will soon be doing first saltwater dive

[nolatom]

You're cautious in nature and experience, and showed respect to the weather Gods.

Both stood you in good stead, and will again next time you go out to try it, or to try something shallower.

 

[Becca65]

I would love to start with a nice shore dive - but where we live the water is about the color of chocolate milk until you get offshore - sometimes 15 miles or so, sometimes farther.
Found a post several years old here on the forum talking about a 1st saltwater dive - 4 new divers, 2 master divers went out in the Gulf to do a rig dive - apparently it was rough due to a hurricane somewhere in the Gulf - really, and they went anyway? Apparently her (?) mask dislodged when she jumped in and she used up quite a bit of air because of nerves - so ended up running out on the safety stop - then got "banged up" trying to get back in the boat (due to hurricane induced waves) - but apparently she thought this was a "normal" dive. I would seriously question the judgment of anyone who went out into the Gulf while a hurricane was out there churning the water up - but to take four new divers out in that? did they just feel they couldn't cancel because these people had paid for a dive trip? I think I'd rather go without a master diver if they do things like that

 

[EastEndDiver]

I would love to start with a nice shore dive - but where we live the water is about the color of chocolate milk until you get offshore - sometimes 15 miles or so, sometimes farther.
Found a post several years old here on the forum talking about a 1st saltwater dive - 4 new divers, 2 master divers went out in the Gulf to do a rig dive - apparently it was rough due to a hurricane somewhere in the Gulf - really, and they went anyway? Apparently her (?) mask dislodged when she jumped in and she used up quite a bit of air because of nerves - so ended up running out on the safety stop - then got "banged up" trying to get back in the boat (due to hurricane induced waves) - but apparently she thought this was a "normal" dive. I would seriously question the judgment of anyone who went out into the Gulf while a hurricane was out there churning the water up - but to take four new divers out in that? did they just feel they couldn't cancel because these people had paid for a dive trip? I think I'd rather go without a master diver if they do things like that

Not to sound like a wise ass but why don't you PM the people who were involved and see why they dove on that day before you start throwing ALL "master divers" under the bus? If her mask "dislodged" and caused severe anxiety as you state maybe she should NOT be diving and get some better training.

 

[diver 85]

becca-------where are you lauching from & how far out are you heading, we(out of Cameron, La)have to go 30 miles out before our 1st 'good' diving rigs are found-WC 178/180 & the depth is only 40 ft ---....so most of the time we head on out to WC 214, a triple platform ~40 miles out..But the really better diving is out to WC 248 about 48 miles out, now we into ~70 feet of water...........In our 25' boat......

 

[Becca65]

it's true - I'm sure not all master divers are like that - and being a master diver doesn't mean you have good judgment - they are human after all and some humans have better judgment than others. my problem is how do you know when you first meet someone? I worry that we'll get out there with someone and they will be frustrated because I take a long time to descend due to my ear clearing problems or they will push me to do something I'm not comfortable with - I know, I can always refuse but I hate being put in that position. No, I didn't contact that person who wrote that post - my husband found it, had me read it and I have no idea how to find it again - as I mentioned it was several years old - and I have no idea who the master divers were. I just can't believe anyone would go out with a hurricane out there.
Diver 85 - we're close to Galveston

 

[wspalding]

it's true - I'm sure not all master divers are like that - and being a master diver doesn't mean you have good judgment - they are human after all and some humans have better judgment than others. my problem is how do you know when you first meet someone? I worry that we'll get out there with someone and they will be frustrated because I take a long time to descend due to my ear clearing problems or they will push me to do something I'm not comfortable with - I know, I can always refuse but I hate being put in that position. No, I didn't contact that person who wrote that post - my husband found it, had me read it and I have no idea how to find it again - as I mentioned it was several years old - and I have no idea who the master divers were. I just can't believe anyone would go out with a hurricane out there.
Diver 85 - we're close to Galveston

Unless you are diving in a current, there is no reason for the other divers to be in a hurry to get to depth and not be patient while you work out the equalization of your ears. Don't worry, it will get easier as you dive more, and before long you'll be dropping in negative on wrecks with a ripping current!

 

[DukeAMO]

Unless you are diving in a current, there is no reason for the other divers to be in a hurry to get to depth and not be patient while you work out the equalization of your ears. Don't worry, it will get easier as you dive more, and before long you'll be dropping in negative on wrecks with a ripping current!

One trick the dive boats use is to install a weighted hang bar 15 feet down, so you can do your safety stop there. It's also a good place to hang out at the beginning of a dive while you get your ears equalized and fix any gear that got dislodged on entry. I wonder what it would take to add a hang bar to a personal boat - is it easy or not?

 

[Becca65]

when we do dive from our friend's boat we will have a rope attached to the boat with a weight on the end - he has marked the rope at 15' increments all the way down