new diver - first dive problems

[BoundForElsewhere]

some kind of cramp....

 

[Eyegore]

It’s good you didn’t wind up paying for that anchor with your a**.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

@Matt Spear ,

I'd suggest looking into more gas planning, determining your gas consumption rate, etc.. There are some fundamentals missing from open water courses (my opinion only) that I think you would want to look into. I've attached the dive planning doc that I provide to my open water students. Please ignore the location specific parts, but I hope you find something useful. At least greater value than what you paid.

 

[NothingClever]

Try looking at this thing (see picture) throughout your dive. It actually works better than “feel”.

View attachment 546092

Here, fixed it for you....

 

[Soloist]

Freediving after scuba is generally not recommended.

Freediving while wearing scuba gear even less so...

 

[Matt Spear]

I finally got around to looking at the footage from my ordeal. At least I got some decent shots, along with some valuable lessons. On this particular day the water was like molten glass and very surreal. This area of the island is also known for large and aggressive Tiger sharks. In my mind, however, big sharks....mean big fish. Like a moth to a campfire flame - I was drawn to the area.
After my initial disappointment of the baron landscape, I set up what I hope will be a smashing success on future dives. Actually, I wasn't even sure if the balloon would blow up at this depth (it did - without much additional effort). Within a couple of minutes the fish (Bluefin Trevally) literally came out of nowhere. It seems that he too had a burning desire to investigate the unknown.
Looking back, I'm actually glad my gun was on the ground. I definitely wouldn't have wanted to cause any problems at that depth.
Finally, there is the picture of my cheap, rusty red anchor that I am desperately reaching for. And, as so many here pointed out, nearly caused my early demise into a watery grave. I thank my lucky starfish that I can dive again. Thanks again to all that posted the great feedback and for making me a better diver.
I am also hoping that the recent tingling in my arm was the result of a new My Pillow I bought, and just slept on it funny for not being used to it.

Spearfishing with a speargun enhances the opportunity for getting a shaft stuck in a rock, of getting tangled in the shooting line and wrapped up with the bottom, in greatly enhances the chances of exciting encounters with sharks and the exertion and distraction of stalking, landing and subduing a fish can cause a huge cascade of problems. A decent fish can swim around you, wrap a line around your neck (2-3 times), knock your mask off and slap your regulator out of your mouth - all in a few seconds. Seriously. You need to be reasonably confident you can handle this while deep and solo before you take the gun out. Starting out with a pole spear (rather than a gun) can greatly reduce the opportunities to get in trouble.

So first rule should be: no spearfishing unless you are pretty good at scuba diving - hint: your aren't "good" if you got certified yesterday - on the other hand - if you were really bad at it - you would be dead by now.

I would say 20 or 40 dives before spearfishing, minimum.

Also solo diving right out of a scuba class is pretty aggressive, but I think spearfishing (in 100 ft) is a bigger potential problem compared to solo diving. People who don't spearfish, will probably think 180 degrees from that..

So I would suggest a bunch of shallower, solo dives while not carrying a speargun is definitely called for.

Going down to 100 feet with 600 lbs to free an anchor, while solo is quite aggressive. In my opinion, you should be carrying a pony bottle when solo diving at that depth. If you had rested before the descent and made a very efficient descent and then had sufficient lift capacity in the BC to allow yourself to hold the anchor and float up- that would be doable for a very skilled and aggressive diver, assuming near zero margin for error and a pressure gauge that was exactly correct.

So going back down for a small anchor was not necessarily crazy, but it was an impudent decision and nearly caused your death. Learn from it.

The decision brings up a larger and more important issue and something they probably don't teach in a basic scuba class. When you are diving with expensive "stuff" like a speargun, light or even a camera, you need to kiss this sheeet good bye before you descend.

In other words, you should not be taking anything into the water that you are not perfectly willing to lose. That includes a POS anchor as well. A lot of accidents happen when trying to retrieve stuff, it becomes a matter of pride and determination - don't let these emotions endanger yourself.

Also, you need to set a hard limit for air supply margin for leaving the bottom. If you are solo, you don't have to worry about sharing air with some irresponsible buddy (so you can reserve less), but on the other hand you are spearfishing. Shooting a fish with 800 bs at 100 feet is far, far different from just starting to ascend. You gotta assume that any fish you shoot is going to "cost" you at least 3- 400 lbs or air to subdue- assuming all goes perfect, so you need to leave the bottom earlier (several hundred pounds earlier) when spearfishing- compared to normal solo diving. DO NOT be tempted to "shoot into" that reserve.

 

[chillyinCanada]

What camera do you use? How long have you had it?

How long have you been spear fishing from a kayak?

 

[Matt Spear]

What camera do you use? How long have you had it?

How long have you been spear fishing from a kayak?

It's a Hero 5 I wear on my mask - had it a couple years now. I've been diving off the yak for about 3 years, but this was my first Scuba dive off it since I just bought the equipment and got certified a week and half ago.

 

[chillyinCanada]

It's a Hero 5 I wear on my mask - had it a couple years now. I've been diving off the yak for about 3 years, but this was my first Scuba dive off it since I just bought the equipment and got certified a week and half ago.

Thanks Matt.

 

[Khrissi]

Got to admire @Matt Spear his frank remarks and unabashed humility on this posting ( he has scared the shjit out of me !) I think he will take it all in, an is in my prayers tnite! But slower slower mate k