Newly minted PADI Self-Reliant/Solo Diver.

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markmud

Self Reliant Diver--On All Dives.
Messages
1,514
Reaction score
1,860
Location
South Lebanon, Ohio
# of dives
200 - 499
Hello All,

This last weekend, I completed a Solo Diver course through Dolphin Scuba in Sacramento. Rick, our instructor, and one other student performed three dives in Monterey Bay for the certification class.

I am a warm water diver. I have a wetsuit that I bought for 60 to 70 degree water. Not 53 degree water. I was freezing cold for five hours.

However, the lack of proper thermal protection added another element to the training curriculum.

We practiced overcoming multiple issues serially while focusing our attention on the most critical issues when needed--breathing gas and buoyancy.

We deployed our redundant masks, our smb, our pony rigs, and manually inflated our BCs. We manually inflated our BCs for all three dives as the BC does not work (obviously) with a pony; we did not use our inflator button during the three dives.

My fellow student is a retired USMC gunny sergeant and jumpmaster. I am a licensed master mariner and former tug boat captain. We did not receive remedial navigation training--I assume our instructor thought if a gunny sergeant and professional mariner needed remedial nav training, we were lost causes.

The course forced us to practice skills that we should have mastered already, and to rely on ourselves for safe transit to the surface.

The course also reinforced maintaining situational awareness and not diving beyond our own capabilities. We did a SAC test and performed the math calculations for estimating gas usage at different depths.

The fact that I was diving cold water and not perfectly weighted and trimmed, added more complications to the training experience. I was down-by-the-stern, to use a nautical term, and failed to correct the issue through the three dives.

To iterate, everything we practiced were skills that any diver with 100 logged dives (or more) should have mastered already. It was good to run-through the drills in a serial fashion on each of dives.

I am glad I took the course and enjoyed the company of my fellow student, instructor, and the rest of the diving party.

A dry-suit is in my future.

markm
 
Glad to hear you made it. It may open some doors of opportunity for you at some sites, and otherwise give you a good basis in knowledge and experience for solo diving.

How thick was your wet suit & did you wear a hood & gloves? Makes a big difference.

Diving a 5 mm Farmer John wetsuit in probably 68 degree water at Vortex Spring in Fl, it was cold - quite 'bracing.' Yet put a 7 mm hood & 5 mm gloves on me, and I've dove a 5 mm wetsuit down to around 45 degree water at a local quarry and while yes, it's cold, it shows what a difference a hood and gloves can make.

I've never been in a dry suit.

Richard.

P.S.: Disclaimer on cold tolerance: I'm kind'a what'cha might call 'naturally insulated.'
 
Glad to hear you made it. It may open some doors of opportunity for you at some sites, and otherwise give you a good basis in knowledge and experience for solo diving.

How thick was your wet suit & did you wear a hood & gloves? Makes a big difference.

Diving a 5 mm Farmer John wetsuit in probably 68 degree water at Vortex Spring in Fl, it was cold - quite 'bracing.' Yet put a 7 mm hood & 5 mm gloves on me, and I've dove a 5 mm wetsuit down to around 45 degree water at a local quarry and while yes, it's cold, it shows what a difference a hood and gloves can make.

I've never been in a dry suit.

Richard.

P.S.: Disclaimer on cold tolerance: I'm kind'a what'cha might call 'naturally insulated.'

Hey drrich,

I was in a 7 mil with a 7 mil hood and 5 mm gloves. I am not "naturally" insulated and I seem to have lost thermal toughness in my old age (53). Some things don't work as well at 53 as they did at 23.

Thanks for the nice reply.

markm
 
Well it sounds like you were on the "Double Down".

Hopefully you took advantage of the warm water Rick recently installed.

7mm with hood and gloves is enough for me for three dives, but then I do have some extra as well.
 
Mark:

Great post. It was interesting to compare your class to my solo class with SDI. My instructor required redundant bouyancy. (A Drysuit or double bladder). Did your instructor require that? I liked the emphasis on orally inflating at the surface. My course was demanding- very big on dive planning, gas management, and navigation.
 
Hey KeithM,

Yes, the warm water from John's water heater saved me! And, Double Down is a very nice dive boat--I was surprised by its performance with six divers and two crew members onboard. It is a very comfortable dive boat.

I think I am losing my tolerance for cold water because I am balding. That lost hair is what kept me warm!

thanks,

markm
 
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I never took one of those courses, but I would be practicing scuba removal and replacement because solo entanglement is one of my big issues..
 
Some things don't work as well at 53 as they did at 23.

markm

Ain't that the truth. My wife says that too.

Sounds like you had a good course, thorough and well preparing you for solo diving. Congrats.
 
Congrats on your course. You're right cold water makes everything more difficult. I dive dry in 40 deg water and the cold still gets to you. I'm curious about your course. Did your instructor teach redundant bouyancy? If so what? Double bladder? Lift bag?
 
For the Solo Diver I would also add for back-up buoyancy -in case of leaking or failed BCD/Wing at depth- a minimum 18kg/40lb Liftbag to clip on & deploy; or a Drysuit; or a redundant double bladder wing.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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