Well, as of 9/24/01, I am a PADI certified open water diver! I performed my open water dives on 9/22 and 9/23 at Millbrook Quarry in VA, and got my temp card on Monday.
Everything went pretty well throughout the classroom instruction, and the confined and open water training sessions. The only problem I had was on the second open water dive the first day. We were doing alternate air source ascents with our buddies. I was breathing of my buddy’s octopus, and while we were ascending, I think he was a little negatively buoyant. I had to kick like hell to get to the surface. When we surfaced, we were supposed to orally inflate our BCDs, and when I did, I got completely out of breath and panicked. The instructor dropped my weights and helped me over to a barrel, and I rested at the surface for 10 minutes or so.
We came to the conclusion that I needed a larger sized wetsuit. I did OK in the pool at 13 ft. with a shortie, but with a Farmer John in deeper water, I was feeling too confined. So I switched suits when we went back to fill our tanks, and the next day everything was fine on both dives. We practiced doing CESAs from 30 ft., orally inflating our BCDs at the surface, and I had no problems.
Altogether I feel pretty comfortable with the basic skills. The only thing I really had trouble with was doing a hover at depth. Fin pivots were OK, but I couldn’t seem to nail down neutral buoyancy to hover off the platform. The instructor helped me get pretty close, and once we swam off the platform I only had to do a little fine tuning. It’ll take some work to nail down underwater compass navigation as well. We only did it at depth for 10 kick cycles at a time, so we didn’t have to go far.
I think I’ll probably enroll in the AOW course beginning at that shop on 10/16, so I have some more skills down and am qualified for deeper than 30-40 ft. by the time I go to Australia and the Bahamas. Anyway, I completed the course, didn’t drown, and got my card. Woohoo!
Good deal! I am currently taking classes. Have finished 2, 3 more to go. I asked mom (I am 17) if we could go to branson at the end of October for my last chance of the year to dive, so I SHOULD be certified this year.
** so I have some more skills down and am qualified for deeper than 30-40 ft. by the time I go to Australia and the Bahamas **
Well, with a C-Card, open water, you are certified to 60 feet, as told by my instructor. I may be wrong though. I am at school and can’t go check my book. I doubt even if I get certified to 100 I will go that deep. Just gets way too cold where I will be diving here in MO, and in Mexico, the good places to dive are less than 50 feet. Besides, you can stay down a LOT longer at 30 anyway, so it would be more fun (IMHO). I just wish there were shells and such where I will be diving in Mexico. When I went snorkling, the ONLY thing I saw on bottom was sand.
I cant wait until we get into the fun stuff in class. The first two are just swimming/snorkling techniques. I almost died on the 15 minute “treading” water though. I cannot float without assistance unlike the others. They just layed on their back and closed their eyes. I tried actually treading, for 5 minutes. Then I got smart and got on my back. I did HAVE to kick constantly still, but not nearly as much. Overall though, the class is pretty fun.
To get perfectly neutral, I use short bursts of air into/out of the BC until I have it almost perfect. Then I use my breathing to micro-control my bouyancy. If I’m sinking, I inhale a little more. If I’m rising, exhale, and inhale a little less next time. If this isn’t enough to hit neutral, then I need to play with the BC a bit more. It becomes automatic after awhile. Just be sure you maintain an open airway. I know an instructor that crosses his legs and sits almost buddha-like in the water, rising and falling just a bit as he breathes. It looks very zen!
Go on to the AOW class - it’s worth it, especially if you’re facing a long time out of the water for the winter. And when spring comes, take advantage of any spring tune-up dives that your shop offers. It’s a great way back into the water.
Geobabe, go for the cert. some day if you’re interested. Some people never go beyond that, and that’s OK. It’s still fun even if you never do anything with it afterwards.
Spudgunr, I know what you mean. I did the 10-minute survival swim in my class, and thought it would never end. We had one girl in the class that floated so well that I think I heard her snoring during this part…
Consider a bouyancy mini course. PADI has them. It’s like $20 for a few hours in a pool. You get the time, however, to fine tune your weight belt (which can take a lot of experimenting with amounts, sizes and placements) and the professional assistance. You also get to swim through an obstacle course.
Get out there and dive a lot. Your breathing will get better as will your air consumption. These, as you know, affect yoru bouyancy.
I like to use steel tanks. I truly dig steel 100s. They don’t go positively bouyant when they’re empty like Al 80s. The weight you need at the start of the dive is the same at the end. You don’t have to overweight 2-4 lbs at the start of the dive.
Congratulations! Glad you have joined the group.
Buoyancy control takes time and comes with practice. Some need more practice than others do. I really had it pegged at about dive number 80 or so. I have a friend that had it at about 30 dives.
It takes exactly the right weight and distribution of weight, along with the learned ability to use breath control.
6 or 7-mm wetsuits make it more difficult also because of their change in buoyancy with depth. In warm water where a 3-mm suit is adequate, the wetsuit does not add so much buoyancy and that that will make it easier.
When you have the art mastered you will be able to make an entire dive to 40 feet or so and never add air to or remove air from your BC. (Wearing a 3mm suit)
Well, I just took the test yesterday. Easiest thing in my life. I NEVER opened the book or listened to the tapes. During breaks I was sleeping in class, so I was not wide awake after break. Well, I finished the test in 20 minutes, and I wasn’t even rushing. So, I went and got something to drink (frutopia) and walked around for a bit. The next fastest person finished in 40 minutes. Slowest person just over an hour. Guess who got the highest score in there. Yours truly. Yep, missed one question on different currents. Oh well, I am sure I’ll get over it. I bet the 9 other people in there thought I was a snob because I finished early, and slept while the teacher went over the missed questions (they didn’t know me, I was at a different than normal location). Going on my certification dive this weekend. It is going to be freaking cold! Table rock lake is not known for being warm, especially when the high is like 50 degrees. Oh well, such is the price one pays. I will update how it goes after this weekend.
Spud
