1st Lesson down

Well finally had my first scuba lesson tonight (Wed.) mostly it was about paper work and releasing the insturctor of all liabilities. And then the swim tests, first test was 200yrd any stroke swim. But the funny thing was that we had to go 10 times out and back or 20 laps of the pool, now the pool was not regulation size but it had to at least 20yrds long so it seems to me we did 400yrds instead of 200yrds, and man o man was that a challenge, now Im 6'3 about 255lbs, 44 years onld and smoke so the old lungs were on overtime but made it and was glad, out to the 9 folks in the class only 1 poor girl couldn't do it.

Next was a 10 min water treading exercise that wasen't to bad at all we mostly tossed the nerf football around for something to do. Everyone in the class made it. Bottom line is, over all it was a great experiance! Im sure gald that is over and can't wait to learn to dive.

Add: When I mentioned any stroke can be used to make the 200yrd..........er 400yrd swim test I mean any and all. There was side strokes, back strokes, freestyle, breast strokes and there was also some dog paddling going on, hey what ever it takes I guess

DJH

The fun's just beginning...wait until they have you remove your weight belt or BC/Tank underwater.

The fun's just beginning...wait until they have you remove your weight belt or BC/Tank underwater.

Now on the outside those two exercises don't seem to be that hard, what makes that a difficult task?

Well, you need the weight to counteract your bouyancy, so if you let go when you remove them you may find yourself ascending quicker than you ought. But indeed the fun is just beginning..will look forward to hearing how you enjoy your first submersion and tour of the pool and how mask flooding and removal go.....

My favorite test was the out of air test at 100 feet where they cut your air line and you have to rely on a buddy and sharing air to get to the surface. :roll:

Shouldn't we stop trying to freak DJ out and let him ENJOY his cert class?

Shouldn't we stop trying to freak DJ out and let him ENJOY his cert class?

Hey yeah really come on now! The instructor allready told us how we will die if we hold our breath will using a regulator.

No really so far having a great time and look forward to the next steps, It really funny how you can imange how your classmates will perform and then when it actually comes time you discover everyone is pretty much in the same boat. Take for instance the swim test Im thinking to myself man im not that great of a swimmer above water (lot better with a snorkel and being under) and then everyone does the test and well all looked like it was the first time in the water, it tends to make the learning experiance better when were all on the same level. Just a thought.

DJH

Add: When I mentioned any stroke can be used to make the 200yrd..........er 400yrd swim test I mean any and all. There was side strokes, back strokes, freestyle, breast strokes and there was also some dog paddling going on, hey what ever it takes I guess    

DJH

I'm glad to read that nobody used the heart stroke !

Have fun, truly enjoy your first OW course, you can do this only once.

Add: When I mentioned any stroke can be used to make the 200yrd..........er 400yrd swim test I mean any and all. There was side strokes, back strokes, freestyle, breast strokes and there was also some dog paddling going on, hey what ever it takes I guess    

DJH

 

I'm glad to read that nobody used the heart stroke !

 

Have fun, truly enjoy your first OW course, you can do this only once.

I'll tell ya I felt like I was going to have a stroke

Awww, I wasn't trying to freak anyone out. I just remember how much fun it was as we took our weightbelts off underwater.....lots of fins sticking out of the water as we tried to fight bouyancy and re-claim our belts. Removing the tank...straddle it like a horse!

Ditto on the not trying to freak DJ out...I was just remembering back to the fun of the first tour of the pool as we all happily bounced along the bottom As to the mask flood exercise..4 out of 5 of my OW class tried to flood it from the bottom during our check out dive [sad to say I started that trend :oops: ]. Anyway..don't worry about the swimming too much..one of the best divers I know barely knew how to swim when he started diving. Have fun with your class!

Ditto on the not trying to freak DJ out...I was just remembering back to the fun of the first tour of the pool as we all happily bounced along the bottom As to the mask flood exercise..4 out of 5 of my OW class tried to flood it from the bottom during our check out dive [sad to say I started that trend :oops: ]. Anyway..don't worry about the swimming too much..one of the best divers I know barely knew how to swim when he started diving. Have fun with your class!

taking my SCUBA course was one of the best things I have ever done! I am sure you will feel the same!

Hi DJ

When I became a NAUI instructor I had to jump in the pool with all my equipment in my hands and and the valve on my tank turned off. At the bottom of the pool I had to turn the air on and then don all of my gear. Although a bit tricky, it was actually kind of fun, and a good laugh. It's not hard to ditch and don underwater, just take your time and think it through each step of the way. Heres a little trick to help you out, when you take your BC off underwater, keep it close to you and somewhat on top of you to help prevent yourself from floating up. Don't let these guys freak you out, the out of air drills are easy, it's when they tie you to a rope and drag you behind the boat to attract sharks that things get a bit interesting!

Good Luck

Mike

I wonder how many dives DJ has logged now, since this thread was started in 2004.............