F/U from previous thread -- I took my friend diving today

TSandM · Sep 30, 2005

I had asked earlier if it was reasonable for me to take my friend, who just finished OW, out to dive. Got a lot of moral support for doing so.

Well, we went out today. It was a grey and blustery day, and the LDS warned us that the wind could pull up a lot of chop. But in fact, the water was glassy smooth, and current, at least when we started, was negligible. And NOBODY else was diving . . . made me nervous, actually, thinking everybody else knew something I didn't. But there really wasn't any reason not to dive. Viz was super, current was not there, and it would have been a lovely day for a dive.

What we did instead was spend an hour trying to get my friend properly weighted and trimmed and into a controlled descent where we could get her onto her belly and horizontal and stable enough to swim. There were times when I felt like screaming that I was not an instructor and just didn't know enough to do this, but we perservered and eventually got it right. Once I got her down and horizontal, we went "on tour" with me holding her hand. All she had to do was kick a little. We didn't see much of interest, because we didn't get out very far or very deep, but it was her first dive without an instructor, and she did it. My goals were that she not get scared and that we get a little dive in, and we met both.

I'm not sure I'd recommend doing this to someone else. It was nerve-wracking and I really didn't feel like I could help her as much as she needed help, but I sure got a new appreciation for my instructors and the people who have mentored me as I fought through the same newbie problems.

JeffG · Sep 30, 2005

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger

ScubaSixString · Sep 30, 2005

TSandM:
I had asked earlier if it was reasonable for me to take my friend, who just finished OW, out to dive. Got a lot of moral support for doing so.

Well, we went out today. It was a grey and blustery day, and the LDS warned us that the wind could pull up a lot of chop. But in fact, the water was glassy smooth, and current, at least when we started, was negligible. And NOBODY else was diving . . . made me nervous, actually, thinking everybody else knew something I didn't. But there really wasn't any reason not to dive. Viz was super, current was not there, and it would have been a lovely day for a dive.

What we did instead was spend an hour trying to get my friend properly weighted and trimmed and into a controlled descent where we could get her onto her belly and horizontal and stable enough to swim. There were times when I felt like screaming that I was not an instructor and just didn't know enough to do this, but we perservered and eventually got it right. Once I got her down and horizontal, we went "on tour" with me holding her hand. All she had to do was kick a little. We didn't see much of interest, because we didn't get out very far or very deep, but it was her first dive without an instructor, and she did it. My goals were that she not get scared and that we get a little dive in, and we met both.

I'm not sure I'd recommend doing this to someone else. It was nerve-wracking and I really didn't feel like I could help her as much as she needed help, but I sure got a new appreciation for my instructors and the people who have mentored me as I fought through the same newbie problems.

Well done, perhaps.

If we were in person and in another time, I would bow to your experience and training (I'm trying to say, you have a good deal of experieince (from your posts that i have read) and please take this as respectful).

It would appear you and she were out alone. And i don't know what the problem with buoyancy was (are you 2 using BP/W?) but it sounds like one of 2 things occured.

1> You were WAY overstressed about this
2>She wasn't ready.

I'm the last one to criticize (and anyone who has a problem flame me here or flame me on PM) but the way you tell the tale had something gone wrong, there could have been a real problem.

I'm not questioning you or trolling really. Anyone who is willing to put themselves through DIR-F has got some skills, but was this the best thing to do alone?

(and to be fair, i'm not really one to talk about the rules. I've been in caves and wrecks i wasn't certified for....shame on me.....)

BUt, better you than she sit on her couch...

Kim · Sep 30, 2005

Well done. She had passed her cert so presumably knew enough to dive with you. Of course it's going to be a bit nerve-wracking the first time after certification. It sounds like you didn't try to do too much, planned to do only that, and stuck to it. I bet if you do a similar dive with her again it'll go much easier!

TSandM · Sep 30, 2005

Well, you may be right.

We went to a known area, where it is very shallow (max depth for this dive was less than 15 feet). In theory, she IS a certified diver, and should be able to go out with a similarly certified buddy and dive. In fact, she's like I was . . . pretty minimally prepared. And I knew that was likely. And she doesn't own her own gear, so she was diving borrowed stuff, and weighting and trim for the gear she was diving was largely unknown. It took a while to get it right, and the weighting problems were compounded by her not having really good skills at doing descents -- something I can really understand, because I had the exactly same problems at her stage of the game. We had to cope with her kicking frantically to try NOT to descend on her back, which of course drove her back to the surface. What eventually worked was to tell her to go ahead and descend on her back if that's the way it went . . . that we would sort her position out once she finally got DOWN.

I think this just underscores why I'm doing DIR-F. I came out of OW just like my friend. I could do snorkel-to-regulator exchanges and sit on the bottom and flood and clear my mask, but I couldn't dive. I couldn't do a descent without ending up on my back, and I couldn't control my buoyancy at the end of a dive. I couldn't navigate, because staying in a belly-down horizontal position was all the task-loading I could manage. And this was the same for my friend. It scares me that people get certified to dive when their skill level is like this. At least I knew what to expect, and chose a place and time where it was as much like a swimming pool as you can get in open water.

I don't know what you do with people like me and my friend, to get them the experience they need to be competent and safe, unless you do what we did today. More experienced and skilled people did it for me -- I was lucky that way.

Kim · Sep 30, 2005

TSandM:
I don't know what you do with people like me and my friend, to get them the experience they need to be competent and safe, unless you do what we did today.

Sounds like most brand new drivers to me! eyebrow

Just think how much you BOTH learned from the dive. As far as the back thing is concerned, it sound like a trim problem to me. Shifting weights forward should help that.

Willie · Sep 30, 2005

TSandM:
What eventually worked was to tell her to go ahead and descend on her back if that's the way it went . . . that we would sort her position out once she finally got DOWN.

Very new to this, feel free to chime in if anyone feels I am off base here.

This sounds a lot like the way my second pool dive went. I was either horizontal face down (very little of the time) or I was struggling to keep from rolling onto my back. It was very frustrating as I had not had that problem at all the first day in the pool.

During the break, I really examined the situation and realized that I had a 5 pound weight on the left side of the belt, a 3 in the back and a 3 on the right side. I couldnt believe this would matter, but next time into the pool the first thing I did was slip the belt around so that the 5 pounder was a little more toward my backbone -- now the weight was evenly distributed across my back and I had no trouble at all. I was amazed how such a little thing could have so much affect on my stability.

Just as a test during the dive I moved the belt back to the original position and now I felt like someone who slipped on ice and try as they might couldnt keep from falling. I also moved the belt further than necessary and was able to generate instability to other side.

So now I make sure I get the weight evenly distributed and have never had that problem again.

Willie

kidspot · Sep 30, 2005

Glad you got the experience. I can remember a couple of dives not too dissimilar when I first started and went diving with other new guys. But it was still fun and the water was wet

Like you we just did easy dives that didn't get too deep or too far from shore.

Keep having fun!

Aloha, Tim

OE2X · Sep 30, 2005

TSandM:
I think this just underscores why I'm doing DIR-F. I came out of OW just like my friend. I could do snorkel-to-regulator exchanges and sit on the bottom and flood and clear my mask, but I couldn't dive. I couldn't do a descent without ending up on my back, and I couldn't control my buoyancy at the end of a dive. I couldn't navigate, because staying in a belly-down horizontal position was all the task-loading I could manage. And this was the same for my friend. It scares me that people get certified to dive when their skill level is like this. At least I knew what to expect, and chose a place and time where it was as much like a swimming pool as you can get in open water.

I don't know what you do with people like me and my friend, to get them the experience they need to be competent and safe, unless you do what we did today. More experienced and skilled people did it for me -- I was lucky that way.

Sounds like you and your buddy did fine. Good that you just did a skills dive. That was a very heads up approach on your part.

DIR-f will ultimately fast track you to becoming a better diver sooner. What you will also find is that you will spend a bunch of dives doing skills after fundies.

You are doing great in that you are a thinking diver first and not just jumping in recklessly.

ScubaSixString · Sep 30, 2005

TSandM:
Well, you may be right.

We went to a known area, where it is very shallow (max depth for this dive was less than 15 feet). In theory, she IS a certified diver, and should be able to go out with a similarly certified buddy and dive. In fact, she's like I was . . . pretty minimally prepared. And I knew that was likely. And she doesn't own her own gear, so she was diving borrowed stuff, and weighting and trim for the gear she was diving was largely unknown. It took a while to get it right, and the weighting problems were compounded by her not having really good skills at doing descents -- something I can really understand, because I had the exactly same problems at her stage of the game. We had to cope with her kicking frantically to try NOT to descend on her back, which of course drove her back to the surface. What eventually worked was to tell her to go ahead and descend on her back if that's the way it went . . . that we would sort her position out once she finally got DOWN.

I think this just underscores why I'm doing DIR-F. I came out of OW just like my friend. I could do snorkel-to-regulator exchanges and sit on the bottom and flood and clear my mask, but I couldn't dive. I couldn't do a descent without ending up on my back, and I couldn't control my buoyancy at the end of a dive. I couldn't navigate, because staying in a belly-down horizontal position was all the task-loading I could manage. And this was the same for my friend. It scares me that people get certified to dive when their skill level is like this. At least I knew what to expect, and chose a place and time where it was as much like a swimming pool as you can get in open water.

I don't know what you do with people like me and my friend, to get them the experience they need to be competent and safe, unless you do what we did today. More experienced and skilled people did it for me -- I was lucky that way.

15 ft max? I'll go bury myself now *blushes*

15 feet (although my dad will state you can die there as easily as in 130 ft) is a good first dive. This sheds more light on the subject. I took it as being more dramatic as it was. My bad. And your good

What did you learn?

F/U from previous thread -- I took my friend diving today

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TSandM

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JeffG

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Kim

Here for my friends.....

TSandM

Missed and loved by many.

Kim

Here for my friends.....

Willie

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kidspot

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OE2X

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