Divemaster watermanship skills

[Rick Osgood]

I will be starting my DM course soon and had a question regarding the watermanship skills portion of the course. For the requirement to swim 400 yards, 800 yards (snorkel) and 100 yards (tired diver), is it typical to do these with fins and mask on? It would seem to be a yes to me as that's what you would normally do in the real world.

Thanks:

 

[Sideband]

The "swim" is without fins and mask, the snorkeling skills are with Mask/fins/snorkel and the scuba skills are with full kit.

Joe

 

[scubatexastony]

The swims (using no equipment)
25 yards underwater, on one breath, no push off or dive
Swim 450 yards, nonstop, any stroke, within 10 minutes, then 25 yards resting stroke
additional 20 minutes of treading
transport another person 50 yards

(using wet suit jacket, weight belt for proper bouyancy, mask, fins, snorkel)
snorkel swim 900 yards nonstop in 18 minutes or less


perform a skin ditch and recovery

there's other water skills too, both skin and scuba

tony

 

[johnny_bravo]

I had to do a rescue with full gear on while towing back the victim and removing his/her gear as well as mine on the swim back.

Hardest test for me was the water thread believe it or not.

Good luck.

-J.-

 

[DBailey]

I will be starting my DM course soon and had a question regarding the watermanship skills portion of the course. For the requirement to swim 400 yards, 800 yards (snorkel) and 100 yards (tired diver), is it typical to do these with fins and mask on? It would seem to be a yes to me as that's what you would normally do in the real world.

Thanks:

You didn't say which agency...

PADI:
400 yd swim - timed, no fins, if you wear a wetsuit you have to add weights
800 yd snorkle - timed, mask, fins, snorkle, if you wear a wetsuit you have to add weights
100 yd tow - timed, full gear on you and 'victim'
15 min tread - last two mins with hands out of the water (having a brain fart and not confident in these times)

My recommendation - whichever skill you feel the most confident, do it first. Remember that for PADI you need 12 out of 20 possible points (up to 5 points each). Do the swim and snorkle in a pool if you can, the push-turns are nice.

Unless you have difficulty treading, it should be a guaranteed 5 points. For the tow, hoepfully you get to choose who you tow. Pick someone small. I had to tow my instructor and I think he added about 50 lbs of lead. Either way, a score of 4 is fairly easy to get. Also, I prefer the push instead of the tow for speed reasons. That is a total of 9 and you need 12. For the 400 and 800, you get a point for finishing no matter how long it takes. Just give some extra effort in either one of those to get a 2 or 3 and coast through the other.

Edit: If you do the swim or snorkle in the pool, figure out a good way to keep track of the laps. It is boring and you will lose count.

 

[BubbleTrouble]

Holly crap. I'd better get cracking with my physical training. Sounds like I need to become an olympic swimmer before attempting my DM certification.

Is it also a requirement to do boat duty? Or is this just my LDS's idea of getting the DMs involved?

 

[Double_D]

Bailey's advice is accurate for PADI. Being in shape definitely helps. The order of, and interval between, events and the conditions are between you and your instructor.

Enjoy the course.

 

[dandrian]

As Bailey said for PADI to receive the full 5 points in the treading water you have to do the last two minutes of the treading with your arms above your head and they cannot touch the water. If you can't do the final two minutes you only receive 4 points. I think the skill that takes the most practice, thought, concentration, and ability is the buddy breathing gear exchange. You have to be relaxed and prepared for it. Have a plan in place before you start.

Good Luck..... DM is a great experience

 

[Cacia]

I thought our technique on that worked well: plenty of weight. Have one guy do the reg exchange and be "in charge of the air delivery". the other person does all the buckles and fasteners on both divers. it made it easier to not be switching tasks back and forth.

 

[Wildcard]

It's not near as hard as it sounds. I was swimming along just enjoying the water when they started throwing stuff at me. Seems I had done several extra laps but had my head under water so I didn't know. If your not 400 lbs or can make it up a flight of stairs without needing CPR, you'll prolly do just fine but it never hurts to stay in shape. Some of the DMs and instructors out there scare me. I don't know how those people can be expected to help anyone?