Nitrox Certification Dives

11 - September - 2005

All Right! Passed the nitrox certification on Sunday! We were down at Bainbridge again and had a great time. The weather was beautiful, one of the nicest days we've had all summer. The freshwater jellyfish were out and I saw one, Jeff pointed him out, which was nice considering I didn't know such things existed in fresh water. It was only about 1 inch in diameter but looked just like any other jelly only a lot harder to pick out due to their size. We were also down a little deeper (and colder) and saw the pensey cement truck and some large cable spools along with some "new" boats (they were new to me!), some nice bass and the ever present sunny bonos near the surface.

I made a small slate for my forearm for noting time and temps and stuff out of a piece of 5 gallon bucked and some elastic cord and pencil. It was handier than fumbling for the big one while everyone has to wait for Mr. Forgetful to scribble down the details. Use some fine sandpaper to rough up the writing surface. Worked great!

Wow it was chillier down at depth, my gauge read 50 deg. F down about 51' and when we were done with dive 1 I was shivering. Must get to modifying the heavier wetsuit and see how much of a difference that makes. I also put two pounds more in each pocket, I think it helped with the descents, and no, I don't want to be carrying too much but I think it worked a little better. By the time we were done some of the other's in the group couldn't go back down after surfacing; perhaps this makes Body Recovery easier when dealing with students… Wait till the air runs out then skim 'em off the surface!

I did make some screw ups, once I got a little "feet up" and couldn't find the rear dump. I think it will take more practice to familiarize myself better with the equipment, but the rear dumps are a lifesaver for me as when I get that way I often can't straighten out to get the air out the low pressure inflator. I got it out but ended up 15' above everyone else by the time I did. When having trouble with this before, the bc's had the knob right on the back and it was no problem to reach around and feel the thing out. This one still has the valve on the back side but the pull knob is down low in front with a longer cord going through a sleeve around to the back, and the knob is more difficult to find. 

I also made a couple of screw-ups on the bookwork. By the time we were done with the second dive I had to pee really really really, no seriously, really bad! And the brain cells must've been on a beach somewhere laying on a hammock singing Jimmy Buffet tunes. I really had to go. Anywho, I forgot to add the RNT from dive 1 to the ABT of dive 2, Oy! Also mistakenly used the equivalent air depth instead of actual depth on dive 2 to figure for oxygen exposure. I made some notes on the slates with a sharpie and hopefully this won't happen again. Hey wad'ya expect from a newbie?

 
It surely was different diving with more people. 6 of us in the course (made 3 pairs). I'm sure that when Jeff and I were leading everyone was taking naps in between fin kicks because I do move a lot slower swimming only hand. The group got broken up later because I couldn't keep up in the rear. Me and the FL (fearless leader) got separated from the pack and after a minute or two surfaced. Well, we could see their bubbles and they weren't that far off so we tried to catch them. Wow, I pulled as hard as I could and we finally caught up. I really need a DPV!
 
One more thing I noticed which I am sure is a matter of experience, while swimming along the bottom, I'm really on the bottom! Right on the bottom. I need to practice staying off it better a couple of feet. No problem along a vertical wall, I'm not sure why, perhaps clinging to the "old" 2 dimensional outlook. I'm really becoming a fan of the smaller cylinders, dive 1 was 45 min. and dive 2 was 50 min. and had air to spare on both. On dive 1 the temp was the more limiting factor. Can't wait 'til the steel 80's come in.

That's all for now, hopefully more later.
 
Rick