Update on OW dive worries (long...)

[IndigoEve]

This isn't a question, more the story of a less than enjoyable but certainly educational day.

So, I was supposed to be a certified diver today (finish my OW dives 3 & 4)...but apparently it's not in the cards...that's ok; there's always another day...

Yesterday was my first OW dive. We were supposed to do two dives but due to drysuit issues with my instructor's suit we ended early. It was fine, we did some skills, went down to 25 feet, saw sea cucumbers, anemones (sp?), star fish, sun stars, and all sorts of other interesting creatures. Oh yes, and a seal! Pretty sweet! He was two and a half feet away from me and we were face to face. It was definately overwhelming though, going from a nice clear pool to a murky ocean, from a bathing suit to a full 7mm wetsuit and 28lbs of weight around my hips makes the whole experience quite different. It was also a little nippy about 50 degrees in the ocean and windy and threatening to rain above it... And, to top it all off, something that I couldn't quite put my finger on was bothering me afterwards.

Today however was not so fine. It was choppy and the visibility was about 5 feet where we were supposed to descend. I tried to descend I couldn't handle not being able to see anything. It was only about 10 feet but it didn't matter; it was quickly making me incredibly claustrophobic, not to mention disorientated by the water movement. We came back and stayed on the surface for a bit; my instructor was easy going about it and jsut let me relax and next time we went down by following the bottom so I had a reference point. No problem, we descended along the rocks for a couple of minutes looking at creatures until we had to stop because my buddy couldn't equalize her ears. I was fine (coping at any rate) until we stopped. Since I had nothing else to occupy my thoughts with, they quickly returned to visions of water closing in on me (yes, I know, I was already surrounded, but nobody has ever claimed claustrophobia is rational...) So after about 10 seconds of arguing with myself the irrational side won out and my instructor had my buddy on one side of him signalling that she thinks her ears are ok, "let's go down" and me on the other side signalling "up, up!". Up we went. *Sigh*

I felt bad for having us go up again but I was really struggling to keep my composure and I didn't want to end up losing it, because I know that that would make it infinately harder to go back down. So we bobbed around on the surface for a bit; I reassured myself that my reg was giving me enough air (though it felt like it wasn't), my instructor convinced me that it was perfectly alright to stay up here till I was ready to try again (he was happy and dry with his fixed suit), and my buddy offered to hold my hand if it would help to give me reassurace (thank you buddy ).

So we went down again, this time we kept moving, ears were good all around and we did some skills including the mask removal and replacement which I hadn't, until today, been worried about. However, I was determined to get through it, and I did, barely. Brrrrr, I quickly realized just how warm a hood keeps your head when my mask strap pulled my hood halfway back across the top of my head...and I also learned how hard it is to trust somebody when all your senses are telling you they are wrong. It is amazing how a cleared mask can feel like it is still completely filled with water... even though my instructor was squeezing my hand to let me know that my mask was actually clear I could not, did not, feel like I could open my eyes. My instructor was at this point hoping he is not inducing panic in me because he's now got one hand over my reg so I can't spit it out (this I found out later, I didn't even know he had is hand over it; not that I had any intention of spitting it out I had my teeth clamped down on it harder than ever) as well as having the other hand squeezing mine which is supposed to be signalling to me that I am fine and the mask is clear. Common sense finally took over (it seemed like a long time; though it was probably about 10-15 seconds) and I was able to open my eyes. That was the end of dive #3. My instructor looked at the two of us as we were walking out of the water said that he could see that neither of us wanted to do a second dive but neither of us wanted to say so. Very observent instructor. We definately didn't. At this point I wasn't sure I wanted to get in the water again.

In fact it has taken all day for me to realize that I do want to get in the water again. I like looking at creatures. I like being able to breathe underwater. I don't like the fact that visibility appears to be inversely proportional to feeling claustrophobic, but at least I know what to expect now. Hopefully next Saturday will be better...

 

[Hooked4Life]

IndigoEve: First of all dont feel so down. The first few dives are very intimidating until you feel more comfortable under water. Also being in low viz definately does not help the situation. I see a few good things that you should realize: Nobody was hurt.. that is the most important thing. You stuck with it and did not give up during the dive. It is better to surface safely then panic and jet to the surface. It sounds like you have a very good instructor. From experience I have seen instructors who are not patient with students. For some people this does not matter, but for students who are not yet comfortable underwater, a patient instructor is a must. I encourage you to finish the last OW dive, and enjoy diving. There are a lot of places with better viz.

 

[SA-Diver]

Stick to it, you'll be surprised at how much better it will be next time.
Better call the dives and come back to try another day.

 

[Jonathan]

you're almost there now and have completed the one exercise I normally see students fail on (if they fail that is) - under water mask removal and replacement - well done.

Hopefully it won't be too choppy this weekend and next week we get to read your first certified post and all the future ones about your underwater exploration.

Cheers
Jonathan

 

[seadog]

you did great!!

Starting out can be difficult but it is worth the effort. Took me awhile to get comfortable but glad I kept at it; so will you.

 

[The Chairman]

and you are learning in a tougher than average area. You will be a far better diver for it too, so stick to it!!! Then come to Florida and find out what 100ft vis really means! :tease:

 

[BILLB]

This post is an honest attemp to come to grips with this diver's fears and apprehensions. The condition could not be worst. The viz was the main factor, but unfortunately (or fortunately) this is the conditions in which this driver will be trained in. When all is said and completed, this diver should be able to enjoy diving under these conditions!

The instructor exhibited both a very cautious approach and had the safety and well being of the students as the primary objective. All well done.

Our local dive training hole used to be this way and it probably made the first time diving experience similar (cold and no viz). Fortunately, this has changed over the years by natural selection to an improved situation and the number of divers coming away with the WOW factor is improving.

The best suggestion I would have for this diver to wait at least another week to digest what was learned and to sort out the other things that were troubling. Hopefully, the conditions concerning viz and wind will improve.

Posts like this places in my mind that when taking new divers into the water and with poor conditions, I must seriously consider delaying these dives until conditions improve.

 

[radagalf]

around our area, that would mean delaying your dives until late summer or autumn, when the plankton blooms have dispersed and/or settled out of the water.

Diving in those conditions is the norm for this area, so teaching students in these conditions is prudent so that they will be able to practice safe diving locally after course completion.

As to Ms. Eve's posts, I think you did a great job in THINKING about your situation. If you can stop and think about your situation, realize you are tensing up, signalling to your buddy/instructor to go up so as to avoid any potentially dangerous situation - you can dive with me ANYTIME.

PS: DrBill I am not arguing with you (and after reading my post I could see that being an interpretation), I am just pointing out what local conditions can be. For the record, I thought your post highlighted some of the key points found in this thread.

 

[Suunto Old]

Hm, maybe I could share my OW cert. dive experiences also.


*editors note: I'm just "graduated" as an OW diver and I don't have a single "real" dive under my belt (if the pool dives and certification dives don't count.) since I graduated in last october I hadn't that much chances to dive*

That being said, let me begin.
I did all of my 4 cert dives in last october, two of them in a quarry, two of them in ocean. At that time of the year air was about -4 celsius and water +5 celsius, and yes, we were diving with wetsuits (altough we were offered drysuits, but for some reason most of us thought that we could do with wets). Altough they weren't cold to dive in, it got cold really fast when you surfaced.

Well, I was really nervous during the first dive (fumbled with my gear, donned my bc and tank wrong, had difficulties controlling my buoyancy...) but I made it and completed all of the required drills. Thought of getting back to that cold water for a second dive wasn't really that inviting at the time, but it certainly was worth of it: I was lot more relaxed and really enjoyed my dive, we even went to see a "wreck" (a small motorboat sunk to guarry just for diving) and the feeling when you ascend from that dark and greenish gloom towards the bright light of surface, well, words can't describe that feeling.

The second day we dove from a boat anchored near shore, and water temperature was about the same, air being a little colder (about -7 celsius). Now I didn't mess with my gear on surface, but underwater mask removal was a bit "extreme" experience: When my instructor asked me to remove my mask, the simple coldness of water made me to swallow some air from my reg, and it dindn't get any better when I opened my eyes. So there I am: 9meters down, kneeling on the bottom, and trying to slow my breath while trying to put my mask back on. I tell you, it was COLD!:wacko: My instructor helped me to put my mask back on, and everything worked out ok.

Then at CESA (um, dunno if that's the correct acronym, but I mean emergency ascent out of air swimming) I swallowed lots of water on surface when I tried to inflate my BC orally, but as I was saying to my instructor "No way, I can't do this, I simply can't get air into this!" he gave me most important tip of them all: "In a situation like this, NEVER GIVE UP!" (meaning that if you are in such real emergency situation, then you should not ever give up)


Hm, point of this? Just wanted to say "I have been in that situation too, and made it!" All you need is a lot of confidence and a good instructor who understands your fears and everything will most likely work out fine. (at least it did with me).

*Sorry for messy post and possible grammar errors*

 

[Jonathan]

welcome to the gang!

Now get yourself sorted out with a dry suit if you want to continue diving at home Always thought you Fins were mad - in the nicest possible way of course.

Sounds like you've got a good instructor.

Jonathan