How long to master buoyancy?

[MXGratefulDiver]

I have had a number of students in shorty wet suits, of both genders, who could not have made it through the first pool session with just 16 lbs of weight.

Every instructor who chronically overweights their students could make the same claim. All that demonstrates is that you felt a need to anchor your students to the bottom ... it in no way implies that it's necessary ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[merxlin]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

There are numerous teaching styles and philosophies, and that there might not be one "right answer" to this issue. Lets remember to keep it friendly and flame free while discussing those differences.

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[TexasKaren68]

my my children, play nice

To answer a few questions and clear up a few things.

I learned today that the pool was actually salt water, not fresh. When you're sucking down chlorinated water, it's hard to tell

I'm not going to give my exact height, but will say that in street clothes I wear a size 10. Giving my weight was probably too much info, being a woman :shocked2:

I already have the Scuba Diver certification. For my first two OW dives in Cozumel I was wearing 18 pounds in order to kneel on the bottom for the skills. I dropped two pounds for this class so I guess that's somewhat of an improvement I had no problem swimming around just above the bottom in Coz and only hit bottom (and a sea urchin) when my buddy got too close.

My OW dives this coming weekend will be in a river (drift diving). I won't have any time before then to hit the pool although I plan to spend some time in the pool the following Saturday to practice buoyancy. My plan is to get in the pool with my gear and experiment with different weights and see what it takes to get me to "float at eye level". Once that's sorted out I'm going to see if I can hover a foot above the bottom for a while - that will probably take some practice.

I'm going to take the AOW peak buoyancy course in April (probably in Kauai).

My back is killing me today :depressed: I hate being out of the water with all the gear on - it's so freakin' heavy. I guess that's a whine for another thread

 

[fnfalman]

I'm not going to give my exact height, but will say that in street clothes I wear a size 10. Giving my weight was probably too much info, being a woman :shocked2:

Height and weight only gives us somewhat of a picture. It doesn't tell us your exact fat-to-muscle ratio and other things that may affect weighting. In reality, weight is what it is. It's based on your body built and your gear. When you change gears around (as in renting different gears from different shops), your weight also change.

I had no problem swimming around just above the bottom in Coz and only hit bottom (and a sea urchin) when my buddy got too close.

You float when you swim because of hydrodynamic lift. Rather like airplanes fly when they speed forward fast enough. Most newbies AND old timers who had never learned the finer points of weighting and buoyancy like to swim a lot because that's how they stay afloat. Or they scull with their hands (making wing flapping motions with the arms) to hover.

My OW dives this coming weekend will be in a river (drift diving). I won't have any time before then to hit the pool although I plan to spend some time in the pool the following Saturday to practice buoyancy. My plan is to get in the pool with my gear and experiment with different weights and see what it takes to get me to "float at eye level". Once that's sorted out I'm going to see if I can hover a foot above the bottom for a while - that will probably take some practice.

Cross your ankles so that you don't automatically kick and keep yourself on the surface. Make sure to dump all air out of your BC.

I'm going to take the AOW peak buoyancy course in April (probably in Kauai).

Hook up with a good local mentor and save yourself the money.

My back is killing me today :depressed: I hate being out of the water with all the gear on - it's so freakin' heavy. I guess that's a whine for another thread

It comes with the territory. It's not as bad for me as three years ago, but my back still sore after three or four dives in a day.

 

[TexasKaren68]

Hook up with a good local mentor and save yourself the money.

The full AOW course in Kauai costs $50 less than the OW course at my LDS, and I get to dive in Kauai

I want to get the AOW cert anyway. If I'm going to continue to take classes, might as well have something to show for it.

Maybe after I've taken a few local trips with other divers in my area I'll meet people who could be a mentor, but right now I don't know anyone (divers) here so taking classes is my only option.

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

The full AOW course in Kauai costs $50 less than the OW course at my LDS, and I get to dive in Kauai

I want to get the AOW cert anyway. If I'm going to continue to take classes, might as well have something to show for it.

Maybe after I've taken a few local trips with other divers in my area I'll meet people who could be a mentor, but right now I don't know anyone (divers) here so taking classes is my only option.

Dive trips are a great way to make friends with more experienced divers. I don't know where you live in Texas, but if you haven't already checked, I'm sure there's a scuba meetup near you (see Scuba Diving Meetups around the world - Meetup to plug in your city) where you can meet other divers; get together for local dives to keep in practice; talk about diving; and (of course) plan trips together. I had a blast with my Meetup group back home in NYC...you might find some good like-minded folks in your neighborhood.

 

[TexasKaren68]

Dive trips are a great way to make friends with more experienced divers. I don't know where you live in Texas, but if you haven't already checked, I'm sure there's a scuba meetup near you (see Scuba Diving Meetups around the world - Meetup to plug in your city) where you can meet other divers; get together for local dives to keep in practice; talk about diving; and (of course) plan trips together. I had a blast with my Meetup group back home in NYC...you might find some good like-minded folks in your neighborhood.

Dang, I was thinking what a good idea that was but there are no scuba meetups near me. I think there may be other local dive groups though, I just need to find out by asking when I go diving. I'm sure there will be more people at the river than just me and my instructor.

By the way, love your avatar.

edit: OK, there isn't a scuba meetup in San Antonio, but there is one in Austin. It's a bit far to go for midweek socials, but for a dive trip it would be worth it, maybe.

 

[cocoajoe]

The full AOW course in Kauai costs $50 less than the OW course at my LDS, and I get to dive in Kauai

I want to get the AOW cert anyway. If I'm going to continue to take classes, might as well have something to show for it.

Maybe after I've taken a few local trips with other divers in my area I'll meet people who could be a mentor, but right now I don't know anyone (divers) here so taking classes is my only option.

Not a bad deal. Do you know how many in class? If it's just a handful, you could benefit from it. Still, going price here in Fla. is $50 for a DM for a 2 or 3 tank dive. And the DM would work with you one on one. It was just what I needed at the time.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Here's a little article you might find useful...

Rick

 

[fjpatrum]

Speaking as a newb and only having read the first 15 or so comments, my guess is you were overweighted but there's not enough information in your first post to know that 100% sure.

If you're 6'1 and 160 you were hugely overweighted. If you're 4'1 and 160 you might have had just the right amount of weight. That's the problem with people giving a weight and then asking if they are overweighted... it's just not enough information.

All that said, I suspect you fall into neither extreme of size and are thereby overweighted by some amount. Being overweighted, as many more experienced folks have said, makes it much more difficult to control your buoyancy. I will disagree with the folks who say it's acceptable to overweight students because they aren't "comfortable" in the water being neutral. The only way to gain that comfort is by being neutral so the sooner you get your weighting correct the better off you will be.

I would suggest cutting your weight in half and then seeing how well that works out. I suspect that's a lot closer to your proper weight and it's easier to start tweaking one or two pounds at that point. I like Danvolker's idea of doing it with just your exposure and a mask and breath control.

Once you get it a bit closer you'll find it's much easier to do fin pivots and just horizontal hovers, though you may not get it immediately. I keep practicing and I'm relatively new but I will tell you practice makes for quick improvement. I've seen a difference from one dive to the next, even just by practicing for an hour in a pool.