[Multi] Task [Over] Loading -- How Do You Do It?

[boat sju]

You're probably gaining more experience doing what you're doing than you realize. One thing no one may have expressly told you is to keep your flag tight. Keeps you from getting tangled in it and it helps with buoyancy in bad vis.

Is there a drop-off in the lake that you can follow? That can be more fun - where you'll find the fish and stuff. Bottoms of Midwest lakes can be pretty boring out in the middle.

 

[Ryan Neely]

Why don't you stay close to your entry point for one or two entire tanks, just working on your buoyancy and trim? Get back out, readjust some weights, get back in, assess trim, all the while try making good buoyancy a subconscious habit.

Then when you venture out again, your focus on navigation will not have to be split as much.

You may benefit from not trying to do so many things at one time. It may seem like a waste of time to circle around in one area, but it is a luxury to be able to do it (vs many new divers who need to follow DMs around and can't work on their refinements in peace).

Thanks @Divectionist. It's strange how little things like these seem so simple in hindsight but, in the moment, they just don't come to you. I'm not entirely certain why we had decided that we needed to "go out" to where the lake gets to twenty feet. We could certainly do most of the buoyancy skills in ten or fifteen feet of water and be close enough to something that would allow us to tie off the flag. I will put this in my repertoire for the next dive.

First, big kudos to both of you for perseverance in colder waters, poor viz and everything else that is making your diving more difficult.

Thanks @TerryC. I appreciate it. I honestly don't mind the low visibility and the cold water. That's part of the adventure and, while others have noted that Midwest lakes aren't the most exciting as far as lake bottoms go, I can already tell you we're having a great time finding "treasures" lost in the muck. I've already rescued a practically new fishing rod and reel, a handful of golf balls, and set of car keys. There's always something to see or do in any water, right?

I know you didn't ask, but I always mention that it helps to go through the motions of the skills you were taught in the pool

@TMHeimer, are you doing all of this on your sofa with your gear on? Regulator, BC (or BP/W), cylinder? This idea intrigues me, but it seems that (to do it properly) you'd want to have as much of a simulation out of the water as you would have in. Right?

How deep is your lake and how quickly does it get to that depth?

We run a family vacation resort. The resort is situated on the north side of a particularly long lake, which is bisected by a highway. Our side of the lake has a maximum depth of 54 feet (the other side drops as deep as 85 feet). We have been using the beach at our resort as our entry point, but the contour of the lake bottom on the north side is roughly the same throughout. It takes a good two hundred feet from shore to reach a depth of 30 feet. The slope is gradual. At about one hundred feet the depth is closer to fifteen feet.

That being said, we do have a lake "in our back yard" that is 60-feet deep and the contour there is much sharper. Within fifty feet from shore it drops to that 30-foot mark. This might be a better (though not-quite-as-convenient) option for us.

Hopefully you're not using thick line like rope to your dive flag, ...

Nope. I've got a regular old reel attached. It's not a finger spool (though I have thought about using a spool). The reel and line are easier to carry and manage right now.

If it's an option a peak performance buoyancy course is money well spent with a good instructor.

This is definitely part of the plan. Probably not for this year, but maybe next. Finding the instructor is going to be the key. Our LDS is great, but the "instruction" during our OW course left a bit to be desired. I do plan on participating in some of the "fun dives" the dive shop hosts. This should give me an opportunity to get to know some of the instructors and (hopefully) learn who would be good to take this course from.

You say you have to equalize every foot or two I assuming you mean adjust your buoyancy ...

Sorry for the confusion @0321tony, I do mean equalize. I mention it only because it's one more thing for my hands to do. Tow a dive flag, hold my computer and compass, pinch my nose to equalize, adjust my BCD. I am aware of (and am trying to practice) equalizing without pinching my nose ... maybe wiggling my jaw or making that horrible gagging sound you do where your glottis becomes a piston forcing pressure into your sinuses ... but that's one more thing to try to learn.

... you are more than likely very over weighted. Next time out, at the end of your dive drop some weight and try to submerge if you drop like a rock then drop weight, you should just barely sink with no air in your BC and your lungs completely empty, go down 10 ft and see how you feel. If you have to struggle to stay down then add a pound or two and try again.

You may be right here. I do think I might be slightly over-weighted. I will try what you suggest. (This is one of the struggles I've had with my OW training. The LDS seems to have a standard operating procedure of just over-weighting everyone by default. I don't think we did a weight check once during the entire process.)

One thing no one may have expressly told you is to keep your flag tight. Keeps you from getting tangled in it and it helps with buoyancy in bad vis.

Thanks @boat sju. I can attest to having first-hand experience with the tangling issue. My wife and I have not personally become entangled in our own line, but the line does tend to want to wrap around the reel when there's too much slack. Our first dive out, we had a dive flag failure when the line became snagged around the reel and too much pressure between me trying to descend and the flag trying to remain aloft caused the line to snap from where it was secured.

It seems a fine line to walk when trying to decide how much is too much slack. I figure you don't want so much that you're becoming entangled, but you don't want it so taut as to keep you from descending or moving about in the water column.

Thanks to everyone who has offered some advice. There is a lot of great information in here. This will definitely help us tweak our further training procedures.

 

[boat sju]

Ryan,

Here's the hand reel I use. It allows for a nice pace descending and ascending.

boat

 

[Ryan Neely]

Thanks @boat sju. I'll look into one of those. No moving parts might be a good deal.

 

[TMHeimer]

Ryan, No I don't have gear on while "mimicking" the skills on land. I still practice those I can while in water. Figure I've dived enough now that for me it's more the memorizing of the steps than actually doing them (I am 65....). For example, the skill I always had the most trouble with was the unit doff & don. Lotta steps to remember. I haven't actually done this in water for a long time now, but am pretty sure I could easily do it as long as the steps remain memorized.
Dive flag-- I recall you mentioned having to kick 3 times in a row with one leg--can you explain why that is? When I use a flag it is the simplest kind (small float). Not heavy to pull. I do my best to avoid getting tangled in the line by holding my (reel holding) arm out strait and noting which arm to use so any current doesn't blow the line back onto me (don't know if that would be a problem in the lake).

 

[Diving Dubai]

are you doing all of this on your sofa with your gear on? Regulator, BC (or BP/W), cylinder? This idea intrigues me, but it seems that (to do it properly) you'd want to have as much of a simulation out of the water as you would have in. Right?

As an instructor, I need to keep on top of my skills for demonstrating. Because I don't' teach every week I'll certainly dry run skills with my hands (my wife occasionally catches me pacing around the house muttering to myself as I go through all the movements) Obviously demonstrating is a little more complex because there are lots of points you need to demonstrate in each skill pointing out those to remember and those not to do. I'll also watch a couple of skills videos if I need to refresh some finer details

I don't' need my gear on because I know by tactile feel and experience where everything is on each of my rigs. But there is mileage for a new diver to wear a BCD on the sofa and practice finding their way around it on dry land, as well as figuring out which way work best to use you hands with your motor skills to accomplish a task before then trying it in the water. Being able to put your hands on a buckle or zipper instinctively rather than fumbling around will help you relax

 

[Ryan Neely]

Dive flag-- I recall you mentioned having to kick 3 times in a row with one leg--can you explain why that is?

Honestly, I have no idea. During our first post-certification dive, I thought it might have been a combination of the dive flag in one hand and my wife clutching my BCD on the other side to keep from being separated in the low visibility.

The thing is, it happened again on our next dive out as well, and the second time the visibility was three times the first dive, so she was comfortable swimming near me instead of hanging on to me. (However, I was still towing the dive flag.)

Here's a series of events: We would choose a bearing of 200° before descending. After the descent, I would orient myself and my compass to point us toward that 200° heading. We begin swimming. Kick left, the compass shifts to 150°. Kick right three times to reset the compass to a bearing of 200°. Continue swimming to a point where we can reach a useable depth and get frustrated because it feels like we must be going in circles. Arrive at our destination. Attempt some skills. Orient myself for a return trip on a return heading of 20°. Kick left, kick right three times. Be absolutely certain we are nowhere near where we entered. Safety stop. Ascend. Discover we are ten feet from our exact point of entry.

If I were to use my #4 Strategic, I'd have to suggest a couple of options:

1.) My left leg is stronger than my right leg. (Doesn't seem logical since I'm right-handed and my left leg has suffered from a cycling injury, but stranger things habe happened.)

2.) My finning technique is all kinds of messed up.

3.) I'm not holding the compass perfectly level.

4.) The drag from carrying the dive flag in my right hand throws me off, but since it was the same for both the outbound and inbound legs of the journey, everything worked out for the best.

5.) Lake demons are trying to lure me into a sub-dimensional realm where the laws of physics don't exist.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Perhaps your wife should be the navigator a time or two?

My thinking regarding your bouyancy issues, which goes along with your need to constantly equalize is related to the depth you two are diving at for the most part. And as you've noted, you really need to get your proper weighting dialed in.

 

[boat sju]

was it a windy day?

 

[Ryan Neely]

My thinking regarding your bouyancy issues, which goes along with your need to constantly equalize is related to the depth you two are diving at for the most part.

Can you elaborate? I'm a theory person but often struggle to "read between the lines" as it were. I often have to tell people to explain things to me like i was a child with autism before I comprehend the meaning in someone's words.

We "equalize often and early" to avoid any pressure issues. I'm not immediately grasping how the 20-30 foot depth relates to the need to equalize often.