FreeFloat
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I beat it, I did it, I got through Stress Time!
I've told my local buddies about how our Scuba Instructor here uses the last pool time of the scuba course as a sort of review of certain basic skills - mask remove/replace, reg recover (two methods), checking that your tank first-stage valve is fully open, etc. He has the students kneel in a circle on the bottom of the pool then he and the DM swim around the students, removing a mask here, removing a reg there, and watching to see the students "fix the problem". He calls this session "Stress Time".
Some of you may have seen another of my posts relating the last time I went through the Stress Time. I made it about halfway through, then on one particular drill, with both mask and reg removed, I replaced the reg and kept getting mouthfuls of water, which kicked me into a panic and I headed for the surface with the DM right beside me. "Emergency panicked ascent" was NOT one of the drills.
Well, last night's pool session started out about the same as I recalled my original last pool session - a few diver rescue drills, both "panicked diver on surface" and "unconscious diver underwater". Then we practiced turning our air on (first stage valve) then went to the deep end of the pool. The instructor said just to "play around" for a while until he got our attention and put us in the kneeling-on-the-bottom circle.
Stress Time also started out as I remembered it from last time - with the instructor and his DM starting with the basics - removing the mask and watching the students put them back on. Most of the time they didn't remove the mask completely, left it on the student's head so they could find it. Despite wearing my new low-volume mask, it still takes me two breaths to clear it - I know I have to work on it, but for the class it was all right, as long as I could clear it. Then they moved to removing regulators, and from there to removing regulators AND masks, sometimes at once, sometimes in close timing. At one point someone had just removed my mask, I had just found it and started clearing it, and they stole my reg (and tucked it behind my first stage). I abandoned clearing the mask (left it half-on) and got my reg back first, then calmly proceeded to finish clearing my mask. Just as I was getting done that my reg stopped giving me air. (and someone stole my mask again too). I reached back to turn on my air, but for some reason I spit out the reg to do so, turned on the air, recovered my reg, purged it, and started to try breathing it. Déja vu - the reg seemed to be delivering me equal portions of water and air. I tried taking low and slow breaths like I had practiced with the snorkel (to get accustomed to "breathing wet"), but it didn't seem to help. I was starting to choke when I signalled the DM "out of air" (nice big clear signal, too!). He reached forward, depressed and held the purge button, and we headed slowly to the surface.
About halfway up I had an epiphany - or as I like to say, "the light suddenly went on."
I had been inhaling through both my mouth and my nose!! Without my mask on! No wonder I was taking on water!!!
So I surfaced, nice and slow, with the DM, and started cussing a blue streak. At that point I thought I had "blown it" again. He told me, "Relax, you did just fine. Ready to go back down?"
Sweeter words were never spoken.
I went back down. This time I held my nose with my right hand to prevent me from using it, (since when I had done so before I hadn't even realized it, or felt the water gushing through). When I figured I was getting close to the bottom I reached for it with my clasped hands and came to a gentle touch down. I resumed my former position in the circle beside the diver in pink fins (thank goodness everyone wasn't wearing all black). I couldn't find my mask, but someone (instructor or DM, not sure) pointed it out to me and by sweeping the bottom I eventually found it, replaced it, and cleared it, taking only 1-1/2 breaths this time.
The DM was going around shaking everyone's hand - he shook mine too - followed by the instructor. When he got to me, he gave me another of his patented scrutinizing looks, then pointed back and forth between us - saying "you and me". Then he promptly stole my mask and reg. I recovered and replaced both, half anticipating him shutting off my air next, but instead he just put out his hand and shook mine!
I felt like laughing! If I hadn't had a reg in my mouth I would've been wearing an ear-to-ear grin (except then I definitely would've had to clear my mask again).
Outside the pool, during the debrief, the instructor told us how impressed he was with all of us, and that he would be happy to take each and every one of us to Open Water (scheduled for this weekend).
As an aside to me, he also said that he can't recall the last time he saw someone so determined!
Yahoo! I can hardly wait!!!!!
I've told my local buddies about how our Scuba Instructor here uses the last pool time of the scuba course as a sort of review of certain basic skills - mask remove/replace, reg recover (two methods), checking that your tank first-stage valve is fully open, etc. He has the students kneel in a circle on the bottom of the pool then he and the DM swim around the students, removing a mask here, removing a reg there, and watching to see the students "fix the problem". He calls this session "Stress Time".
Some of you may have seen another of my posts relating the last time I went through the Stress Time. I made it about halfway through, then on one particular drill, with both mask and reg removed, I replaced the reg and kept getting mouthfuls of water, which kicked me into a panic and I headed for the surface with the DM right beside me. "Emergency panicked ascent" was NOT one of the drills.
Well, last night's pool session started out about the same as I recalled my original last pool session - a few diver rescue drills, both "panicked diver on surface" and "unconscious diver underwater". Then we practiced turning our air on (first stage valve) then went to the deep end of the pool. The instructor said just to "play around" for a while until he got our attention and put us in the kneeling-on-the-bottom circle.
Stress Time also started out as I remembered it from last time - with the instructor and his DM starting with the basics - removing the mask and watching the students put them back on. Most of the time they didn't remove the mask completely, left it on the student's head so they could find it. Despite wearing my new low-volume mask, it still takes me two breaths to clear it - I know I have to work on it, but for the class it was all right, as long as I could clear it. Then they moved to removing regulators, and from there to removing regulators AND masks, sometimes at once, sometimes in close timing. At one point someone had just removed my mask, I had just found it and started clearing it, and they stole my reg (and tucked it behind my first stage). I abandoned clearing the mask (left it half-on) and got my reg back first, then calmly proceeded to finish clearing my mask. Just as I was getting done that my reg stopped giving me air. (and someone stole my mask again too). I reached back to turn on my air, but for some reason I spit out the reg to do so, turned on the air, recovered my reg, purged it, and started to try breathing it. Déja vu - the reg seemed to be delivering me equal portions of water and air. I tried taking low and slow breaths like I had practiced with the snorkel (to get accustomed to "breathing wet"), but it didn't seem to help. I was starting to choke when I signalled the DM "out of air" (nice big clear signal, too!). He reached forward, depressed and held the purge button, and we headed slowly to the surface.
About halfway up I had an epiphany - or as I like to say, "the light suddenly went on."
I had been inhaling through both my mouth and my nose!! Without my mask on! No wonder I was taking on water!!!
So I surfaced, nice and slow, with the DM, and started cussing a blue streak. At that point I thought I had "blown it" again. He told me, "Relax, you did just fine. Ready to go back down?"
Sweeter words were never spoken.
I went back down. This time I held my nose with my right hand to prevent me from using it, (since when I had done so before I hadn't even realized it, or felt the water gushing through). When I figured I was getting close to the bottom I reached for it with my clasped hands and came to a gentle touch down. I resumed my former position in the circle beside the diver in pink fins (thank goodness everyone wasn't wearing all black). I couldn't find my mask, but someone (instructor or DM, not sure) pointed it out to me and by sweeping the bottom I eventually found it, replaced it, and cleared it, taking only 1-1/2 breaths this time.
The DM was going around shaking everyone's hand - he shook mine too - followed by the instructor. When he got to me, he gave me another of his patented scrutinizing looks, then pointed back and forth between us - saying "you and me". Then he promptly stole my mask and reg. I recovered and replaced both, half anticipating him shutting off my air next, but instead he just put out his hand and shook mine!
I felt like laughing! If I hadn't had a reg in my mouth I would've been wearing an ear-to-ear grin (except then I definitely would've had to clear my mask again).
Outside the pool, during the debrief, the instructor told us how impressed he was with all of us, and that he would be happy to take each and every one of us to Open Water (scheduled for this weekend).
As an aside to me, he also said that he can't recall the last time he saw someone so determined!
Yahoo! I can hardly wait!!!!!
