Thanks to TSandM, DA, and all SB members.....

In the short time I have been diving I have done a lot of research in this quest to be a better diver. In doing so, I have asked a lot of questions from various divers on how to achieve my goals. As part of this research, I have also spent countless hours on SB asking questions and following threads from divers similar to myself looking for answers. In this time, you see countless people answering a variety of questions, but there are a few that continually offer not only share a vast amount of knowledge, but do it in such a way that is non-threatening and exemplifies professionalism. More importantly, they share the information in such a way as to get the OP thinking, but not in such a way as to say "my way is the right way."

A great example of this is a recent thread started by TSandM, "The joy of flying." As I read through this thread, I realized how much I am potentially missing out by getting overly excited about getting into the water and seeing "stuff," that I have forgotten to get back to the fundamentals of trim and buoyancy control. I just purchased a new BP/W and after reading this thread realized now was the perfect time to get back to basics. So, this past weekend, I went diving in Monterey and spent my first dive focusing solely on weighting and trim. After the first dive, I was feeling good, and "it was on!" As a result of taking that time, the remaining six dives of the weekend were beyond anything I could have imagined. Not only was vis in Monterey beyond what anyone was expecting, but I found myself controlling buoyancy by breathing instead of bouncing up and down in the water column using my BC. As I floated through the water, if I needed to ascend a few feet to get over the pinnacles, I took a little breath and I was there. Now that I was past, I exhaled, and I was back at the bottom, all while not touch my inflator or the sea floor....It was the most excitement that I felt since my first day in the water. My safety stops had now become far less challenging too.

I definitely think some changes in equipment made a difference (moved to a BPW and changed out my HP80s for 100 to redistribute weight) but I think the biggest difference was the time I took on the first dive to a) be properly weighted and b) ensure the weight was properly distributed to keep me from fighting my trim in the water. I didn't solve all my problems this weekend, but these simple things "resloved" a lot of the challenges I was having underwater and made my weekend so much more enjoyable that dives in the past.

I would especially like to thank TSandM, DA, and Cool_Hardware for and all of their valued input and the methodology behind information that is shared. There are many more out there that have large amounts of knowledge that I have learned a lot from as well....Thank you!

Great news, they taught that kind of breathing for control of buoyancy in my open water training. It really does work. Glad it works for you!

Isn't it funny how a bunch of words put together in the form of a sentence can have such an impact? There are many people here on SB that have the ability to form words into sentences that we can not only picture with our mind's eye, but also that are well thought out and logical enough for us to want to pay attention. Lynne is just one example, but a great example. Many people deserve these thanks and I will second your call out masterof0.

masterof0:

... but I think the biggest difference was the time I took on the first dive to a) be properly weighted and b) ensure the weight was properly distributed to keep me from fighting my trim in the water....

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Thank you for the feedback. All to often the results of questions go un-answered. Diving is fun, particularly when you can concentrate on the "feeling of flying" (Thans Lynne) and just watching natures wonders.

Geeze everyone, do you have any idea how hard it is to live with someone who gets named in a post like this? I'm not sure she'll be able to go through our doors now!

OP -- I'm glad you were able to use Lynne's post as inspiration -- it just gets better.

Thank you! I'm glad what I wrote was useful.

When I first came on SB, I asked all kinds of questions, and got superb answers, some of which really led to "light bulb" moments. I try to pass on that kind of information whenever I can. And, BTW, I wrote a letter of thanks to DAA a while back, myself

Ain't flying fun?

dlndavid:

Great news, they taught that kind of breathing for control of buoyancy in my open water training. It really does work. Glad it works for you!

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I was taught breath control in OW as well, the difference being that I was grossly over weighted to keep me on the bottom for my skills assessment. As a result I, as have a lot of new divers from what I have seen, fail to go back and refine the important parts of diving such as weighting and trim. I was able to control small amounts of movement in the water column, but nothing like I did this weekend. To the point were is was rare for me to use my inflator. The other thing being the Zen of maintaining trim.

The part where I really began to smile was when I was diving on sunday with people who had significantly more dives than I and was was able to maintain buoyancy while I watched them "walk in the water..." (and not in the good way) and bounce all over the place.

Peter Guy:

Geeze everyone, do you have any idea how hard it is to live with someone who gets named in a post like this?

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I know that Lynne was specifically identified in the post, but there are others as well. These are the members of ScubaBoard that make it what it is. They do not get involved in the "politics" and the name slinging. They stick to the foundation of what it is all about and that is sharing information an knowledge. One of hte reasons why I think that she sticks out is because she doesnt just "tell" you, but she explains why, and more importantly, she gets posters thinking about "what does that mean to me" almost like a motivational speaker at times.....At least that is how I walk away from a lot of her posts. (But that may be the engineer in me too...always looking for the next level of excellence)

Thank you to those that take time to answer the many questions that appear in this forum. Having knowledge is one thing, sharing that knowledge in an understandable format is another. It always seems easy until you try to write it down.

I would also say that there are alot of people that post questions that are also being very helpful. What I mean is that i think the OP knows the answer, but is posting it as an educational exercise. This can be very helpful because I haven't had enough experience to know what questions to ask in the first place.

So please keep up your efforts and I'll try to keep out of the silt.

I agree with all above. Practice does make perfect. I spent a weekend (shallow/solo) perfecting back finning and helicoptering with new fins and different gear configs.

The next O/W class I assisted with, it was masterful being able to fin up to and back away from a new student on the line. That weekend also convinced me to get rid of the ankle weights.