Kishore,
Something I found out through hindsight. If you have a good instructor whom you trust and they say you are doing fine you are. It took me a long time to gain faith in my skills even though my instructor continuously told me "your skills are good and your equipment is in good shape, trust them." I can show you in my log book where I STARTED to gain confidence in my abilities (dive #54).
One thing that decreases anxiety levels is human contact; hold hands with your buddy if you're feeling a little frightened. You'll probably be amazed at how much better you feel when you KNOW you're not the only one out there.
Monitor your pressure gauge regularly so you know EXACTLY how much air you have. Your instructor will probably ask you several times throughout the dive how much air you have. When we dive with students we are at the safety stop at 1,000psi but different instructors do things differently. You should be ON THE SURFACE with NO LESS than 500psi.
Gear malfunctions are not common and if you are vigilant about monitoring your pressure gauge neither is running out of air. You'll do fine and you'll probably have a good time. Remember, you have air so just relax and take your time doing the skills your instructor will ask you to do.
My motto is always try something new 3 times before you decide you don't like it. Why? The first time you do it you don't really know what to expect or what it will feel like so the first time can be extremely stressful, even terrifying. The second time you try it you have a better idea of what to expect, you've experienced the related sensations once before so they are nothing new. The third time you try it it's "old hat" you've been through it twice before, you know EXACTLY what to expect and what feelings the activity produces now is the time when you decide whether or not you like it. I bet if you get your instructor to do your emergency ascent exercise in the pool a couple more times you'll feel more comfortable with your ability to handle the situation.
Jan_rose
A private class with a patient instructor, male or female, will probably have you diving in no time. Your training will cover how to clear the water out of the regulator after it has been out of your mouth. It should also cover how to retrieve the regulator if you have dropped it. You will know you can replace the regulator without inhaling water and that you can recover the regulator then replace it if you drop it once your training is done. Don't let fear of having the regulator stop you from doing something you want to do. We all have parts of the training we didn't like, I hated breathing underwater without a mask on, took me a long time to get over my mental hang up about that. I still don't like to do it but I practice it regularly to make sure I can do it.
BEST OF LUCK TO BOTH OF YOU!
Ber
Besides being the worst performer in the class, I already feel this is going to be fun fun fun. You know it!
