13 replies to this topic

[GunnaBDiver?]

Dear Divng Diary, Part 3. Well you are probably wondering what happened to Part 2, well lets just say...I was too embarrasssed to post it. But I didn't suck near as bad this week, and I think I actually resembled an amateur, very inexperienced diver as opposed to a crawdad floundering around in the mud. If I could only master this buoyancy thing I might actually enjoy this. However, with the exception of the buoyancy, I was able to do all of the other skills that they asked of me, so I think progress was made. Anything would have been an improvement upon last week.

Right now my only concern is...My daughter said I looked like a seal in my wetsuit. Don't sharks like seals?

[WreckWench]

I think you are doing AWESOME if you are getting all the skills but the bouyancy. I flunked EVERY pool session 2x and mask clearlng 4x. I also flunked my OW final skills 2x as well. So what does that mean? It means that you DO NOT SUCK that bad...and no probably ever has before or ever will again. Secondly it shows that it doesn't matter...if you want it bad enough you can achieve it if you stick with it! Who cares how many times it takes to learn it or master it? If you want to learn you will do so ON YOUR OWN TERMS AND IN YOUR OWN TIME. And when I was learning they spent more time with you. Our class was 8 weeks long. So you can only imagine how badly I sucked.

But guess what? I wanted to learn and I realized it was NOT a competition. I was only competing against myself and I knew I would either win or lose the competition...the choice was mine. Fortunately I just stuck with it until I got it. Then until I got good. Then I wanted to help others like me learn how to "connect the dots" sooner then I did. So we created the Rent-A-Buddy program which Jerry has told you about.

The added benefit of the RAB program is that you will have NO bad habits and we'll be able to reinforce EVERYTHING you are doing well and can help you tweek anything you need to improve upon. So by the end of the week of diving you'll be so dialed in that you will still be a newer diver but you will not LOOK like one when you dive. Most of us have to break bad habits and relearn good ones. If you only learn good ones tweeked TO YOUR DIVING STYLE think how far ahead you'll leapfrog ahead of others!

So I think you've done AWESOME!!! Keep up the great work!

[GunnaBDiver?]

You don't know how comforting that is, thanks for sharing. The pressure has beed lifted. The RAB programs sounds perfect for me and I'm glad that I will be able to benefit from it sooner rather than later. Lisa

[WreckWench]

Diving should be fun...but the rub is we are in an environment we are not DESIGNED TO BE IN!!! It is NOT NATURAL FOR HUMANS TO BE UNDERWATER! So if you struggle a bit...that is only natural! But you can eventually master it ALL...it will take time and the sooner you allow yourself to proceed on your own timeframes and not those of others...the sooner you'll relax enough to actually learn better.

I'm very proud of you for being open enough to share your journey with all of us. That takes courage and a tremendous amount of self confidence. Self confidence is beautiful...almost as much as you are naturally. And your journey is now our journey...the recollections of the learning process and how foreign it was. And yes how exciting it was...ESPECIALLY when we start to get it! Yeah!!! That's what I'm talking about.

And you REALLY are doing great. I truly wrote the definition of "sucking while diving" and NOTHING AND I MEAN NOTHING was comfortable, easy or natural to me. But guess what? If you put your mind to something and just keep trying YOU WILL SUCCEED. Look at me...I now have nearly 2400 dives under and over 15 years of diving under my belt! I'm a divemaster and I helping new divers learn to dial in all the good stuff and tweek all the less than perfect stuff and then watch them swim off side by side with some of the best divers I know and if you didn't know better...you might not be able to tell who was who.

You'll be a great RAB candidate and I'll be happy to be your personal RAB. So keep up the great work...don't sweat the bouyancy thing...that is the easiest thing for us to work on in the RAB if you don't dial it in by the end of your training and remember you REALLY ARE DOING GREAT!!! And the rewards will be soooooooooo worth it!!! Keep up the great job!! kamala

[scubaclint]

Thanks for sharing Lisa. Sounds like the normal "getting used to your gear and being underwater" process to me!

Clint

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

Yep, definitely sounds like the norm for class work to me! I've mentored some people just getting into diving and been in the pool with them who also struggled with buoyancy. But they made great strides once they got their C-card and started diving in places that have awesome things to see & explore underwater....kind of gave them added incentive to improve their dive skills. I have no doubt that if you want to improve, you will.

[Jerrymxz]

By the way due to scheduling problems ALL her "Pool Work" has been in the shallows in Dutch Spring in a 7 mil farmer john. She is doing AWESOME!! We had 4 or 5 masks on her before we found one that worked for her, and that didn't help. they all sealed on land but didn't sit right underwater. Glad she didn't have to buy them before she found one that works. It turned out to be my spare OMS clear skirt mask that works great. and as a bonus it has stick on readers installed already.

[shadragon]

For the moment concentrate on the individual skills and practice them until they are second nature. Clearing your mask is something you will always do in the future as just one example. Buoyancy comes with experience and that will develop in time. Everyone goes through the same experiences.

Little train that could and all that.

[duganalexzander]

I'd like to say that I was one of those 'perfect' newbies when I started. I probably got all of my skills right the first time around, and I never had buoyancy issues... but I got certified when I was 13, and my memory doesn't go back that far.

Honestly, at this point its a toss up. I'd always been comfortable in the water, and I'm happy to say I never had mask clearing issues, but if you look around in the humor forum there's a story about my certification dives... and the fact that its in the humor forum probably says enough right there.

Everyone's right though: No one gets it right the first number of times, and if there's a mistake that could have been made while diving then i'll bet vital parts of my anatomy that someone on this forum has made it.

And honestly if SCUBA diving was easy and totally second nature to everyone, then we wouldn't need diving classes!

Even now people still make 'amature' mistakes on occasion... my last dive I dropped down to 60 feet, only to remember that I forgot to take a compass heading! Then I had to go through the 5 minute safety stop, resurface, get the heading, then drop back down again! You can bet I felt silly! Of course... then one of my dump valves got stuck open and I got a lesson on just how much muck sucks!

Just keep working at it, I promise you'll get it.

-Will

[duganalexzander]

Oh, I lied. Sorry, said story is in "Diving Related Lessons Learned" or something to that effect.

[uwfan]

Keep it up! You sound like you're doing great! Heck, you haven't even gotten to the checkout dives and you've handled Dutch Spring - that sounds like you're doing awesome in my book!

[GunnaBDiver?]

I'm overwhelmed by all the support and encouragement. You guys are the best!
Lisa

[duganalexzander]

I'm overwhelmed by all the support and encouragement. You guys are the best!
Lisa

Just remember this when its your turn to buy a round!


(For those of us who drink Australian style)