SCUBA class saga

[lynsea]

So i just had my first SCUBA class last night (university affiliated program) and i cannot tell you how excited i am. It mainly consisted of snorkeling and making sure we were comfortable in the water and learning the different ways of swimming. My instructor is slightly crazy but very cool. It is actually a really good deal. I will get my lifetime certification, open water diving, and dry suit class. I finally got a real mask as well, none of that crappy target stuff i used for snorkeling. To tell you the truth, even though this is my absolute dream (i would love to be a marine biologist or underwater photographer) i am actually a little scared. hoping this will go away but anyways. One great thing that i discovered is that the dive shop where these guys are coming from has a regular customer and member who regularly supplies Nat Geo with underwater photography... I MUST MEET THIS MAN!

anyways, more to come in my SCUBA class saga...:t

 

[devondave]

Ha ! You sound as if you're still buzzing about it , enjoy the course , enjoy the time you spend under water .
One of the best things in my life is diving on coral reefs and walls , something I shall cherish all my days .
I hope you get the same from your diving .
Regards ,
Dave .

 

[lynsea]

were any of you nervous when you first started? (i probably shouldn't have read the book Shadow Divers before taking this class

 

[devondave]

Nah , I was a spearo long before I did my scuba course .
I did twitch a bit when the Oceanic Whitetip in my avitar attacked my pink fins though :naughty .

 

[lynsea]

yeah that sounds like it has the potential to be nerve-wracking.

 

[Erik]

Good stuff. I was scared shitless when I started lessons. Couldn't even swim and had a trauma issue associated with water!
Fear is a good thing: you can't breathe underwater and you need to be reminded of that. It'll ease up with time in, but a little nervousness wont hurt.
Enjoy- you'll only have a first time once.

 

[lynsea]

good to see im not the only one. yeah i am actually extremely comfortable in the water but still a bit nervous.

 

[lynsea]

So last monday (i know its been a while but ive a SO much work) i went SCUBA diving for the first time! very exciting. and now that i have done it i have a real appreciation for freediving. there is just that sense of silence that i love so much that you cant achieve with scuba. anyways, i it was so much fun although im pretty sure the gear alone was enough to match my body weight. those tanks are heavy! (apparently chivalry is dead ). We basically went down to 14 feet and practiced clearing our masks and retrieving regulators. the only scary part was when i was swimming on my stomach the only thing i had to look at was the white tile bottom of the pool, i dunno it just freaked me out.

I must say it is something i will have to get used to. It was an absolute blast and it is going to open up so many opportunites for me. After having that experience, though, i konw that i will definitely continue freediving and snorkeling because there is just something about it that appeals to me that SCUBA cannot offer.

anyways, my next class is tomorrow and i honestly cant remember what we are doing. ah well. more to come!

Lindsay

 

[ReefTroll]

I was nervous in their dive tank for the first time. Wow, you're underwater, trying to breathe, talk about fighting instinct, no snorkel use here, so very odd. That and the fact their dive tank was a freezing cold giant concrete tub!! Then we hit the ocean, sooo natural, loved it.

 

[lynsea]

i cant wait to do an underwater dive. its actually kind of funny. I am so used to being underwater and not breathing (i.e. freediving) that i kept having to remind myself to breathe. I found myself sometimes just not breathing at all.

 

[Rip Tide]

I was nervous too. Not afraid but apprehensive. Not knowing etc... That was 15 years ago. Now it's second nature. HOWEVER>>> Don't get complacent. YOU check your gear everytime. You make sure your air is on. You make certain everything is in order. Get a dive buddy you literally trust with your life. Design a routine that checks and double checks your and your partners gear. Then relax and have fun.

On Saturday I went into a coral trench, laid down on the bottom and watched a sea turtle, hanging out under a coral shelf, about three feet away. Then to see four or five Cuddlefish swimming by, their translucent bodies. It's the best.

 

[lynsea]

On Saturday I went into a coral trench, laid down on the bottom and watched a sea turtle, hanging out under a coral shelf, about three feet away. Then to see four or five Cuddlefish swimming by, their translucent bodies. It's the best.

yeah that sounds just about awesome!

i pretty much decided yesterday that i want to be a photographer with a PHD... i'll let you know how that goes:blackeye

 

[spaghetti]

i pretty much decided yesterday that i want to be a photographer with a PHD... i'll let you know how that goes:blackeye

Mix and shake together a great passion with hard work. You can't go wrong and you seem to have the good spirit!

I love to read Lynsea's post for the genuine enjoyment they express in discovering the underwater world.
Girl, let me tell you that you're a great addition to the Deeperblue family (even if you're a bubble blower...* :t).
Now I speak like an old man. :blackeye


*scuba diver

 

[lynsea]

thank you very much spaghetti. i am having so much fun with this and trust me... i will continue free diving as i have such a greater appreciation for it now. i really do like both equally for different reasons of course. (and you can be sure that i will milk this forum for all it is worth ).

so last class we pretty much did the same thing. my dive master turned off the air on us (only 15ft under) but it was still pretty scary. we were practicing what to do in that sort of situation. that claustrophobic feeling was still there but i am able to overcome it now. it is actually getting really boring underwater in a pool so my friend and i have resorted to rock/paper/scissors and me attempting to blow bubble rings (which is not working btw). Next class we start dry suits which should be an adventure. With normal scuba gear on i can hardly stand (with a small tank too!). Honestly, i dont weigh that much so lifting all of that weight is a challenge. With a dry suit... well lets just put it this way... im not predicting that it will go well. i might actually freak out a bit because i am used to freediving and being able to move freely and quickly under the water. with a drysuit.... not so much. i'll let you know...

(obviously we need a dry suit to do our open water dives in november in upstate ny)

more to come!

 

[Kajojek]

Hehe, don't worry. You'll do just fine Where are you going to dive in ny? Dont know places other than dutch springs here.

 

[lynsea]

yeah that's the one i keep hearing about too. im not sure. some lake... (to be specific). i'll find out!

 

[lynsea]

Well I just had my first dry suit course tonight... all I can say is that I will be sticking to the equator because it was awful! Man how do you ever get used to or even tolerate that feeling. I'm fairly certain that i was wearing my weight equivalent in gear on my back which just made is so much better. Doing a dry suit dive in a murky, silty, NY lake in november is going to be tons of fun.

 

[devondave]

Well I just had my first dry suit course tonight... all I can say is that I will be sticking to the equator because it was awful! Man how do you ever get used to or even tolerate that feeling. I'm fairly certain that i was wearing my weight equivalent in gear on my back which just made is so much better. Doing a dry suit dive in a murky, silty, NY lake in november is going to be tons of fun.

Try and stick with it , the advantages of a dry suit far outweigh the disadvantages . Once you've tried a suit that fits properly and got the hang of it , I bet you'll never want to use a wet suit again .
Here in the UK most divers end up using them .
For me the benifits include better buoyancy control , obviously they're warmer and best of all , getting changed in a bitting cold wind is no problem 'cause your dry and toasty warm .
You may find as time goes on a lot less weight is needed to descend .
Sometimes on these courses they put a bit more lead on just because it's easier to learn like that , but really with an empty suit and bcd you don't need that much .
Some of the dive instructors in the Redsea use nothing but a dry suit , mainly so they don't have to get wet .
I promise , if you persevere , you'll grow to love dry suits :inlove .
Regards ,
Dave .

 

[lynsea]

i guess we'll have to wait and see. The suit actually fit me better than i thought it would. I am quite small so finding a good suit was a little hard. I think the thing that i dont like the most, besides the constriction (btw how do you get around that or make it better?) is the minimal range of movement. What with the suit, the weights, and the tanks, my movement is not that great or simple. Like I said before, this is just making my appreciate freediving more. don't get me wrong, i am loving scuba though

 

[devondave]

Hmm , that doesn't sound good .
Do you mean constriction from the suit it's self , or only when under water ?
Have you any idea what kind of suit it was i.e. neoprene , crushed neoprene or trilaminate .
The suit should not be too big , but still give you a full range of movement , if the constriction happens in the water , there's not enough air in it , which means either you're under weighted or did not completely empty the bcd before descending .
These things always take awhile to sort out , hopefully it will improve for you .
One thing to try if you haven't done so already , is ankle weights , they can make a big difference to how you move under water .
Regards ,
Dave .