Bad OW experience (Warning: Really long post!)

[WreckWriter]

Originally posted by ScubaFishee

Thanks everyone for being so supportive. Your encouragement has helped and I'm ready to get back in the water. This weekend, the DMs at LDS-2 wants to make sure all my equiment fits right and is properly adjusted over my wetsuit. Then, the instructor (a different one!) will work with me in the pool to get the proper weighting. I'll have the chance to get used to all the new gear and get my confidence back.

I'll be back at the Quarry for OW with this instructor later this month. I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks again all!

Best of luck to you! Be very careful that you get the weight properly adjusted as this was, in my opinion, a big part of your original discomfort. When they do the buoyancy check on you, relax as much as possible, be sure your BC is truly empty (drop your right shoulder as you deflate to make the hose the highest point), and cross your ankles to be certain no fin movement keeps you up.

You'll do fine. Relax and have fun!

Tom

 

[ScubaFishee]

Originally posted by WreckWriter


Best of luck to you! Be very careful that you get the weight properly adjusted as this was, in my opinion, a big part of your original discomfort. When they do the buoyancy check on you, relax as much as possible, be sure your BC is truly empty (drop your right shoulder as you deflate to make the hose the highest point), and cross your ankles to be certain no fin movement keeps you up.

You'll do fine. Relax and have fun!

Tom

Wow, I never really thought about the fin movement before!

I believe my "bad experience" is turning out to be my biggest learning experience of all! Strange how things work out sometimes.

Thanks Tom. I'll remember *all* of your advice.

 

[neil]

ScubaFishee,
I think you have done very well for yourself. You recognized you had a problem, you aborted the dive, you questioned what was probably bad advice, and you followed up.
On the subject of snorkels: you should be comfortable on the surface without one. Learn to swim on your back without using it. Many divers don't use one at all. I bet Uncle Pug hasn't owned one in years. Good luck to you, and have fun!

Neil

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by neil
I bet Uncle Pug hasn't owned one in years.

I've got one on each boat and a bunch more live in the shop, garage and attic.

 

[tinman]

You showed true grit scrubbing the dive. That won't be the last time you have to make a decision that concerns your and your buddy's safety - it won't always be popular but it will always be right! Safety first...the fun will come.

OW cert dives should have extra time put aside for delays that are common to anyone getting comfortable with numerous equipment aspects and procedures to follow. Just watch new golfers and you'll get the idea of how much patience "the pros" should be adopting.

That said, it sounds like you made some gear choices that contributed to your distress: a back inflation BC is a tricky beast to get comfortable with right out the gate coupled with an equipment failure and overweighting and you had several stressers that would have put most men or women off the sport entirely. Well done. Stick with it. The fun stuff is ahead. You're a bright gal - 100%! - just be sure you weight the information carefully that you get from your buddies and instructors when it comes to equipment choices and dive locations and types of diving you do. Stay in YOUR comfort zone - this is not a sport for the timid. Speak up as you did - if you don't like the answer, find new teachers, find new buddies, find new dive clubs....

 

[deignor]

You have shown real grace responding to some of these posts- I commend you! Not all instructors are "real "teachers and many show little patience for the student with questions, problems, etc.
It sounds like LDS2 is really working with you. You are lucky. I am a newbee with a C card I got in May. I have done some quarry dives, etc but I sure have a lot to learn.
Get as much pool time as you can with your gear. Get extra lessons if you can. Practice as much as you can. Weighting is hard - I was not weighted properly for my OW dives- I felt like I was tipping backwards all the time. I have "floaty feet" so some light ankle weights worked for me. I think I ended up with 32 to 34 pounds on. We had a schedule, so we kept adding weight instead of ID'ing some of my problems. Now, I have been able to drop a lot of the weight. Can you believe you really can control buoyancy with your breathing? I learned that slowly.
Keep us posted on developments. Take it slow. This board has a lot of people that are supportive and we are all learning, even the "so-called professed experts".

 

[DivePartner1]

Inspirational tale of a committment to diving. Everyone overcomes challenges, but this is intrepid.

RE: Wreckwriter's comment:

"I don't believe you on this. no shop could remain in business with this policy. They might discourage it yes, but officially disallow it, I doubt it."

The shop I did my OW with had the same policy: buy or rent here or you can't use it. They claimed this was driven by insurance. A the OW dives, the class shared tales of the owner of the store berating each of us when we picked up the rentals.

Maybe they're not in business? I don't know. I haven't seen them since.

 

[art.chick]

Yes, it is the sad truth that just because someone can dive, does not mean that they have an damn manners. I am forever overhearing so less than gracious criticisms of others by divers who have ability & a right to their opinion, but they don't have the social graces to understand that others don't need to know the details behind their rivalries & contempt.

Unfortunately, some choose to unite behind the detractors. Voting with one's feet may not teach them a lesson, but it sure gets us out of their negative energy.

 

[scubby]

Let me just relay a quick story that relates to yours...somewhat.

The day of my open water cert in the ocean, we were told by our instructor to suit up, get into the water and wait on the towline behind the boat while he took the first group down. There were three of us that were waiting for the instructor snorkeling on the surface of the towline. For whatever reason, the person behind me (who had on a Scubpro Classic, weight integrated BC), started to argue with herself about how her weights weren’t properly secured. Now I know that we all checked each other and ourselves before we plunged into the water, so I wasn’t quite sure what was going on. As I turned around, I could see her fiddling with her weights with her snorkel in her mouth becoming quite frustrated. This was where the situation turned for the worst. It seems that her weights became unlatched in the BC while she was floating on the surface (not quite sure how) and it appeared that her frustration was quickly becoming panicked. For what ever reason she spit out the mouthpiece of her snorkel while fidgeting with the weights, which opened the advantage of seawater intake. It was a short moment later that she did manage to swallow some seawater that sent her into a coughing spree. As this occurred the student diver behind her (I'll call T) and I came to her aid as we noticed the change in the situation. As T reached her, she became quite belligerent and said to stay away. It was quite obvious that she was having not only equipment problem but was accelerating herself into a full-blown panic. T (who now is my diving buddy) swam up to her first, took her by the BC and with a stern voice said, "Let me help you," as she was saying to stay away from her. T then firmly grasped her BC moved closer to her face and said, “Let me help you, relax, and calm down.” It seemed after few more convincing statements that she allowed him to help, which fortunately calmed her down enough to finish the rest of the dive.

The funny thing about this story is that when we completed the dive, we were joking about the mishap on the boat, and I made a side comment on how she was panicking over the situation...and she said that she never did...

Food for thought…

 

[scubagatorgal]

A question regarding your first open water dive plan.

As I understand it your instructor left a group of 3 on the surface while he took another group to the bottom?

Was he the only instructor/divemaster? How many were in the first group? Was the instructor going to leave them and come back up and escort the three of you down? Why did he split the group in the first place? Where was the girls "buddy"?

Personally, knowing the anxiety a first open water dive brings I think leaving brand new divers bobbing on the surface is an extremely poor plan and stressful for the newbies. I personally HATE bobbing on the surface...get in, go down, come up, get out...a cork I am not and large groups and surface meetings annoy me to no end.

Not to be critical...it is never a good idea when reviewing mistakes by fellow divers to make them feel bad by accusing them of panic. The positive and thoughtful way to have to have handled it was to have asked what could have been done to prevent the situation and if everyone acted properly. Always try to COMMEND someone for the things they did right and ask them what THEY THINK could have been done differently. If you do that they will relax and review it more realistically being confident that you are not going to ridicule them.