50 replies to this topic

[Burning Chrome]

Best of luck with your check-out dives!

Thanks!

I am getting excited!!! I will be leaving here in about an hour to meet the class for the dives! I should be finished and back home by mid-afternoon! I will then be a certified OW diver!

[Burning Chrome]

Final Checkout Dives 5/14/06 Devil's Den, Williston, FL

At roughly 10:15am, we descended the long (rather rickety and slippery) stairs into the (very) cold water at Devil's Den. You must climb down the stairs one at a time to be safe. You must also sign a waiver before you enter the spring. Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, we put our fins on and broke into 2 groups of 4 plus an instructor. We talked about what we were going to be accomplishing during our dive--though we had already gone over what we were going to be doing for both dives up on the ground level before we entered the spring.
Dive one consisted of a mask clearing and achieving nuetral bouyancy using the auto-inflator on the BC. We were to obtain the neutral bouyancy in an upright or vertical position rather than horizontal. We also were given a tour of the spring with some of the features pointed out via a flashlight. We also had our own flashlights. We were then supposed to surface...but becuase Devil's Den is a popular spot for checkout dives, the main platform was in use by another class, so we went ahead and completed our second round of skills. We did a mask removal/replacement and we redid the neutral bouyancy, except this time we did it manually. After each member of the group had successfully completed those skills, we surfaced and regrouped on the main platform.
We discussed what we had just done and what we were going to do for the second dive. We also did a pressure check, each of us telling the instructor what our tank pressure was. After a lttle while longer, we left the main platform, swam to the float and readied ourselves to descend for another, much more thorough exploration of the spring. Since we had already completed the skills portion of the dives, we were just going to spend the second dive looking around.
We swam in a couter clockwise direction around the perimeter of the spring, this time actually going through some of the openings at the edge of the spring. We also went much deeper on this dive than we had on our previous dives. It was really cool to swim through some of the openings and you needed to pay really close attention to your bouyancy as the holes were not that big and you could have very easily hit eother to under or over structure of the spring.
After what was not a long enough period of time, we resurfaced and exited the spring and made our way--very carefully--back to the ground level. Once on the actual surface, we broke down our gear, filled out our log books and had them signed by our instructor(s). At that time, they also signed our temporary cards in our log books! I should have my (actual) card in about a week. The water temp yesterday was about 70 degrees, the visibility was around 30' and the maximum depth we reached was about 50'. All in all it was a very good time and I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the class. I am really quite happy and pleased with myself, and once other things in my life settle down I look forward to learning more and diving more and possibly earning my advanced certification.
I guess this ends this chronicle. I hope you have enjoyed it. I have enjoyed doing it...and feel that it helped me think about what I was doing and learning. So, who wants to go diving???!!!???!!! I am so looking forward to my first dive outside of the class! See you on and in the water! Peace!

[Capn Jack]

I hope you have enjoyed it. I have enjoyed doing it...and feel that it helped me think about what I was doing and learning.

Great work - and great posts. This one has to be entered into our annual contest (that I think I just started) for best topic!!

Stay wet - there are lots of Florida divers, and if they are the stalwart citizens I think they are, you'll have plenty of offers. If not, come to Texas.

[PerroneFord]

Just a few comments.

1. What a MARVELOUS way to record your thoughts from OW class. I wish something like this had been available when I did mine.

2. The spring was 70F. That is pretty typical for Florida springs and is generally considered warm water. I guess if you're used to the tropics, it would seem pretty chilly.

3. Depending on how far you want to travel, I'd be happy to do some dives with you. There are a number of Florida divers on here. Hopefully you can find someone close to you to dive with.


I am going to have to do Devil's Den one of these days. It bugs me that I can't take my doubles there though as my I have to change my regs around to dive a single.

Thanks so much for sharing your story. And welcome to diving!

[annasea]

Congratulations, Burning Chrome!

And thank you for sharing your OW training experience with us!

[Burning Chrome]

Thank you, thank you, and thank you. And I do mean that...this has been a great experience for me...and the documenting of it has also helped a great deal! I am certainly pleased that people enjoyed reading my experiences with becoming certified.

If 70F is considered warm, I don't even want to contemplate cold! I must be a wimp!

I am certainly looking forward to diving again, as soon as I can! I do have a few things to deal with first, but I will certainly stay tuned to this forum for upcoming dive info!


Thanks again y'all...Peace!