Buoancy control for newbies

[wreckchick]

Hubby and I both completed our OW certification dives this past weekend at a quarry in Indiana and today I dropped off our rental gear back at the LDS. I was complaining to the owner that I was disappointed at my buoancy control and he thought I was being hard on myself.

So here's the question . . .

As a newbie, how much variance should I expect to be able to maintain from a planned depth?

For reference, we were supposed to be at about 15'. For the first couple of "tours" this meant, for me, somewhere between 10' and 20' and for the next couple more like 12' and 17'. I only had one uncontrollable ascent and that didn't really take hold until I had drifted up to 9' at the end of a dive and couldn't dump air in time to get back down. I also added weight after that dive and there were no more incidents.

I am I being picky to think I should be able to maintain 15' at this stage in my diving career?

Thank you for all input and advice!

Rachel

 

[tchil01]

Rachel

When I got my OW, our last dive at the Dutch Springs Quarry was the helicopter. My buddy and I both like a couple of yo-yo's except that when he was up, I was down. We probabily had a swing of 10 feet or so at an average of 50 feet and only had enough air to make one lap around before we had to go up.

A couple of weeks later we took our AOW and dove the helicopter again as our final dive of the weekend. This time we were getting close to netural and swam over, around through and back around the helicopter before we had to assend.

So, I guess with all of that, give yourself a break. It sounds like you did great... and when you get netrual it is an incredible feeling... but it just takes a little time... and practice.

Ty

 

[herman]

Hi Rachel,

First, welcome to the board and congrads on OW.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Lots of wetsuit+ shallow dive + being new adds up to about as hard a condition there is to control bouyancy. With all the contracting and expanding of the neoprene and the air you have got to have in your BC at 10 to 20 feet it's difficult to get it correct. Keep up the practice and do good bouyancy checks to get your weighting optimal and you will get better. And have comfort in knowing that if you can dive in those conditions, you can dive anywhere.

 

[Wendy]

I think that plus or minue 5' on where you want at your level isn't too bad. I know folks that have been diving for awhile that aren't that good yet. Don't be so hard on yourself, unless your last name is Cousteau.

 

[jbd]

Congrats to you and the hubby on the OWC's. I agree with the ohters that you are doing pretty well at this stage of the game. What I find impressive is that you were aware of the situation and tht you would like to get better. Things will get better with frequent diving. Also you may back slide a bit which is normal when working on mastering any skill. Kind of a 2 steps forward and 1 step backwards every once in awhile. Just keep trying and as you get better tighten the range a bit.

Good luck!

 

[Espinosa]

my instuctor spent alot of time on boyancy control and how much your breathing controls it. i found that in the pool i had very little problem with it after a bit, but once in the open water it was an issue with me again.

i think it was a combination of the nervousness of being in open water and the fact that the water was pretty cold and had me breathing heavy from the start due to the shock to the body when i first entered the water.

after my second dive in open water it came much easier. i still have alot of work to do for sure but i felt more comfortable.

 

[Welshman]

Biscuit7

Sounds to me like you're doing OK.

I did the Peak Performance Buoyancy module as part of my PADI AOW and found it very useful. My diving improved no end.

Keep it up.

regards

 

[dkerr]

Boyancy is just one of those skills that is one of the first things you are taught, and one of the hardest to master. I thought I had pretty good boyancy control until I bought my computer and was able to view my profile of the dive. Much to my dismay I was all over the place! Good humility lesson though, and I can look at the progression of dives and now see the depth start to stay more constant. Just keep working it. Knowing and admitting you need help with it is the biggest hinderance people face when analyzing themselves.
Good Luck!

 

[TexasMike]

The others before me have some good words on being new and bouyancy control. And your experience pretty well describes me during my first 10-15 dives as I was learning to gain control over it, especially at shallower depths.

And now I'm adding to my task loading by using a drysuit (adds air spaces) and doubled steel cylinders. So I'm "re-living" my open water student days with these new setups.

Like Herman said, the best way to master it is to keep diving. Also make sure to enter into your log book details such as what type of cylinder, wetsuit, environmental conditions (fresh/salt, warm/cold), and weight usage so that as you begin to figure out what works for which combination of details, you can refer back to your log the next time you dive those conditions.

I wish you the best of luck! And keep us informed of your progress. We love hearing how new folks are progressing.

 

[wreckchick]

Thanks for all the warm words. I do feel much better about how I did with my buoyancy (and I learned to spell ). I'm hoping to take the peak buoyancy class soon, but an upcoming trip might not leave me enough time.

I'll be in Belize for 5 weeks (1 diving) and hope to get in about 15-20 dives while I'm there, for practice you understand.

Thanks again everyone!

Rachel