1st dive of the advanced OW

bill-da-ho · May 9, 2009

Well, had my first dive of the year, well, aside from the ice dive, was the first dive in the advanced ow course too. We did squares. 40 fins in each direction, change 90degrees. Well, I sucked,, course, I guess I didnt really expect to nail it the first time out, but it would have been nice. Water temp was 44f. 3 mil wetsuit as usual didnt really get cold until the end, and then just my feet. dive was a little over half hour. I need to practice the nav. bouyancy was good tho. All in all, it was a good first dive of the year.
Anyone have suggestions for keeping on course. I have the compass as part of my SPG. and my hose is a bit too short. I'll fix that next time out.

NorthWoodsDiver · May 9, 2009

Just a tip, a wrist mounted compass is one of my favorite pieces of gear even though I almost never use it. When I have to its much easier then my console from when I started diving. Something to look into.

Making hoses longer is usually not the best solution IMHO. T

spectrum · May 9, 2009

44F in a 3mm suit? Were you able to concentrate on navigation?

It sounds like you were in a low/no current situation. That should make it easy.

How is your console set-up? You need to be able to hold the compass flat and dead ahead in front of you. Mine is on a short bungee clipped off to my left shoulder. I did go to the longer HP hose, 40" I think and that made a huge difference.

As mentioned make sure it is flat. Level can be deceiving so get in the habit of rotating the console slightly to note that the card is free to maintain the heading. With the compass working it largely becomes just concentrating on following headings, absolute or relative.

You can ease the concentration some if the bottom has features and the visibility is decent. If you can sight 10-15 feet ahead you can swim point to point leap frogging to your destination and this can also let you watch for current.

bill-da-ho · May 10, 2009

spectrum:
44F in a 3mm suit? Were you able to concentrate on navigation?

It sounds like you were in a low/no current situation. That should make it easy.

How is your console set-up? You need to be able to hold the compass flat and dead ahead in front of you. Mine is on a short bungee clipped off to my left shoulder. I did go to the longer HP hose, 40" I think and that made a huge difference.

As mentioned make sure it is flat. Level can be deceiving so get in the habit of rotating the console slightly to note that the card is free to maintain the heading. With the compass working it largely becomes just concentrating on following headings, absolute or relative.

You can ease the concentration some if the bottom has features and the visibility is decent. If you can sight 10-15 feet ahead you can swim point to point leap frogging to your destination and this can also let you watch for current.

spectrum,
Yea I was able to concentrate, actually, only thing that cold on me after half hour was my feet.
No, I'm not able to get the console out in front of me very well, actually it seems like its right under my chin, well not that bad, but close. we had about 10 feet vis, I think I could do that leap frogging in that viz tho,, I'm gonna try it, thanks for the tip.
I was thinking about buying the wrist mounted compass, but I want to get a dive computer first. So thats why I was thinking of the longer hose. I wonder if its possible to take my compass off my SPG and put it on one of those retractors?? I'll have to look into that.
Thanks for the info.

Bill

mkutyna · May 10, 2009

Most likely, you can take the compass off of the console and put it on a wrist boot. Wrist boots are very cheap and it is very easy to line them up with your body. Extend the arm without the compass straight ahead of you and your compass hand grabs on to the non-compass arm just above the elbow. The compass is right in front of you and generally directly in line with your body.

An extra bonus will be when you get the computer, you can disassemble the console and just have the bare SPG clipped off instead of a giant console.

I Dive · May 10, 2009

If you have the money, I'd invest in a wrist mount. They aren't very expensive and I think they are much easier to use than console mounts. Also, practice on land until you really get the hang of it. It is critical that you hold the compass correctly or it is not going to adjust for changes in your direction of travel. This is much easier to learn on land than in the water. And, it's simple and logical to test if you are holding it right. Simply change direction you are moving and the compass should move. If you change direction, and the compass says you didn't, you are not holding it properly. I do need to ask, though. You paid an Instructor to teach you an Advanced class, including underwater nav, and yet you are jumping on SB to get tips on how to improve your nav. Why not get the info you need from the Instructor? I wouldn't let him/her consider my class finished until I was comfortable with this.

bill-da-ho · May 10, 2009

I Dive:
If you have the money, I'd invest in a wrist mount. They aren't very expensive and I think they are much easier to use than console mounts. Also, practice on land until you really get the hang of it. It is critical that you hold the compass correctly or it is not going to adjust for changes in your direction of travel. This is much easier to learn on land than in the water. And, it's simple and logical to test if you are holding it right. Simply change direction you are moving and the compass should move. If you change direction, and the compass says you didn't, you are not holding it properly. I do need to ask, though. You paid an Instructor to teach you an Advanced class, including underwater nav, and yet you are jumping on SB to get tips on how to improve your nav. Why not get the info you need from the Instructor? I wouldn't let him/her consider my class finished until I was comfortable with this.

first, I am not finished with the class, I do not have 24 hour access to my instructor as I do on SB. I have also found that there are differing opinions on how to get things accomplished, and so I do get on SB to hear some of them on occasion. Also, I have learned many things on SB, witch I have then discussed with the instructor, I think this is a healthy exchange of ideas.
For instance, you suggest a wrist mount, my instructor doesnt like them, only for the reason that its one more thing you have to remember to have, he likes them on the console, three instruments, one thing to remember. Now, I happen to like your idea in this instance, and will most likely buy the wrist mount. But, if I only went with what the instructor said, I would only use my SPG. Now, befor anyone jumps on the instructor, he is of the frame of mind that whatever works for me is what I should get, his SPG preference was only his opinion, as he made very clear to me.
I dont believe I'll have a problem with remembering any gear, as it all stays in my bag, except for the items I have to hang up and dry out.
His suggestion was also to practice on land. My only question about that is , will being able to see where I"m going and whatnot affect the outcome? Should I practice this on land with some type of hood, like they do with pilots?
Well, anyhow, thanks for the info

I Dive · May 10, 2009

bill-da-ho:
first, I am not finished with the class, I do not have 24 hour access to my instructor as I do on SB. I have also found that there are differing opinions on how to get things accomplished, and so I do get on SB to hear some of them on occasion. Also, I have learned many things on SB, witch I have then discussed with the instructor, I think this is a healthy exchange of ideas.
For instance, you suggest a wrist mount, my instructor doesnt like them, only for the reason that its one more thing you have to remember to have, he likes them on the console, three instruments, one thing to remember. Now, I happen to like your idea in this instance, and will most likely buy the wrist mount. But, if I only went with what the instructor said, I would only use my SPG. Now, befor anyone jumps on the instructor, he is of the frame of mind that whatever works for me is what I should get, his SPG preference was only his opinion, as he made very clear to me.
I dont believe I'll have a problem with remembering any gear, as it all stays in my bag, except for the items I have to hang up and dry out.
His suggestion was also to practice on land. My only question about that is , will being able to see where I"m going and whatnot affect the outcome? Should I practice this on land with some type of hood, like they do with pilots?
Well, anyhow, thanks for the info

That makes sense, you are just looking for a variety of opinions. As far as practicing on land, I don't think a hood is necessary. Shoot a heading towards something narrow, a tree for example. Ideally it is at least 50 yards away, maybe further. If your nav is off slightly, a short distance won't show it, but the further you go the more off you will be. If you shoot the heading, and then follow it by only looking down at the compass, I think that will suffice. Follow the heading and you should end up walking into the tree!

tk trekers · May 10, 2009

When we did our navigation for our OW, our instructor had us pair up with a buddy, take a heading and then put a towel over our head so we could only see the ground and the compass. The buddy makes sure you don't walk into something or step in a hole in the ground and then you navigate to whatever object you took the heading on. The instructor would then tell you to stop at a certain point, reverse your direction and come back. You should end up where you started if you are doing it correctly. As people that had never really used a compass before, we found this to be a pretty good exercise in using the compass.

I also have the problem where my SPG console has the compass and I can't extend it out in front of myself enough. I found that I could put the SPG hose over my shoulder and get a bit more distance and maintain my course better.

ereediver · May 10, 2009

Two things that work for are 1) use the side window on the compass, It was easier to keep that on line at least for me.
2) Really have to concentrate on the compass, or pick objects in line with you heading, and swim to them as was suggested before. PLus remember to keep an eye on you depth. When I did my AOW we had pretty poor viz, great for the nav course by the way. Anyway swam the out an back exercise in a straight line, right under the target platform. I counted me kicks, I knew the platform had to be close. Instructor tapped my shoulder and poined up...Doh... take two was much better.

1st dive of the advanced OW

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