Safety stop - loosing my buoyancy

[Russoft]

Being a "vacation" diver there are sometimes long intervals between diving for me. As such I've adopted a method of checking my buoyancy at the end of my check-out dives on day 1 dive 1. At the end of my dive and safety stop, I make sure (usually by bleeding gas out of the octo) to get down to 700 psi and verify I can hold position. Again, I do this at the end of my safety stop so that if I get buoyant all I've done is sign up for a bit of a surface swim to the ladder.

With my weight loss (personal) every dive trip is an adventure in lead calculation. This past trip I started with 2 pounds less than I finished with in June. I had no problems and managed to drop a total of 7 pounds over the week, though to be fair I didn't really get close to the 500 psi gas level except for one deep dive earlier in the week.

To give you an idea... I started with a 2XL BCD and carried 28 pounds of lead 26 months ago. Last week, I wore a ML BCD and had 9 pounds of lead. (1.5 in each trim pouch and 3 in each drop pouch). I was originally diving a 100cf tank and lucky to get 60 minutes out of it. Now I dive an 80 and at 60 minutes come up with 1200 psi.

Keep diving, practicing, and it will improve.

Generally speaking the first dive in a trip, or after a long absence, or at the beginning of a dive season, should probably be kept pretty easy. I like to start on a shallow, non-challenging dive. Not only does this give me an opportunity to do a weight/equipment check before more challenging dives, but statistics from DAN seem to show that most diving related fatalities occur on the first dive of a trip.

 

[AZNetEng]

That really isn't surprising when you think about it @Russoft

We always do the same. Usually shallow and short as compared to the rest of the week. (which is why I end up dumping air through the octo!)

 

[diver0008]

I suspect you aren't on your first 50 dives though. This is fine and easy enough once you've got a feel for bouyancy.
When you are just starting out it and finding it a bit challenging like the OP, it can easier if you try to keep your whole body at the same depth. First learn to walk, walzing can come later.

Agreed. I was just responding to another poster who seemed to suggest that being horozontal all the time was the way to go. Not sure if he was adressing just new divers or speaking in general.

 

[blac86]

It's such good advice that I want to echo it agian.

Practice shallow.

 

[diver0008]

On my next dive I'm going to make sure I dump all the air from my BCD...at the safety stop

Not so sure about this one.

 

[Pink rach]

Weights now sorted and all was good at today's safety stops. Thanks for all your advice

 

[rongoodman]

Agreed. I was just responding to another poster who seemed to suggest that being horozontal all the time was the way to go. Not sure if he was adressing just new divers or speaking in general.

If it was me, I was speaking in general. Obviously there are times you don't want to be, but it's a good default position. A couple of kicks can get you quickly moving in any direction, whether it's to adjust your depth or get to a buddy who needs gas.

 

[Pkishino]

As above, horizontal is the default working position for diving which is probably about 90%+ of the time.
Sure, one might bend over to look under a ledge or come more vertical to take a certain photo, but a diver would then revert back to working position.look at the photo at top of article. This is the working position and how one should be diving, even after just owd, and it's not unreasonable to expect that.
The rest of the article is so so, mainly linked for the picture
Why Proper Trim Is Important for Scuba Divers

 

[diver0008]

Proper trim is surely a vaulable and in many cases a learned skill; it makes getting around close to effortless, particularly with a good frog kick. That said, from my observations, there are many, many divers engaging in what I call cycling at 45-degree angles; whatever floats their boat, as long as they are comfortable.

I probably went vertical to snap this beauty.

As I would concur that being horizontal is the default position for those who are able to achieve and maintain it, I still enjoy taking time to hang vertically and look around once in a while. I also do the same for safety stops. On a recent trip to Cozumel, and on a drift dive in a fairly stiff current, I spent a considerable amount of time vertical and inverted being pushed along watching things go by upside down inches away; for some reason I find it very relaxing. I also find it useful for peeking under ledges and into small nooks.

All in all, even though it has only limited and specific uses, maintaining a neutrally buoyant vertical position is also a useful skill.

 

[rongoodman]

I'm a fan of going head down about 45 degrees to look at something and then backing up and away to let the next person in. No waving of hands or touching things required.