Hi all,
Since getting certified June 25 I have logged 34 dives and my wife just a few less. We decided to start night diving and got set-up with the Princeton Tec Shockwave LED lights and TEC400 back-ups.
Our first night exscursion was a night skin-dive in a location we have skin dove many times. We both had a great,saw lots of clittle critteres we never saw in daylight and it was a fun experience.
A week latter we did a night scuba dive at the same location, nice tiide, easy entry with a nearby street light, 2 nights from a full moon that was beaming brightly. Unfortunately while visibility was OK at the entry point it went downhill as we progressed to where she signalled to turn the dive due to visibility and since it turned out she was nearing her turn pressure anyhow. Turns out she was not doing well the whole time but had not indicated it and was blowing through her air due to stress. So we ended the dive without incident said too bad about the visibility and went home.
A week latter we did a night dive in a local pond. Visibility was fine. We were able to dive comfortably in 5mm wetsuits instead of the 7mm gear. It's a place we have skin-dived extensively and and have made several scuba dives there as well. We made a complete dive, she did a little better on air but in thend said she wasn't comfortable at all but wants to enjoy night dives.
We did a quarry dive yesterday with the LDS and it was essentially the same thing. She led, at her request we went down with lights, had an Ok though short dive and came up at the established pressure. Visiblilty was decent.
On all of these dives I had a great time except for having a distracted buddy. We always turned the dive immediately at her call. We made all of the entries at dusk or in daylight at the quarry. After the first dive we added light sticks up neat our first stages for exta visibillity.
We haven't decided what to do for AOW at this point but asside from having an instructor involved we've eased into it pretty much as many have suggested here in the past. We have both read numerous artlcles and book chapters on night diving. Our LDS jumps in the quarry for AOW and does a deep/limited visibility dive, that's the same dive we did yesterday.
So... I'm looking for suggestions of how to help her get comfortable with this. Scuba took her a few extra nights to get comfortable with then she did fine. She says she's willing so I suspect she just needs more time to get comfortable in the dark. I'd like to ease the transition for her in any way I can.
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Pete
Since getting certified June 25 I have logged 34 dives and my wife just a few less. We decided to start night diving and got set-up with the Princeton Tec Shockwave LED lights and TEC400 back-ups.
Our first night exscursion was a night skin-dive in a location we have skin dove many times. We both had a great,saw lots of clittle critteres we never saw in daylight and it was a fun experience.
A week latter we did a night scuba dive at the same location, nice tiide, easy entry with a nearby street light, 2 nights from a full moon that was beaming brightly. Unfortunately while visibility was OK at the entry point it went downhill as we progressed to where she signalled to turn the dive due to visibility and since it turned out she was nearing her turn pressure anyhow. Turns out she was not doing well the whole time but had not indicated it and was blowing through her air due to stress. So we ended the dive without incident said too bad about the visibility and went home.
A week latter we did a night dive in a local pond. Visibility was fine. We were able to dive comfortably in 5mm wetsuits instead of the 7mm gear. It's a place we have skin-dived extensively and and have made several scuba dives there as well. We made a complete dive, she did a little better on air but in thend said she wasn't comfortable at all but wants to enjoy night dives.
We did a quarry dive yesterday with the LDS and it was essentially the same thing. She led, at her request we went down with lights, had an Ok though short dive and came up at the established pressure. Visiblilty was decent.
On all of these dives I had a great time except for having a distracted buddy. We always turned the dive immediately at her call. We made all of the entries at dusk or in daylight at the quarry. After the first dive we added light sticks up neat our first stages for exta visibillity.
We haven't decided what to do for AOW at this point but asside from having an instructor involved we've eased into it pretty much as many have suggested here in the past. We have both read numerous artlcles and book chapters on night diving. Our LDS jumps in the quarry for AOW and does a deep/limited visibility dive, that's the same dive we did yesterday.
So... I'm looking for suggestions of how to help her get comfortable with this. Scuba took her a few extra nights to get comfortable with then she did fine. She says she's willing so I suspect she just needs more time to get comfortable in the dark. I'd like to ease the transition for her in any way I can.
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Pete