Starting Classes Tonight

[JahJahwarrior]

Where did you order the gear online? There are several online shops that partner with Scubaboard (rent ad space from them) and that pretty much everyone speaks very highly of. I don't remember them all, I know there are lots and msot have "scuba" in their name....I want to say scuba123.com is one of them. I know Scubatoys is, but I don't want to just reccomend one shop becuase I remember their name best .

In the future, I would reccomend buying from a shop that SB trusts, because when the majority of SB agrees on something, it's close to being a fricken miracle!




And, you really should specify in your first post that you didn't try the gear on at the shop you were getting certed through. Most of us here consider it inconsiderate to go to a "mom and pop" store to shop but then purchase elsewhere.

 

[spectrum]

The instructor actually went to show her the rear dump valve on the bottom of her BC only to be surprised that the BC she was using didn't have one. The good thing is, the insturctor said he would replace the BC with a different one that did have a rear dump valve. As for the on on her shoulder, she said it wasn't letting anymore air out either. I also suggested to her to use her elbows to squeeze her BC a little which might push some air out.

She needs to develop the positional awareness to have the dump valve in question above the bubble. The buoyancy of the air will do the rest. Chicken winging the BC to squeeze the air out will be futile extra task loading.

This is all good stuff. Awareness of these challenges is the first step. Once she understands what has to occur she will translate it into behavior. Be sure she is getting the "WHY" not just the "HOW". Learning these nuances is a process.

Pete

 

[tpb31]

Well Tuesday night we finished our third pool dive. She got much better at neutral bouyancy at the end of the class. She did say one problem is that the intructor aid, the one I talked about earlier was rushing her underwater telling her to get going (we were practicing swimming around) before she was able to become neutral. So she tried to hurry and next thing she knew she was at the surface. That was the only time she did that though in almost two hours in the water that night. She did mention to the instructor at the end of the class that her being rushed isn't teaching her anything.

Anyway, we have the last pool session tonight, hopefully things will go great. I finally caved in a bought a pair of splits, Scubapro Twin Jets, I can't wait to play with my new toys. Saturday we are off to Anacapa Island.

 

[Laruuk]

Sounds like you and your wife are having a great time, Thomas.

Having just recently gotten certified myself, I can remember the fun (and frustration) of the pool sessions. Not to mention the excitement of getting into open water.

 

[scratchmyback]

She did mention to the instructor at the end of the class that her being rushed isn't teaching her anything.

Good for her. Keep encouraging her to give this kind of feedback to the instructor. And enjoy your weekend.

 

[tpb31]

Well last night we finished our fourth and final pool dive. My wife never once floated to the surface, had no problems with any of the skills tests and looked like a completely different diver in the pool last night. I am very proud of her. The instructor said we were both good to go to the open water dive tomorrow.

So tomorrow we are off to Anacapa Island in Ventura, Ca on the Explorer.
http://www.explorerdiveboat.com/index.html

We have a total of three dives, one skin dive to get everybody familiar with the feel of the ocean. Then two with all the gear. I will update you guys on Monday. Maybe I will have some pics to share too.

 

[tpb31]

Well we did our first boat dives on Saturay at Anacapa Island. A total of three dives, one skin dive and two SCUBA. Some people from the class had never swam in the ocean so the instructor wanted to get them used to it with the skin dive. Still plenty to see though, calico bass, lobster, garibaldi, etc. Lots of fun.

We did our second dive on the other side of the island. Lots of surge and with a sandy bottom and new divers we were pretty much in a cloud the whole time, so we didn't see much. All we did was skills practice in the water with the surge, which made it a tad harder, but we all got through it.

The last dive was in another location. The first thing that happened was one of the students dropped thier weight belts. It was in 70' of water, so the instructor took us down so we could feel what it was like at that depth compared to where we were normally at ~40'. The we swam around and just had fun looking at everything.

All in all my wife did great, so did all the other students. She had a little issue with the surge and getting and staying neutrally bouyant, but near the end she did okay. When we did our safety stop at 15', she and I were the only 2 students who didn't float to the top. I was actually weighted perfectly, no air in the BC and remained at 15'. Now my wife is counting down the days to the 22nd when we do our next boat dive.

 

[oly5050user]

you do know that the instructor had no business taking you all on your second training dive on scuba to 70'..took a big chance on violating standards.Should have simply wrote off the dropped weights as lost and as a learning experience to the student that lost it.

 

[jviehe]

you do know that the instructor had no business taking you all on your second training dive on scuba to 70'..took a big chance on violating standards.Should have simply wrote off the dropped weights as lost and as a learning experience to the student that lost it.

Or at least sent the DM down to get them. As you said though, assuming this is a PADI class the first two dives are limited to 40ft depth. Last two are limited to 60ft depth. He might mention this to the dive instructors boss, and be sure to mention it on the folow up survey.

 

[oly5050user]

Or at least sent the DM down to get them. As you said though, assuming this is a PADI class the first two dives are limited to 40ft depth. Last two are limited to 60ft depth. He might mention this to the dive instructors boss, and be sure to mention it on the folow up survey.

yeah he/she could of sent the dm to get the weights,but,who does the dm go with??If something happened to the dm and the instr, sent him to get the lost item the instr can be held liable for sending the dm alone/no buddy.