I did It!!

[nelia1978]

Hello Guys,

I finally got certified this past weekend.

Day 1

I got certified in a city called Prescott Ontario, in the St. Laurence river.
First day the water conditions were really bad, lots waves, current on the surface. When I finally got in, I was nervous because of the water conditions and also because was the first open water. There was a lot of other scuba schools there as well. When we finally got down, it was better until there was zero visibility. We were warned that this would happen, and if it did just to stay put cause they (the instructors) would be coming looking for us. At one point i was near the instructor and he had lost everyone else. He told me to stay put and so i did. He actually went to look for the others and he brought them back to where I was. Visibility at this point was just about zero and all 3 of us were together while instructor went looking for the last one. When he found the last one, we headed out to a clearer part in the water and we swam around for a little to get comfortable. We then went up, do some surface skills.. After those surface skills were done, we went back down for the 2nd dive of the day. All was good for day 1 but i did go through air like it was running out of style. I had to switch my tank and the others no. The one thing that REALLY was freaking me out was the gloves I had on. I had on 7mm gloves, and it was way tooooo thick for my liking, and it was freaking me out because I had almost no mobility in my hands. I could not even inflate my BCD with 1 hand, I had to use 2. I was telling them I am not comfortable with the gloves and they were telling me it was ok and i was like NO its NOT ok but i did my dives and that was that. I went back to the campground and crashed in my tent

Day 2

I got to the dive site in the morning and was REALLY happy to see the river really calm. Since I was the 1st group to go in the water on Saturday, I was the 2nd group to go in on Sunday. I was talking to the DM in training that the gloves were stressing me out even more so today because i knew I would have to put the equipment on in the water and i knew that would be impossible for me with the 7mm. She lent me her 1mm or skin gloves. I nearly hugged her for how happy i was lol. Ok I understand that thick is better with 10c water temp but hey. The issue I had on the 2nd day was that I was always bending forward, and later this was explained to me as having too much weight in my pockets. The trim was really good though lol. I did all the skills, the one that i had a mini second panic was removing the mask completely. I kinda forgot to breath for a few seconds, then i told myself to breath and after i took my breath i was good. I did my skill and was good to go. After all was done, I was finally certified, and my hands were not cold at all in those gloves in 10c water. I now know what gloves not to buy..

Well, that is my story.. Now, end of the month I am off to Florida to do some more diving... woo hoo...

Thanks for reading..

Cheers..

 

[Rhone Man]

Many congrats - and welcome to a whole new world (cue music from Aladdin).

 

[KY_BOB]

Congrats! If you can dive in those conditions, you should be able to dive anywhere!

 

[nelia1978]

Congrats! If you can dive in those conditions, you should be able to dive anywhere!

Its what the instructors were saying... I was not nervous at all about poor visibility, some of the students kinda panicked and went up when they could not see anyone..

 

[ScubaSteve]

Welcome to both :sblogo: and to the wonderful world of diving. You are now part of something that cannot even be imagined if not lived. Your adventure is only beginning so dive often, dive always within your training and comfort and realize that you (along with any other diver) have the right to call a dive any time for any reason no matter what.

 

[tk trekers]

Congrats & welcome to ScubaBoard! I just recently got certified and I have the same problem with using air much faster than everyone. I've gotten better as I get some more dives under my belt but I still use 2 tanks to my wife's one. She mentioned to me that I was swimming so fast that she could hardly keep up with me so I think that may be part of my problem and I'll have to make a conscious effort to swim slower and relax even more. The more you dive the more comfortable you'll get and you'll see you'll be using less air.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Congrats & welcome to ScubaBoard! I just recently got certified and I have the same problem with using air much faster than everyone. I've gotten better as I get some more dives under my belt but I still use 2 tanks to my wife's one. She mentioned to me that I was swimming so fast that she could hardly keep up with me so I think that may be part of my problem and I'll have to make a conscious effort to swim slower and relax even more. The more you dive the more comfortable you'll get and you'll see you'll be using less air.

First of all, you will likely never catch up to her level of air consumption so do not even try. Air consumption just improves with diving experience. There are things that can and should be done but it does get better. I am living proof.

Here are a couple of simple things to do that can help reduce your SAC:

1. Dive often - better comfort and buoyancy translate into better air consumption
2. SLOW DOWN - this has been pointed out and is definitely a HUGE factor for many new divers. Slow down and look at what is right in front of you.
3. Ask your wife to look at your trim. If you are "swimming" horizontal that you are good but if you are angled at all you are trying to push your mass through the water and thus having to work harder.
4. Weight - Over time you will naturally require less weight "on your belt or integrated" to safely dive, but each time you descend, pay attention to how quickly you drop and how much air you need in your BC at the end of the dive to remain neutral. Check this often (each dive) and work at removing weight. Again, every pound you carry is a pound that you have to kick through the water.

 

[nelia1978]

On my 2nd day, I only used up 1 tank. I figured I blew through 2 tanks on the first day because the water was bad and had to use regulator on the surface at some points. 2nd day I started with 3000 psi and after 2nd dive of the day finished with 400psi.

 

[tstormdiver]

Congrats! After that, diving in the nice warm & clear tropics will be a breeze!

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

First of all, you will likely never catch up to her level of air consumption so do not even try. Air consumption just improves with diving experience. There are things that can and should be done but it does get better. I am living proof.

Here are a couple of simple things to do that can help reduce your SAC:

1. Dive often - better comfort and buoyancy translate into better air consumption
2. SLOW DOWN - this has been pointed out and is definitely a HUGE factor for many new divers. Slow down and look at what is right in front of you.
3. Ask your wife to look at your trim. If you are "swimming" horizontal that you are good but if you are angled at all you are trying to push your mass through the water and thus having to work harder.
4. Weight - Over time you will naturally require less weight "on your belt or integrated" to safely dive, but each time you descend, pay attention to how quickly you drop and how much air you need in your BC at the end of the dive to remain neutral. Check this often (each dive) and work at removing weight. Again, every pound you carry is a pound that you have to kick through the water.

Good tips, one more longer term way to really reduce air consumption is if you're overweight, lose the extra pounds. This should help on a number of levels, including your #4 (you get a double benefit: you're own weight is less to start with and you also require less lead) and the fact that if you're in better shape you generally don't need to breathe as hard during physical activity, possibly other reasons (I'm not a doctor).

This is personally the #1 thing I'm trying to do to reduce air consumption.

One question though, in general how to you fix trim problems? Redistributing weight or what?