leam
Contributor
Me, of course, being the newbie...
Yucky water, silted, and a thousand rednecks throwing bottles into our corner of the lake. We had two manikins, one child and one infant. The Team Coordinator quit calling them "dummies" because the rest of us kept answering.
My first dive was good, though it took way to long to deploy the buddy-line and pelican. More practice needed. Though I know it was only a child doll I took a moment to look at it as if it was real. One eye was part open and the neck was tied to a brake drum. Probably not the same as real but hopefully the view will get me a little more prepared for a mission.
Since I found the doll before my first lap the TC sent me back down to get more line practice. I can see where I'm putting more pressure on the rope than I should because I'm struggling with half-diving half-crawling on the bottom. More practice needed.
My second dive came after we thought were were packing up for the day. The TC wanted to retrieve his dolls. Though most of the men on the team keep better track of their women we decided to help. A new diver that had never used the AGA went in and I was safety. They called the dive so I went down in my own gear to look for the dolls. (Note to self--take gloves, even as safety diver) So I'm cruising back one forth on the line. Better buoyancy this time but still fighting it as the air in my dry suit that was fine on the 20ffw end of the line kept trying to pull me up on the 10ffw side.
Found the doll again. Knowing exactly where my air level was, real low, I reflected. Personal gear, not the team setup. That means no commo, no pony, and I had given my buddy line and pelican to the first diver. Since our deepest was just over 20ffw I decided to keep going until I had a problem or ran out of air. Kinda clump drug the brake drum to the end buoy so I'd not loose it and went back and forth a few more times.
The only real scary part was at the very end when my tank was getting hard to breathe and I was getting tangled up in the buoy line. Need to work on tying off those things better. When I came up and walked the few feet to shore I almost couldn't make it. Didn't realize how exhausted I was. My usual dive buddy told me they had started to get worried as I was down there for a while.
They just let me become one of two Asst Training Officers. Not sure if I'm setting a good example. :11doh:
ciao!
leam
Yucky water, silted, and a thousand rednecks throwing bottles into our corner of the lake. We had two manikins, one child and one infant. The Team Coordinator quit calling them "dummies" because the rest of us kept answering.
My first dive was good, though it took way to long to deploy the buddy-line and pelican. More practice needed. Though I know it was only a child doll I took a moment to look at it as if it was real. One eye was part open and the neck was tied to a brake drum. Probably not the same as real but hopefully the view will get me a little more prepared for a mission.
Since I found the doll before my first lap the TC sent me back down to get more line practice. I can see where I'm putting more pressure on the rope than I should because I'm struggling with half-diving half-crawling on the bottom. More practice needed.
My second dive came after we thought were were packing up for the day. The TC wanted to retrieve his dolls. Though most of the men on the team keep better track of their women we decided to help.
A new diver that had never used the AGA went in and I was safety. They called the dive so I went down in my own gear to look for the dolls. (Note to self--take gloves, even as safety diver) So I'm cruising back one forth on the line. Better buoyancy this time but still fighting it as the air in my dry suit that was fine on the 20ffw end of the line kept trying to pull me up on the 10ffw side. Found the doll again. Knowing exactly where my air level was, real low, I reflected. Personal gear, not the team setup. That means no commo, no pony, and I had given my buddy line and pelican to the first diver. Since our deepest was just over 20ffw I decided to keep going until I had a problem or ran out of air. Kinda clump drug the brake drum to the end buoy so I'd not loose it and went back and forth a few more times.
The only real scary part was at the very end when my tank was getting hard to breathe and I was getting tangled up in the buoy line. Need to work on tying off those things better. When I came up and walked the few feet to shore I almost couldn't make it. Didn't realize how exhausted I was. My usual dive buddy told me they had started to get worried as I was down there for a while.
They just let me become one of two Asst Training Officers. Not sure if I'm setting a good example. :11doh:
ciao!
leam
