Adobo
Contributor
Well, I'm back home after spending the weekend in Monterrey, CA for my open water certitication dives. The diving experience/conditions were about what I thought they would be. Visibility was almost non-existent and the water was right about 57 degrees. I was far more comfortable than I thought I would be.
Some lessons I learned:
- I don't like being buddies with a diver who brings a camera.
- I think I prefer a more rigid approach to diving instruction than the "recreational activity" approach. This maybe a recreational activity but the consequences of an accident tend to be quite severe.
- Integrated secondary air supplies are not my thing. I was taught the out of air/air sharing ascent skill. Though this type of event maybe incredibly unusual and unlikely but if it ever had to be done, I prefer that the equipment was of set up in a fashion were each diver had ample room to establish composure and then execute the ascent. It must just be my fickle nature as my instructors were quick to dismiss my concerns.
- I like my zeagle "everything is special package" from scuba toys. I was lectured previously by another forum member on providing an opinion at such an inexperienced stage so I will leave this bullet item as is. Thanks for all the great service Scubatoys guys.
- There is an aweful lot of work involved in diving for an hour. I guess diving in colder waters typically involved even more maintenance since there is usually more exposure suit and weights involved.
- Boyfriends should probably stay at home while you are finishing the course. Nothing worse than a boyfriend trying to "help" the instructor when clearly they are describing things in a contradictory manner. I say boyfriends because I think that in general, guys like to show off on how big/strong/fast/smart they are. I'm sure some females suffer from this malady also but probably very few in comparison. Somehow, husbands tend to be less afflicted. I wonder if maturity has anything to do with it.
- The sights, even with low viz, are absolutely breathtaking.
- Bring food and lots of water.
I want to give to be a little more verbose on the last lesson learned that I wanted to share. On dive #3, my buddy and I were checking each other over when I realized that my SPG was down to 2100 psi. The tank started at over 3000 psi. I automatically assumed that I had some kind of leak that drained my tank of over 900 lbs of air. I notified the dive con who told me that he did not hear any leaks and that 2100 psi was adequate to do skills. I put the reg in my mouth just to make sure I could breath. All good. I put in the secondary air source and that seemed fine too. Somehow, my buddy and I did not continue with our checks. We just proceeded to head into the water. Being new and wanting to conserve air I switched from my primary to my snorkel as I swam to where the instructor was waiting. By the time I got to the instructor, I was in about 8 feet of water. I went vertical and began to sink, I realized that I did not have enough air in my bc so I went to inflate. Nothing. Shortly thereafter, my snorkel siezed. It is a dry snorkel so I assume the end of the snorkel was now completely submereged. I reach for my primary and stick it in my mouth. Nothing. I start kicking furiously to get my mouth above water. I manage to orally inflate my BC but it took a lot of work.
As my instructor got to me to check why I was flapping and splashing furiously, I inform him that I am having big time equipment issues. He reaches behind me and tells me that my air supply is not turned on. I suspect that once I set up my equipment, I turned off the air supply. I don't remember exactly why I did that but sure enough, I did. After my instructor turned the valve back on, my SPG read 3000 psi.
A close call to be sure.... What did I learn? Do not take your final checks lightly. It seems that it doesn't take too much ignorance and stupidity to get hurt while scuba diving.
Overall, I had a really good time. I learned a lot over the weekend. I think the biggest lesson is, there is much much much more that I don't know.
Some lessons I learned:
- I don't like being buddies with a diver who brings a camera.
- I think I prefer a more rigid approach to diving instruction than the "recreational activity" approach. This maybe a recreational activity but the consequences of an accident tend to be quite severe.
- Integrated secondary air supplies are not my thing. I was taught the out of air/air sharing ascent skill. Though this type of event maybe incredibly unusual and unlikely but if it ever had to be done, I prefer that the equipment was of set up in a fashion were each diver had ample room to establish composure and then execute the ascent. It must just be my fickle nature as my instructors were quick to dismiss my concerns.
- I like my zeagle "everything is special package" from scuba toys. I was lectured previously by another forum member on providing an opinion at such an inexperienced stage so I will leave this bullet item as is. Thanks for all the great service Scubatoys guys.
- There is an aweful lot of work involved in diving for an hour. I guess diving in colder waters typically involved even more maintenance since there is usually more exposure suit and weights involved.
- Boyfriends should probably stay at home while you are finishing the course. Nothing worse than a boyfriend trying to "help" the instructor when clearly they are describing things in a contradictory manner. I say boyfriends because I think that in general, guys like to show off on how big/strong/fast/smart they are. I'm sure some females suffer from this malady also but probably very few in comparison. Somehow, husbands tend to be less afflicted. I wonder if maturity has anything to do with it.
- The sights, even with low viz, are absolutely breathtaking.
- Bring food and lots of water.
I want to give to be a little more verbose on the last lesson learned that I wanted to share. On dive #3, my buddy and I were checking each other over when I realized that my SPG was down to 2100 psi. The tank started at over 3000 psi. I automatically assumed that I had some kind of leak that drained my tank of over 900 lbs of air. I notified the dive con who told me that he did not hear any leaks and that 2100 psi was adequate to do skills. I put the reg in my mouth just to make sure I could breath. All good. I put in the secondary air source and that seemed fine too. Somehow, my buddy and I did not continue with our checks. We just proceeded to head into the water. Being new and wanting to conserve air I switched from my primary to my snorkel as I swam to where the instructor was waiting. By the time I got to the instructor, I was in about 8 feet of water. I went vertical and began to sink, I realized that I did not have enough air in my bc so I went to inflate. Nothing. Shortly thereafter, my snorkel siezed. It is a dry snorkel so I assume the end of the snorkel was now completely submereged. I reach for my primary and stick it in my mouth. Nothing. I start kicking furiously to get my mouth above water. I manage to orally inflate my BC but it took a lot of work.
As my instructor got to me to check why I was flapping and splashing furiously, I inform him that I am having big time equipment issues. He reaches behind me and tells me that my air supply is not turned on. I suspect that once I set up my equipment, I turned off the air supply. I don't remember exactly why I did that but sure enough, I did. After my instructor turned the valve back on, my SPG read 3000 psi.
A close call to be sure.... What did I learn? Do not take your final checks lightly. It seems that it doesn't take too much ignorance and stupidity to get hurt while scuba diving.
Overall, I had a really good time. I learned a lot over the weekend. I think the biggest lesson is, there is much much much more that I don't know.
