00wabbit
Contributor
Today was my first official dive without a divemaster or instructor. Just myself and a buddy I met over the internet.
Prior to this dive I have done 3 discover scuba dives and then my 4 open water dives. Those were all closely supervised of course.
Today it was just me and this guy I met on the net. That meant my safety was 100% my responsibility. I have spent the past 2 weeks since completing my OW cert reading books like Diver Down and Submerged as well as reading all the incidents on here and anywhere else I could find them. So unlike all my previous dives I was a bit nervous about this first one. Luckily I had a good buddy who was just happy to dive and he didn't care that it only lasted 22minutes on the first dive.
Here's how the dives went: We were at Dutch Springs PA for those of you that are familiar. We have to wear 2piece 7mil suits with hoods and gloves. Which means we also have to carry a lot of weight to get under the surface.
Dive 1:
The plan.
Descend from the dock, swim to the platforms. Check buoyancy then follow the lines to one of the submerged boats. Swing around the boat and follow the lines to another boat, then possibly head to the cessna if air permitted. We were to turn around at 1900psi and head back the way we came for a 3 min safety stop with 800psi remaining. This meant 1100 out, 1100 back and 800 for safety stop.
What really happened:
Buddy did the duck dive to descend. I tried the standard PADI feet first descent. I couldn't get more than 3 or 4 feet down. I started breathing quickly (not too fast, just elevated) from the effort. So I inverted and Duck dived. This was much more effective. As I reached my buddy he was hovering near the bottom. Probably 15-20ft deep. I was descending a little too much so I inverted again and started kicking up while adding air to the BCD to find neutral. It took me a while of kicking and slowly adding air to get to a semi-neutral state. I was trying to stay off the bottom because its easy to kick up silt. After getting neutral and settling down I checked my air. 1000psi gone. Wow that was fast. I really need to calm down and slow down a bit.
We headed to the platform. I informed my buddy that I wanted to do the fin-pivot to get an idea of my buoyancy so he patiently waited while I sorted it out. Then we headed down the rope towards the first boat. Of course all the while we are communicating air supply back and forth.
Once we reached the bow of the first boat we checked air again. 1900psi for me. 2500 for him. Oh well, the plan is the plan so we touch the bow of the boat and turn around and head back the way we came. Upon reaching the platforms we stop to check air. 1500 psi. I guess we did better on the way back than the way down. Also my nerves form all the horror stories I have read are gone. For some reason I had this image of my uncontrolled ascent to the surface prior to diving and I couldn't shake it. Now that I was in the water I could easily understand my buoyancy. I'm not saying my technique is great, but it wasn't scary easy. Since we had all this air and we were back at the platforms we both just got our selves buoyant about 8-10 inches from the platforms and practiced frog kicks up and down the platforms and beside them. This was great to really get a feel for breathing in and out to control buoyancy. At 800 psi I signaled to the buddy and we headed up the rope for our safety stop. I watched my computer carefully and once I reached about 18ft I worked on my buoyancy again to try and hover next to the rope without holding it. I was able to manage this within about 2 ft for the 3mins then we surfaced. 24mins total.
Dive 2: The helicopter.
We both really wanted to see the helicopter. At first we made a plan to descend to the platforms, follow the rope to the school bus, then I would take a compass heading from the nose of the school bus and my buddy would monitor our depth and we would swim underwater to the helicopter. Swim around it until 1900psi and then head back the way we came.
Once we walked to the edge and after my first dive we decided that if we really want to see the helicopter we better start there so we reversed the plan.
We did a long slow surface swim out to the floats that hold up the helicopter. Once we arrived on the surface we stopped for a couple of minutes to catch our breath. After catching breath and getting settled we descended on the cables holding up the helicopter. This made descent much easier and took little effort so we didn't use a lot of air. Once we reached the helicopter I adjusted my buoyancy so I floated just beside it and we took a trip around it poking our heads in the door ways but never going in. Once we swam all the way around it and were back tot he nose I took a compass reading to the school bus (there is no line here) My buddy monitored our depth for a steady 45' which should take us right to the bus and we started swimming. I with the compass and him with the depth gauge. After a bit longer swim than I expected we came across an unmarked boat on the bottom and not the school bus. Fortunately I have a detailed map of the underwater attractions in my bcd pocket in a waterproof bag. I pull it out and we figure out that we are just to the left of the bus and the line above our heads should take us right there. We go up to the line and follow it to the bus. The bus was probably 15ft from us but we couldn't see it due to the visibility. We did a circle around the bus, checked air 1900psi and headed for the platforms following the lines. Once we reached the platforms I was at about 1200 so we did the same as before. Swimming just above or directly beside the platform fine tuning buoyancy. at 800psi we headed up a line to the safety stop and then surface.
All in all it was a great day. Too bad the dives were short but that will improve in time. The jitters are gone and I figured out some things about my gear that I liked and some things I didn't like so it was a good shake down dive. Next month I'll be in the warm waters of the carribean.
Prior to this dive I have done 3 discover scuba dives and then my 4 open water dives. Those were all closely supervised of course.
Today it was just me and this guy I met on the net. That meant my safety was 100% my responsibility. I have spent the past 2 weeks since completing my OW cert reading books like Diver Down and Submerged as well as reading all the incidents on here and anywhere else I could find them. So unlike all my previous dives I was a bit nervous about this first one. Luckily I had a good buddy who was just happy to dive and he didn't care that it only lasted 22minutes on the first dive.
Here's how the dives went: We were at Dutch Springs PA for those of you that are familiar. We have to wear 2piece 7mil suits with hoods and gloves. Which means we also have to carry a lot of weight to get under the surface.
Dive 1:
The plan.
Descend from the dock, swim to the platforms. Check buoyancy then follow the lines to one of the submerged boats. Swing around the boat and follow the lines to another boat, then possibly head to the cessna if air permitted. We were to turn around at 1900psi and head back the way we came for a 3 min safety stop with 800psi remaining. This meant 1100 out, 1100 back and 800 for safety stop.
What really happened:
Buddy did the duck dive to descend. I tried the standard PADI feet first descent. I couldn't get more than 3 or 4 feet down. I started breathing quickly (not too fast, just elevated) from the effort. So I inverted and Duck dived. This was much more effective. As I reached my buddy he was hovering near the bottom. Probably 15-20ft deep. I was descending a little too much so I inverted again and started kicking up while adding air to the BCD to find neutral. It took me a while of kicking and slowly adding air to get to a semi-neutral state. I was trying to stay off the bottom because its easy to kick up silt. After getting neutral and settling down I checked my air. 1000psi gone. Wow that was fast. I really need to calm down and slow down a bit.
We headed to the platform. I informed my buddy that I wanted to do the fin-pivot to get an idea of my buoyancy so he patiently waited while I sorted it out. Then we headed down the rope towards the first boat. Of course all the while we are communicating air supply back and forth.
Once we reached the bow of the first boat we checked air again. 1900psi for me. 2500 for him. Oh well, the plan is the plan so we touch the bow of the boat and turn around and head back the way we came. Upon reaching the platforms we stop to check air. 1500 psi. I guess we did better on the way back than the way down. Also my nerves form all the horror stories I have read are gone. For some reason I had this image of my uncontrolled ascent to the surface prior to diving and I couldn't shake it. Now that I was in the water I could easily understand my buoyancy. I'm not saying my technique is great, but it wasn't scary easy. Since we had all this air and we were back at the platforms we both just got our selves buoyant about 8-10 inches from the platforms and practiced frog kicks up and down the platforms and beside them. This was great to really get a feel for breathing in and out to control buoyancy. At 800 psi I signaled to the buddy and we headed up the rope for our safety stop. I watched my computer carefully and once I reached about 18ft I worked on my buoyancy again to try and hover next to the rope without holding it. I was able to manage this within about 2 ft for the 3mins then we surfaced. 24mins total.
Dive 2: The helicopter.
We both really wanted to see the helicopter. At first we made a plan to descend to the platforms, follow the rope to the school bus, then I would take a compass heading from the nose of the school bus and my buddy would monitor our depth and we would swim underwater to the helicopter. Swim around it until 1900psi and then head back the way we came.
Once we walked to the edge and after my first dive we decided that if we really want to see the helicopter we better start there so we reversed the plan.
We did a long slow surface swim out to the floats that hold up the helicopter. Once we arrived on the surface we stopped for a couple of minutes to catch our breath. After catching breath and getting settled we descended on the cables holding up the helicopter. This made descent much easier and took little effort so we didn't use a lot of air. Once we reached the helicopter I adjusted my buoyancy so I floated just beside it and we took a trip around it poking our heads in the door ways but never going in. Once we swam all the way around it and were back tot he nose I took a compass reading to the school bus (there is no line here) My buddy monitored our depth for a steady 45' which should take us right to the bus and we started swimming. I with the compass and him with the depth gauge. After a bit longer swim than I expected we came across an unmarked boat on the bottom and not the school bus. Fortunately I have a detailed map of the underwater attractions in my bcd pocket in a waterproof bag. I pull it out and we figure out that we are just to the left of the bus and the line above our heads should take us right there. We go up to the line and follow it to the bus. The bus was probably 15ft from us but we couldn't see it due to the visibility. We did a circle around the bus, checked air 1900psi and headed for the platforms following the lines. Once we reached the platforms I was at about 1200 so we did the same as before. Swimming just above or directly beside the platform fine tuning buoyancy. at 800psi we headed up a line to the safety stop and then surface.
All in all it was a great day. Too bad the dives were short but that will improve in time. The jitters are gone and I figured out some things about my gear that I liked and some things I didn't like so it was a good shake down dive. Next month I'll be in the warm waters of the carribean.
