worried newbie

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping against hope that someone here can give me a few hints to take to
my confined water skills session tonight so that I'm not so freaked out.
It's week four and I am supposed to do 'all equipment off, surface, surface
dive, don equipment' skill in the deep end. I should have done it last week
but I...just...couldn't...and no one was able to convince me to try!

I have done the individual skills (mask off/on, fins off/on, BCD off/on) but
all with my ankle weights and belt on (I'm Very, Very Floaty) so I felt
fairly in control. I am very worried (to the point of losing sleep!) that I
won't be able to a) equalize without my mask on, b) get down to my buddy
(did I mention that I'm Very, Very Floaty?) and even if I do get down that
c) I'll be so buoyant without the weights and equipment that I won't be able
to stay down long enough to get my stuff back on.

If you experienced divers can offer me any help besides the 3 R's of Diving
(according to DH - Relax, Relax and Relax goddammit :~) I'd really
appreciate it. TIA.

Mouse

In article <43440e60$0$14239$2c56edd9@news.cablerocket.com> ,
"mouse" <anonymouse@whereever.com> writes:

>I'm hoping against hope that someone here can give me a few hints to take to
>my confined water skills session tonight so that I'm not so freaked out.
>It's week four and I am supposed to do 'all equipment off, surface, surface
>dive, don equipment' skill in the deep end. I should have done it last week
>but I...just...couldn't...and no one was able to convince me to try!
>
>I have done the individual skills (mask off/on, fins off/on, BCD off/on) but
>all with my ankle weights and belt on (I'm Very, Very Floaty) so I felt
>fairly in control. I am very worried (to the point of losing sleep!) that I
>won't be able to a) equalize without my mask on, b) get down to my buddy
>(did I mention that I'm Very, Very Floaty?) and even if I do get down that
>c) I'll be so buoyant without the weights and equipment that I won't be able

Since I can't see how a GOOD instructor would let you get into a tither
like this, I can only sugest that you find another instructor.

I'm not even certain that this is (or should be) a required exercise.
I don't recall doing it in my Basic Open Water course.

What certifying agency is your instructor?
Perhaps somebody more up-to-date than I can comment on the requirement?

--
Charlie Hammond -- Hewlett-Packard Company -- Ft Lauderdale FL USA
(hammond@not@peek.ssr.hp.com -- remove "@not" when replying)
All opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily my employer's.

mouse wrote:
> "Charlie Hammond" <hammond@not@peek.ssr.hp.com> wrote in message
> news:vUV0f.13969$Y4.12479@news.cpqcorp.net...
>
>>In article <43440e60$0$14239$2c56edd9@news.cablerocket.com> ,
>>"mouse" <anonymouse@whereever.com> writes:
>>
>>
>>>I'm hoping against hope that someone here can give me a few hints to take
>
> to
>
>>>my confined water skills session tonight so that I'm not so freaked out.
>>>It's week four and I am supposed to do 'all equipment off, surface,
>
> surface
>
>>>dive, don equipment' skill in the deep end. I should have done it last
>
> week
>
>>>but I...just...couldn't...and no one was able to convince me to try!
>>>
>>>I have done the individual skills (mask off/on, fins off/on, BCD off/on)
>
> but
>
>>>all with my ankle weights and belt on (I'm Very, Very Floaty) so I felt
>>>fairly in control. I am very worried (to the point of losing sleep!)
>
> that I
>
>>>won't be able to a) equalize without my mask on, b) get down to my buddy
>>>(did I mention that I'm Very, Very Floaty?) and even if I do get down
>
> that
>
>>>c) I'll be so buoyant without the weights and equipment that I won't be
>
> able
>
>>Since I can't see how a GOOD instructor would let you get into a tither
>>like this, I can only sugest that you find another instructor.
>
>
> My instructor is the calmest person I have ever met. I get _myself_ into a
> 'tither'...a problem that is long standing, unfortunately, and one that I
> have had to work through many times in the past.
>
>
>>I'm not even certain that this is (or should be) a required exercise.
>>I don't recall doing it in my Basic Open Water course.
>>
>>What certifying agency is your instructor?
>
>
> NAUI. This skill is listed on the official confined water 'check out'
> sheet...no skill = no referral to Open Water.

I done this sort of thing in pool exercises. It's pretty simple, just
dive down, grab a regulator, stuff it in your mouth and then you have as
long as you like to sort out all the other stuff.

"Charlie Hammond" <hammond@not@peek.ssr.hp.com> wrote in message
news:vUV0f.13969$Y4.12479@news.cpqcorp.net...
> In article <43440e60$0$14239$2c56edd9@news.cablerocket.com> ,
> "mouse" <anonymouse@whereever.com> writes:
>
> >I'm hoping against hope that someone here can give me a few hints to take
to
> >my confined water skills session tonight so that I'm not so freaked out.
> >It's week four and I am supposed to do 'all equipment off, surface,
surface
> >dive, don equipment' skill in the deep end. I should have done it last
week
> >but I...just...couldn't...and no one was able to convince me to try!
> >
> >I have done the individual skills (mask off/on, fins off/on, BCD off/on)
but
> >all with my ankle weights and belt on (I'm Very, Very Floaty) so I felt
> >fairly in control. I am very worried (to the point of losing sleep!)
that I
> >won't be able to a) equalize without my mask on, b) get down to my buddy
> >(did I mention that I'm Very, Very Floaty?) and even if I do get down
that
> >c) I'll be so buoyant without the weights and equipment that I won't be
able
>
> Since I can't see how a GOOD instructor would let you get into a tither
> like this, I can only sugest that you find another instructor.

My instructor is the calmest person I have ever met. I get _myself_ into a
'tither'...a problem that is long standing, unfortunately, and one that I
have had to work through many times in the past.

>
> I'm not even certain that this is (or should be) a required exercise.
> I don't recall doing it in my Basic Open Water course.
>
> What certifying agency is your instructor?

NAUI. This skill is listed on the official confined water 'check out'
sheet...no skill = no referral to Open Water.

> Perhaps somebody more up-to-date than I can comment on the requirement?
>

Let us know how it goes.
"mouse" <anonymouse@whereever.com> wrote in message
news:43440e60$0$14239$2c56edd9@news.cablerocket.co m...
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm hoping against hope that someone here can give me a few hints to take
> to
> my confined water skills session tonight so that I'm not so freaked out.
> It's week four and I am supposed to do 'all equipment off, surface,
> surface
> dive, don equipment' skill in the deep end. I should have done it last
> week
> but I...just...couldn't...and no one was able to convince me to try!
>
> I have done the individual skills (mask off/on, fins off/on, BCD off/on)
> but
> all with my ankle weights and belt on (I'm Very, Very Floaty) so I felt
> fairly in control. I am very worried (to the point of losing sleep!) that
> I
> won't be able to a) equalize without my mask on, b) get down to my buddy
> (did I mention that I'm Very, Very Floaty?) and even if I do get down that
> c) I'll be so buoyant without the weights and equipment that I won't be
> able
> to stay down long enough to get my stuff back on.
>
> If you experienced divers can offer me any help besides the 3 R's of
> Diving
> (according to DH - Relax, Relax and Relax goddammit :~) I'd really
> appreciate it. TIA.
>
> Mouse
>
>

"BarryNL" <notall@coffeeshops.nl> wrote in message
news:434435b4$0$11065$e4fe514c@news.xs4all.nl...

> I done this sort of thing in pool exercises. It's pretty simple, just dive
> down, grab a regulator, stuff it in your mouth and then you have as long
> as you like to sort out all the other stuff.

Not bad, College Boy.

mouse wrote:
> "Charlie Hammond" <hammond@not@peek.ssr.hp.com> wrote:
>
> > Since I can't see how a GOOD instructor would let you get into a tither
> > like this, I can only sugest that you find another instructor.
>
> My instructor is the calmest person I have ever met. I get _myself_ into a
> 'tither'...a problem that is long standing, unfortunately, and one that I
> have had to work through many times in the past.

Sounds like some sort of anxiety stress?


Mouse, is your anxiety because this is a "test"?

Or do you have doubt in your abilities to be able to accomplish the
task, even if you had sufficient opportunity to try/practice it?


> > I'm not even certain that this is (or should be) a required exercise.
> > I don't recall doing it in my Basic Open Water course.
> >
> > What certifying agency is your instructor?
>
> NAUI. This skill is listed on the official confined water 'check out'
> sheet...no skill = no referral to Open Water.

It sounds familiar...and my advice to Mouse is that I think I screwed
it up on my first attempt to.

What I recall about getting through this test was the realization that
I did *NOT* have to accomplish all of the gear removal (or reverse) on
a single breath of air: so long as you have a regulator in your mouth,
you have all the time in the world.

This test is actually pretty easy once you realize that the only real
item that has time pressure (time limit) is in establishing your air
supply, and that the purpose of the exercise is to give you a vague
task that you have to problem-solve on the fly to accomplish.

Since it is a problem-solving exercise, you'll learn what works for you
by trial-and-error...so you will probably be unsuccessful the first
couple of times...we all were there once.

The basic rules for both taking the gear off and putting it back on are
really quite simple:

A. Some gear floats instead of sinking...how do you keep it on the
bottom of the pool?

B. When you aren't wearing your weightbelt, you're going to float.

C. Air = Time. Therefore, what item are you most likely to be last to
remove? And first to restore?


FWIW, expect a couple of false starts before you sort out that some
things really can't be done too far out of order...it took us all at
least a couple of tries before we got through this one ourselves.

Finally...and this is important...there is one aspect of this test that
has the potential to be dangerous. It comes after you've removed all
your gear and removed the regulator from your mouth just before you
begin your ascent to the surface: you just breathed compressed air at
the bottom of the pool, so you can't "hold your breath", since this can
cause an embolism. As such, when you're ready to surface, you will
need to exhale as you swim up, or "blow-n-go"...to exhale as you're
coming up is very important here.

FWIW, you can have a full breath when you freedive down to put on the
gear, but it may be easier with a "less than full" breath, since this
will make you a bit less positively buoyant, and it will be
easier/faster to swim to the pool's bottom and your gear pile. Since
you can use your regualtor's purge button, you don't really need all
that much air to clear the reg to start breathing at the bottom of the
pool.


-hh

mouse wrote:

>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm hoping against hope that someone here can give me a few hints to take to
> my confined water skills session tonight so that I'm not so freaked out.
> It's week four and I am supposed to do 'all equipment off, surface, surface
> dive, don equipment' skill in the deep end. I should have done it last week
> but I...just...couldn't...and no one was able to convince me to try!
>
> I have done the individual skills (mask off/on, fins off/on, BCD off/on) but
> all with my ankle weights and belt on (I'm Very, Very Floaty) so I felt
> fairly in control. I am very worried (to the point of losing sleep!) that I
> won't be able to a) equalize without my mask on, b) get down to my buddy
> (did I mention that I'm Very, Very Floaty?) and even if I do get down that
> c) I'll be so buoyant without the weights and equipment that I won't be able
> to stay down long enough to get my stuff back on.
>
> If you experienced divers can offer me any help besides the 3 R's of Diving
> (according to DH - Relax, Relax and Relax goddammit :~) I'd really
> appreciate it. TIA.
>
> Mouse
>
>
>
Relax. It's no biggie.

I am very worried (to the point of losing sleep!) that I
> won't be able to a) equalize without my mask on,

Actually, it's easier to equalize without a mask since you don't
have that big gob of air glued to yer face. Equalize the same
way, by pinching yer nose, if ya have to.

b) get down to my buddy
> (did I mention that I'm Very, Very Floaty?)

You only have to swim down a few feet. Practice surface diving
(90 degree bend at the waist, feet straight into the air, kick
like crazy when yer feet drop below the surface). If you've been
wearing a wetsuit, ditch it before this exercise.


and even if I do get down that
> c) I'll be so buoyant without the weights and equipment that
I won't be able
> to stay down long enough to get my stuff back on.

You have two hands. Grab the weight belt with the left to hold
yerself down, grab the second stage with yer right and take a
breath or two until you are relaxed and calm enough to continue
the drill.

Don't know what yer instructor taught ya, but I'd hold the
second stage in my mouth while putting the weight belt on, then
put on my mask and clear it so I could see what I'm doing. Then
I'd just sit and relax while figuring out the rest.

But I fear that you've already worked yerself into a panic.
Trust me, it's a lot easier than you expect if you just take it
one step at a time. Concentrate on just the first simple tasks:
a clean surface dive, weights in hand, second stage in mouth.
With that done, you have a couple hours to do the rest.

m

Don't worry. Take a relaxing breath or two before you start. I had to do the
ditch and dawn this back in 1973 with the YMCA certification. It was
actually a lot of fun. Good practice for underwater problem solving. We had
to go down turn on the tank, clear the regulator and start breathing. Once
you have your air supply you can relax and grab the weight belt. Also
remember the tank itself is negatively buoyant, so that will help keep you
down. The task was so much fun, I did it 3 more times just for the fun and
challenge.

I also am buoyant, (16 lbs. in fw with my birthday suit). You will be able
to stay down by kicking while inverted.

Relax and enjoy the experience. Maybe try it a few times.

Let us know how it goes.

Flea Dog

"mouse" <anonymouse@whereever.com> wrote in message
news:43440e60$0$14239$2c56edd9@news.cablerocket.co m...
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm hoping against hope that someone here can give me a few hints to take
to
> my confined water skills session tonight so that I'm not so freaked out.
> It's week four and I am supposed to do 'all equipment off, surface,
surface
> dive, don equipment' skill in the deep end. I should have done it last
week
> but I...just...couldn't...and no one was able to convince me to try!
>
> I have done the individual skills (mask off/on, fins off/on, BCD off/on)
but
> all with my ankle weights and belt on (I'm Very, Very Floaty) so I felt
> fairly in control. I am very worried (to the point of losing sleep!) that
I
> won't be able to a) equalize without my mask on, b) get down to my buddy
> (did I mention that I'm Very, Very Floaty?) and even if I do get down that
> c) I'll be so buoyant without the weights and equipment that I won't be
able
> to stay down long enough to get my stuff back on.
>
> If you experienced divers can offer me any help besides the 3 R's of
Diving
> (according to DH - Relax, Relax and Relax goddammit :~) I'd really
> appreciate it. TIA.
>
> Mouse
>
>

"BarryNL" wrote

> I done this sort of thing in pool exercises. It's pretty simple, just dive
> down, grab a regulator, stuff it in your mouth and then you have as long
> as you like to sort out all the other stuff.

If you're as floaty as mouse suggests, you'd best grab your weightbelt
first.