Northwest Dive Club

Hello everyone,

I have a couple of quick question for the collected wisdom of the nwdiveclub community !

Let me preface by saying that I LOVE SCUBA, I have been bitten by the diving bug and it is really hard to get it out of my head. I have fun in each one of the dives I made so far, 47 total but soon to be 49 after the weekend!!! Master Scuba Rating here I come (to be honest, I don't feel very master yet, so much to learn!!)

That said, whenever I submerge for the first time on a day my heart rate accelerates and I go trough a few seconds off what am I doing… ahh I'm underwater… ahhh… ohhh pretty fish!!! And then all goes back to normal and I have a great time. This seems to be a recurring pattern though I'm not sure when it started. So my question #1 is, have any of you experience something similar and, more importantly, does it go away the more experience you get?

Question #2 is an extension of the same topic, I seem to have issues being the navigator when my buddy has less experience than me, I spend most of the dive being super tense glued to my compass. This makes diving often a little difficult since most of my diving friends I can go out in a regular basis have about the same or less experience than I do. I'm wondering if there are any relaxation techniques that could be useful? I know I haven't done this often and it is all new which explains most of this and that just going out an doing will probably take care of it but it never hurts to try speeding up the process ;-)

Happy diving!
Jorge

Jorge, I think solidifying your skills and gaining confidence in them will help you more than any relaxation technique.

For example, with navigation. Compass navigation is generally more of a fallback than a primary on most local sites. Depth contours and landmarks are more immediately useful than the compass (Edmonds, if you get off the grid, is an exception!) As you go out, pay careful attention to what you pass . . . that can mean the contour of the slope, what's on the bottom, water color and light intensity, direction and speed of current. All those pieces of information will help you get back where you started, which is the goal of navigation most of the time.

With regards to the rapid heart rate/high arousal state at the beginning of a dive . . . it took me hundreds of dives before that went away, and in a new location or with new challenges, I still feel that way. The day you stop being a teensy bit apprehensive about your dive is the day you enter into complacency. A little anxiety can be a really good thing!

DonGeorge wrote: That said, whenever I submerge for the first time on a day my heart rate accelerates and I go trough a few seconds off what am I doing… ahh I'm underwater… ahhh… ohhh pretty fish!!! And then all goes back to normal and I have a great time. This seems to be a recurring pattern though I'm not sure when it started. So my question #1 is, have any of you experience something similar and, more importantly, does it go away the more experience you get?

I had this when I began and it will go away. Mine turned into "YAYY I'm diving again!!" So rest assurred that the more you do it the less that will happen. Slight anxiety from doing something that humans were not "designed" to do is to be expected until you get used to it.

DonGeorge wrote: Question #2 is an extension of the same topic, I seem to have issues being the navigator when my buddy has less experience than me, I spend most of the dive being super tense glued to my compass. This makes diving often a little difficult since most of my diving friends I can go out in a regular basis have about the same or less experience than I do. I'm wondering if there are any relaxation techniques that could be useful? I know I haven't done this often and it is all new which explains most of this and that just going out an doing will probably take care of it but it never hurts to try speeding up the process ;-)

Happy diving!
Jorge

I think this one would be helped to remember your breathing. Relax and do your best. When you are the dive leader make sure that you are doing so at sites you are comfortable with. There are some sites that I know by the back of my hand, and others I do not. I try and only lead dives at areas that I know really well. This way I dont have to be planted to my compass and can spend my time seeking out cool things to look at/show people and keeping an eye on my buddy/group. No matter what, when you are the dive leader, it does take away a certain amount of "freedom" to do what you want, but the fun can then be..."what can I find for people to see?"...


+1 on what LCF says too

Thanks for the advise! It is reply good to know I'm not experiencing something super weird on the anxiety camp, I just haven't heard anyone talk about it ;-)

For navigation I totally agree, I try to pay close attention on all dives to the little things that can help me find my way. Being underwater is very disorienting though =D

Is it rude to ask a more experienced buddy to let me navigate for practice?

DonGeorge wrote:
Is it rude to ask a more experienced buddy to let me navigate for practice?

Not at all. I have done that on many occasions. Especially when learning a new site, I find I absorb more if I am leading, mentally recording landmarks, and occasionally taking a compass reading.

LCF wrote:With regards to the rapid heart rate/high arousal state at the beginning of a dive . . . it took me hundreds of dives before that went away, and in a new location or with new challenges, I still feel that way. The day you stop being a teensy bit apprehensive about your dive is the day you enter into complacency. A little anxiety can be a really good thing!

Fully agree and want to add that a few minutes of mild tachycardia could be a normal reaction to cold water immersion. It's a stressful transition for your body to make Jorge.

+1 to what's been stated already. I try not to focus too much on my compass when shore diving around here-I find that landmarks help much more than headings. Unless, of course, there's a specific landmark I'm trying to hit. Often I'll take a heading on the surface, drop, and follow that heading if I know where I'm going. Practice helps, familiarity with the site helps, and studying site maps helps (you can get them online for many sites.) If you don't have the Fischnaller book (Northwest Shore Dives), pick it up, along with 151 Dives by Betty Pratt Johnson, and just read the books. Read the site descriptions for the places you've been, and learn how other people describe them. It always helps me visualize a site if I have someone else's description.

As far as relaxing goes, I help get that initial shock out of my system by breathing through my reg with my mask off on the surface while I'm putting my fins on. I do it on every dive-it helps me practice my no-mask breathing, and it gets that cold shock out of the way before I drop.

Breathing out of the reg at the surface sounds interesting, I'll try that next time =D. I also been trying to find the northwest shore dives bit haven't been able to do so, I have the 151 dives though but in sad most if them are in BC

whatevah wrote:

LCF wrote:With regards to the rapid heart rate/high arousal state at the beginning of a dive . . . it took me hundreds of dives before that went away, and in a new location or with new challenges, I still feel that way. The day you stop being a teensy bit apprehensive about your dive is the day you enter into complacency. A little anxiety can be a really good thing!

Fully agree and want to add that a few minutes of mild tachycardia could be a normal reaction to cold water immersion. It's a stressful transition for your body to make Jorge.

True, it is cold here! =]

It's not unusual to have a bit of adrenal rush at the beginning of a dive. Human's aren't designed to live under water and your brain knows that. Do a pre-flight check, stick your head under water, look at the bottom, listen to your gear, listen to your breathing. Take a few minutes to relax and cool down after schlepping that heavy gear down to the shore.

As for navigation, try descending in the shallows instead of swimming out. Look carefully at the bottom, when does it change from beach rock to sand, mud, eel grass or whatever the bottom substrate is. Are there huge boulders or broken pilings. Look for anything to aid in natural navigation, slow down and look behind you to see what you will see on the way back.

Most of all have fun.

I think it's actually IDEAL to do some navigation with an experienced buddy who knows the site, and can correct you before you get totally out of whack. Navigation, like all the skills in diving, only gets better if you practice it. It's real easy, if your navigation is weak, to succumb to the temptation to follow somebody else all the time. But like riding as a passenger in a car never really teaches you the route to anywhere, following another diver never teaches you to find your own way.

Fully agree and want to add that a few minutes of mild tachycardia could be a normal reaction to cold water immersion. It's a stressful transition for your body to make

Oh, man, did we learn this in Nanaimo! Jumping off a warm boat into 43 degree water gave both me and my husband panic attacks at the surface, until we figured out that having our hearts pound and feeling acutely short of breath was just the body's response to ice water immersion

I'll try that next time =D. I also been trying to find the northwest shore dives bit haven't been able to do so,

first this site.. http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewforum.php?f=6

then detailed directions here if not there http://www.pnwscuba.com/directions.htm

if your north seattle you have mulketo and edmonds
if your south seattle you have redondo
all seattle you have alki

these are all largely popular sites with easy to meet up with people and normally some showers etc

I have a little ritual I do on every single dive- boat dive, shore dive, recreational or technical. I learned it in my PADI OW class, and I really like it: As soon as I get in the water, I dunk my face in it. (I guess that happens automatically on most boat dives, but even then, I slip my mask up and get my WHOLE face wet). I read somewhere that this triggers some aspect of the mammalian dive reflex, and slows your heart rate. It's also my trigger to stop for a second and mentally check myself and my gear over.

Works for me, anyway. Try it and see what you think.

DonGeorge wrote:
Question #2 is an extension of the same topic, I seem to have issues being the navigator when my buddy has less experience than me, I spend most of the dive being super tense glued to my compass. This makes diving often a little difficult since most of my diving friends I can go out in a regular basis have about the same or less experience than I do.

If you want that more immediate feeling of relaxation, dive with a "big buddy" someone who you can learn more from. Ask plenty of questions on the surface.

Also helping educate and train your "little buddy" will bestow some confidence within your duo. You should ask your buddy to take charge (after initial buddy training and planning) but, still keep track of where you are via compass. So basically be in charge but allow your buddy to "lead" just be on hot stand by in case they give you the "oh crap i need help"

Joshua Smith wrote:As soon as I get in the water, I dunk my face in it.

I take this a little further and test breath both my regs at the surface with my mask off before I dive. Beyond function checking my regs this helps me get comfortable in the water and gets me used to having my mask off.

renoun wrote:

Joshua Smith wrote:As soon as I get in the water, I dunk my face in it.

I take this a little further and test breath both my regs at the surface with my mask off before I dive. Beyond function checking my regs this helps me get comfortable in the water and gets me used to having my mask off.

I tried this yesterday and it did help!! much thanks