Torito on PCH and 2nd st tuesday July 14 @ 7:30pm. Have fun and don't get discouraged.
christy
christy
JamesBon92007
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After reading some of your later posts I'm thinking you might have a little more weight than you need. My wife is 5' 4", 120 lbs and she only wears about 16 pounds with a Farmer Jane type wetsuit with hood and booties and neoprene gloves. Without ANY air in your BC, I think you should be somewhat negative at, say, 25 feet but not sink like a rock. It's usually difficult to dive at less than that along the coast here due to the surge. Personally I (5' 10", 150 lbs) weigh myself so I'm slightly negative at about 30 feet (half a tank of air, aluminum 80) and I don't use a BC. I wear about 20 lbs. Any positive buoyancy that might occur when my tank is empty has never been an issue for me, but I'm not cave diving or attempting a decompression stop without anything to hang onto. A slightly smaller tank (steel 72) might help a little too but then you'd lose some bottom time. My wife has always done fine in the surf with an aluminum 80 so I guess it just takes practice. You also might be able to reduce your gear a little more if you consider what you are carrying that you don't need. After all, most of the diving in Laguna is probably around 30-40 feet so it's not like you are going to get bent on two dives if you don't have a computer. I dove here for many years without so much as a SPG, just a cheap dive watch. And, if you don't have one already, I suggest a low-profile mask. I have found several wide-vision masks that others had knocked off of them in the surf.
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