"Gettin' Schooled" (long)

[LeFlaneur]

. Don't give up on quarry diving. Besides, you are only a couple hours from Ocean City.

Great. Just what I need, throw a current into the mix.

Windminstrel, I think the gist is, if you can do it in cold and murky you can do it in clear and warm, but not necessarily the reverse.

 

[sndt1319]

I feel your pain. My check out dives were in about 8ft to 10ft viz. The Instructor said it was the worst conditions he had seen for a check out dive and that it would be a better Idea to stay on shore and get drunk because we would have a better time than going into the water. I personally have only done about 20 dives and I have yet to see viz over 20ft. When I took advanced it was snowing on me when I was finning out to the buey on the surface. Underwater my dive buddy and me stay together like we are attatched or something. I also go through air really fast. On the deep dive for AOW I ended up breathing off the instructors air as we traveled up the contour. We didn't just asend like some have suggested but we were at 90ft when I started breathing off his air. When we got to about 30ft I started using my air for the rest of the asent. So far I haven't seen any great things underwater but I still enjoy it because of how peaceful everything is. I look forward to my first boat dive, a dive in warm water, in good viz, and the day I am not the first one to be out of air (This might take a while as I am a nervous person and I breath very fast out of the water when I exercise). The only bad thing is if I ever get a Dive buddy who hasn't dove in crappy conditions they won't understand why I keep bumping into them :10:

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Great. Just what I need, throw a current into the mix.

Windminstrel, I think the gist is, if you can do it in cold and murky you can do it in clear and warm, but not necessarily the reverse.

Wise divers don't "dive" in quarries. They "train" there.

You seldom see people 'practicing' in most popular vacation dive destinations, they're simply experiencing the dives. (And often poorly, but lets not go there.)

You've got the picture - what you need is more quarry diving, not less. But structured diving - working on specific objectives such as bouyancy, communications, navigation, bouyancy, gas management and dive planning, out of air drills, bouyancy, mask removal and replacement, ascending and descending as a team, bouyancy, and so on. Individual skills and team skills. Many divers don't work on such things on a consistent basis, but good divers do. And the quarry is a good training area in terms of being cold, dark, low vis, and psychologically challenging (as well as being reasonably convenient in terms of logistics). Then you find that you are, indeed, ready to begin doing the offshore wrecks and start building skills in an even more dynamic and challenging environment. But it sure beats heading out there and discovering that you're not ready for it some 17 miles offshore (or further).

Before you look for more classes, simply become more familiar with both the quarries and what you need to train there. Then just dive them as frequently as your schedule will allow. The classes offer structured learning, but if you structure your own training sessions you'll often get just as much out of them when working with an equally focused and committed buddy or a team.

FWIW. YMMV.

Doc

 

[CelticRavenVA]

With 700 PSI remaining, I could certainly understand remaining within arms reach of the DM, buy why share air off his OCTO at this early stage, you are not out of air? I have seen and heard of this being done before. Could someone enlighten me as to the advantages?

Thanks for sharing your story.

Hey there Pasley,

I had a DM once go though with me why they do this with there dive op. Basicly if someone is low they don't want them to bleed their tank dry. If they do, they need to take it and re-inspect it etc.... Make sure no water backed into the tank blah blah blah.... Made sense, one of my dive buddies was at 400 at our safety stop, (plenty for her to finish) and they shared air till we were ready to board the boat.

 

[cornfed]

Wise divers don't "dive" in quarries. They "train" there.

For some strange reason I find myself agreeing with Doc. I've heard people argue "the quarry is cold, dark and scary... if you can dive there you can dive anywere", but that's just a load of hogwash. It's not where you're diving but how you're diving that matters. I go to Millbrook pretty regularly but the people I go with know they'd better have a good reason to suggest going somewhere other than one of the platforms.

 

[pasley]

...Basicly if someone is low they don't want them to bleed their tank dry. If they do, they need to take it and re-inspect it etc.... Make sure no water backed into the tank blah blah blah.... ...

Thanks Celtic RavenVA. That makes some sense, although I would wait to share air until around 200-300 PSI. Sharing Air early seems to me to be a good way for the donating diver to run low real quick. I know some people get nervous when their air gets low and like to share. My daughter, at 100 FSW ran low (700 PSI) and wanted to share at that point. I let her as she was obviously concerned about it.

 

[MikeC]

I hear you folks talking about "cold water diving" as a significantly different style of diving. I'm in New England, and my checkout dive was 54 degrees on the surface (only 6 dives ago). How is cold water diving different than warm water? Will I be at a loss when I dive in warm water, now that "cold" water is comfortable to me? Or is starting out in cold water a benefit for when I dive warm?

What is different is that when you get into 83 degree water you will have a lighter/thinner wetsuit on. That means less constriction, easier movement. If you wear gloves, they will be thinner as well, again easier to use your fingers. Less neoprene means less lead on your belt. Most vacation dive sites also have better vis than a muddy river or quarry. Warmer water temps means that you should burn less gas since the body isn't trying to warm itself as much.

All of these little things can make a big difference. If you are comfortable and skilled in the cold dark quarry you should be very comfortable in the lovely Caribbean.

 

[Upwelling]

laflaneur,

I wouldn't be too hard on yourself, it sounds like some of the things that happened weren't even your fault anyway. I did poorly in the quarry the first time as well but if you stikc with it you will get used to it.

 

[CelticRavenVA]

Thanks Celtic RavenVA. That makes some sense, although I would wait to share air until around 200-300 PSI. Sharing Air early seems to me to be a good way for the donating diver to run low real quick.

Agreed....

 

[RICHinNC]

I may have some bad news for ya. Lake Rawlings is an old quarry too. And by noon after all the silt kneelers, octo draggin, bottom crashers come along...the vis isnt that great. And talk about thermals....get ready to be cold. All in all its your typical quarry and can be very crowded.
But the fish are very friendly.