phase1 with nwsd

[Burntchef]

part one of a few to follow. im sure ken and josh will be adding.


So for the past few months I have been deciding on where to go next in my dive education, I knew I was going top go the tech route so lining up a instructor was one of two major descions I had to make. The other descion was who to take it with? Two of my dive buddies already went to the dark side so they were out but after hitting ken up we both decided to take the class together. Ken and I had been diving a lot over the past few months and were each eager to go to the next step. Now picking a instructor was next, we both work polar opposite times and days from each other so flexibility was huge so after a lot of research and phone calls we went with matt from nwsd. Even after deciding on matt lining up some times would prove very tough, either I was getting my ass kicked at work with the holidays or ken was, then kens Bonaire trip put us behind and I decided to get the flu and a root canal for fun. Thru all this matt was ready to go when we were, and then the sun, the moon and stars lined up and dates were set.

About a week before class josh aka nailer99 decided to join the class even though he already had his trimix cert for his meg he wanted to join more as a work shop and not a cert class. This was very exciting news since most of my diving is done with josh or calvin (another meg diver) and having him in class would be awesome for some very important skills.

Our first night in class we went over all the expectations of what phase1 is, the gear list, the skills sets, the type of dives we will be doing especially with a rebreather thrown in. matt was all dressed up for us and after plenty of teasing we got underway. We did a few more class sessions before our first day in the water. We met at cove 2 of course and were going to do some basic skills in front of the camera, this way when we got back at the shop we can be ridiculed to tears. Big thanks to scott lundsy ( sp?) for working the camera and managing to miss some ugly scenes ( I owe you a beer) . our next dive was going to be on the pv-2 in the lake! This was going to be a first for a few things for me, first real lake dive, first helium dive, first dive with argon, first dive not using a computer. We used the aluminator which is a sweet boat, motored out and dropped the line smack dab next to the plane!!. We all got in the water one by one and that’s when josh decided to see who would win in a fight his salvo 21 watt against him jumping off the boat in full kit., just as josh was leaping off the boat his cord wrapped around the door and spun him around mid leap, the crazy thing is it sheared off his Goodman handle but the light was fine! No cord damage at all and it sparked right up. The dive went off fine and ive got to say hot dam is it dark down there!! The plane was really cool to see but of course I was so wrapped up in everything I missed the .50 call guns that were apparently right in front of my face. We did our gas switch at 70 feet and matt was calling deco. Great dive and I cant wait to do it again this time with a little more focus on seeing the wreck.

[Pez7378]

I read the other two versions of this story with as much suspense and enthusiasm as this one. Thanks for posting up your experience Howard. I'm sure it will be very educational for many of us here.

[Burntchef]

yes sorry about that, not sure why it posted 3 times

[Pez7378]

yes sorry about that, not sure why it posted 3 times

Because only the good stories are worth repeating.

[mattwave]

Good Report! I am sure more reports will come since we are only 1/6 of the way to completed. :smt038

[Burntchef]

sorry for the long delay in continuing this story just bought a house and have been moving.

anyways a few weeks ago myself, ken and matt met at the shop early morning to plan our next dive that day. as we each analysed our tanks we discussed the roles for each of us and some contingincies. the plan was pretty basic we would swim out to the float, drop as a team no more then 30 fpm as we approached bottom slam on the brakes and try not to silt out the place. ken was going to be the reel man and would tie off to the cement block and i would get us out to 130 or 140 depth, we would then reel back in and as we used the upward contour i was calling deco. at 30 ffw we would each shoot a bag and do a ascent. once we pulled up tothe park ( cant remember which but its on the lake ) matt called off the bag shoot since the chop was pretty decent and the water was moving. once geared up and checked out we did our swim out to the marker, did a final check and dropped, somehow during the drop me and ken seperated from matt and drifted off a ways away,now remember this is the lake and even 5 feet off you might as well be 50. once at bottom we did a one or two minute quick search for matt thinking maybe we dropped to fast and then did a free ascent making our stops as needed. once surfaced matt also did a free ascent and was waiting for us on the marker. we felt like total goobers and matt didnt rip us but did remind us had we been on a real tech divefor all we know floating down the channel somewhere. we regrouped and followed out our plan, all went pretty smooth and ive got to say a 10 watt salvo kicks my diverites ass in the lake. ken did a great job with the reel, and we did our contour deco upslope.

afterwards we did a debrief over coffee and talked about what we need to focus on, and our next dives. i do want to stress to anyone reading this that there are huge amounts of small details i am leaving out, im not trying to give a in depth course write up but just a overall one for those thinking about going the tech route. matt is a great teacher and truly cares about making us better divers not pushing us thru the class. iam so looking forward to wrapping up class and doing some more sweet and deep dives.

[Grateful Diver]

Sounds like fun ... were you at Leschi? The wall's a great place to train for Tech 1 dives ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Burntchef]

im pretty sure we werent at leschi, it was only about 10 minutes for nwsd. real small little park.

[Burntchef]

long time no report,

and its sure not for a lack of diving. we have been doing a few more deep lake dives,and a whole bunch more cove 2 skills. last week we did our most challenging dives yet and that was lost mask line drills, and lost mask ascent. how this went down was we would drop to about 40 feet and shoot a bag, then tie it off and run a reel attatched to the up line for about a hundred feet on the contour and drop the reel. our first skill was to do a shar air and follow the line to the bag and do a free ascent, not to demanding but still cool. then we dropped back down went out the end of the reel where ken was first to remove his mask, hand it over to matt and then i would take his hand place it on the line and we would slowly swim along( making sure his hand was allways on the line) till we got to the bag line going up, then i would remove his hand and place it on the up line grab his free hand and point his thump up as a signal to go up. as we ascended i would then take his hand and shake it in a sideways motion for us t do out stops. then again point his thumb up to surface. we then would do it again with me as the blind diver.

diving with no mask is very interesting, first you get this massive blast of cold water like a ice cream headache, then you have your buddy tugging at you, you feel the line and are kicking but you have no idea of where you are, and then going up is way crazy. managing your bouyancy, line, and buddy signals are a lot harder with out any visuall reference. boy i was happy to open my eyes on the surface. i did try a few times to open them on the line but you only see about 2 inches of blur.

as far as the rest of the class we are doing ox-tox this week then the written and we are done. it has been one great adventure, got to dive on some sweet private boats, see some cool stuff in the lake, not see some cool stuff in the lake, learn some great skills, learn to love thy helium, oh and holding hands with with your buddy underwater really is bonding :hello2:

cant wait for trimix!!!

[sheahanmcculla]

My hats off to you

I'll stick to diving WITH a mask! It's crazy some of stuff you guys will do. But I like to hear about it, keep the stories coming.

[Grateful Diver]

My hats off to you

I'll stick to diving WITH a mask! It's crazy some of stuff you guys will do. But I like to hear about it, keep the stories coming.

The rules change a bit when you get into technical diving ... because of the necessity for learning how to remain calm and fix just about anything that can go wrong while maintaining your buoyancy control. For the most part, we carry a spare mask in case something goes wrong with the one we're wearing ... but it still takes time to get it out of your pocket and deploy it. You need to be able to control your buoyancy in the interim.

Maskless diving is one of the exercises that they use to teach you how to do that, because removing your mask affects both your visual feedback loop and your breathing pattern ... and that affects your buoyancy control. Tech divers must train themselves to hold a stop at a specific level even while they're distracted with problems. When you're breathing a deco gas, for example, it's imperative not to accidentally drop below the MOD for that gas.

Once I was diving with Lynne and Kirk on a night dive and decided to deploy my spare mask on a 20-foot stop. So I took off my mask and handed it to Kirk, reached into my pocket for my spare ... and somehow had managed to get the bolt snap so screwed up it wouldn't release the mask. I struggled with it for a minute or so, then signaled Kirk to come over and release the mask. He couldn't do it either ... so eventually I signaled for him to give me back the mask I'd handed him. Overall I probably spent two minutes hovering mid-water without a mask on. To my complete surprise, the three of us held buoyancy pretty well during that whole episode.

That's really an example of the level of buoyancy control that's required if you want to get into tech diving ... which is why people who do those kind of dives spend so much time practicing their skills.

Other reasons for the maskless exercise is to teach you how to follow a line and keep track of your buddy while not being able to see. This is an important skill for people who dive in overhead environs like wrecks and caves, because if for some reason the place gets silted out (a VERY dangerous situation), you will not have the luxury of just sitting around waiting for the vis to clear ... you must stick to your schedule and find your way out "blind".

In tech diving, these skills can ... and sometimes do ... make the difference between living and dying. People who do these sorts of dives without the skills are taking HUGE risks ... much more so than on recreational-level dives.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[mattwave]

Well put.

[Sounder]

Maskless situations is DEFINITELY on my short list of critical skills to maintain... and carrying a back-up mask is something recreational divers may find useful as well.

I find it really comforting to have my buddy touch me to let me know they're there while I sort out the lost mask problem... it gets REALLY lonely for a second before your buddy touches to you let you know "I'm right here."

[BDub]

Maskless situations is DEFINITELY on my short list of critical skills to maintain... and carrying a back-up mask is something recreational divers may find useful as well.

I find it really comforting to have my buddy touch me to let me know they're there while I sort out the lost mask problem... it gets REALLY lonely for a second before your buddy touches to you let you know "I'm right here."

If you keep your face out of the prop wash, you wouldn't have that problem.

[Sounder]

Maskless situations is DEFINITELY on my short list of critical skills to maintain... and carrying a back-up mask is something recreational divers may find useful as well.

I find it really comforting to have my buddy touch me to let me know they're there while I sort out the lost mask problem... it gets REALLY lonely for a second before your buddy touches to you let you know "I'm right here."

If you keep your face out of the prop wash, you wouldn't have that problem.

I'll only make that mistake once!!

[LCF]

I'm interested in your description of the mask-off, line following exercise. It sounds as though only the mask-off diver had touch contact with the line? It seems like an odd exercise; what I've done in classes is that, if one diver is blind, his buddy takes touch contact, and they follow the line using the sighted diver's vision. If there's no viz, EVERYBODY's on the line, in touch contact.

Being the blind diver is a challenge, all right! I made my first line exits from cavern class upside down without knowing it . . .

[Pez7378]

If I don't overcome my fear of this, you may never see me advance beyond where I am now. I do NOT like to take my mask off. Every now and then I will flood it, or remove it in 10-15 fsw, and try to maintain buoyancy, and I HATE it. Plus I get that brain freeze! Seeing video on how it is done helps. I guess it's not really a fear so much as I just don't like to do it. Joe laughs at me because when I signal to him that I'm going to do a mask removal, the hesitation is very apparent just before I remove it. Then once it's off, I can't put it back on fast enough.

For those learning this, do you practice blind ascents etc. just with your eyes closed first, then without a mask?

[BDub]

For those learning this, do you practice blind ascents etc. just with your eyes closed first, then without a mask?

Yes, that is a good way to start. It accomplishes several things...

First, it forces you to pay attention to the bubble in your suit and anticipate, rather than react to, the ascent. Of course, it also allows you to open your eyes if need be, but if you do practice that way, you're practicing one part of the equation...controlling the bubble.

You can break it into separate parts....one is paying attention to the bubble in the suit. Another part is getting comfortable with the mask. That can be accomplished by simply doing mask off/on skills until you're comfortable and can maintain your breathing pattern with the mask off.

You can also practice touch contact during the dive. Touch contact can be a little tricky at first, but after some practice, it's quite easy.

Then, when you're proficient with the skills separately, you can combine them into one skill of a no mask ascent w/ touch contact. That way, you're not learning all 3 skills at once, but you're simply combining 3 skills you're already comfortable with.

Of course, before you practice the first one (eyes closed ascent), you ought to be proficient at midwater ascents and holding stops.

[Grateful Diver]

If I don't overcome my fear of this, you may never see me advance beyond where I am now. I do NOT like to take my mask off. Every now and then I will flood it, or remove it in 10-15 fsw, and try to maintain buoyancy, and I HATE it. Plus I get that brain freeze! Seeing video on how it is done helps. I guess it's not really a fear so much as I just don't like to do it. Joe laughs at me because when I signal to him that I'm going to do a mask removal, the hesitation is very apparent just before I remove it. Then once it's off, I can't put it back on fast enough.

For those learning this, do you practice blind ascents etc. just with your eyes closed first, then without a mask?

I hated it too ... till I got used to it. And I still won't just do it for giggles.

One of the big breakthroughs for me was the realization that it's OK to open your eyes in Puget Sound. You still won't see much ... but focusing on your buddy's light or a reflection from ambient sure takes away some of the disorientation you get from being completely in the dark or having your eyes closed.

Remember, the stinging won't start until you put your mask back on and clear it ... and by then it's just a minor annoyance that clears up after a minute or two ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[BDub]

If I don't overcome my fear of this, you may never see me advance beyond where I am now. I do NOT like to take my mask off. Every now and then I will flood it, or remove it in 10-15 fsw, and try to maintain buoyancy, and I HATE it. Plus I get that brain freeze! Seeing video on how it is done helps. I guess it's not really a fear so much as I just don't like to do it. Joe laughs at me because when I signal to him that I'm going to do a mask removal, the hesitation is very apparent just before I remove it. Then once it's off, I can't put it back on fast enough.

For those learning this, do you practice blind ascents etc. just with your eyes closed first, then without a mask?

I hated it too ... till I got used to it. And I still won't just do it for giggles.

One of the big breakthroughs for me was the realization that it's OK to open your eyes in Puget Sound. You still won't see much ... but focusing on your buddy's light or a reflection from ambient sure takes away some of the disorientation you get from being completely in the dark or having your eyes closed.

Remember, the stinging won't start until you put your mask back on and clear it ... and by then it's just a minor annoyance that clears up after a minute or two ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Yeah, and the stinging here isn't nearly as bad as most warm water locations.

[Burntchef]

I'm interested in your description of the mask-off, line following exercise. It sounds as though only the mask-off diver had touch contact with the line? It seems like an odd exercise; what I've done in classes is that, if one diver is blind, his buddy takes touch contact, and they follow the line using the sighted diver's vision. If there's no viz, EVERYBODY's on the line, in touch contact.

Being the blind diver is a challenge, all right! I made my first line exits from cavern class upside down without knowing it . . .

when ken was the blind diver i would place his hand on the line, he would make the ok signal around it, then i would give him the proper touch signals to go up, down, stop, and hold. so i am still his eyes but he is on the line since i can see it. and controll the situation.

[CaptnJack]

when ken was the blind diver i would place his hand on the line, he would make the ok signal around it, then i would give him the proper touch signals to go up, down, stop, and hold. so i am still his eyes but he is on the line since i can see it. and controll the situation.

That's not how I would deal with this for real. The mask-less diver needs to trust the sighted diver to swim them to the exit. Its way way faster if someone has sight to not force the unsighted into touch contact with the line.

As an example... Clare Gledhill was incapacitated in a cave in MX. She was vomiting and couldn't do much of anything. She could kick, but weakly. She could see, but was wretching so bad she couldn't see well. Her buddies did not put her in touch contact with the line, they grabbed her arm(s) and swam her out of there.

[Grateful Diver]

Yeah, and the stinging here isn't nearly as bad as most warm water locations.

Lot less salt in Puget Sound, due to all the sewage ... er, rivers ... dumping into it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Burntchef]

well ken wasnt dying, we werent in a cave or training for one, we werent in a wreck or training for one. if ken was that bad off we would of done a emergency ascent. this was not a skill to master and be able to do with instructor qaulity but one to be exposed to as a introduction for further classes down the line. this was to be better buddies, expose more extreme situations.

i hope clare made it out ok.

[CaptnJack]

well ken wasnt dying, we werent in a cave or training for one, we werent in a wreck or training for one. if ken was that bad off we would of done a emergency ascent. this was not a skill to master and be able to do with instructor qaulity but one to be exposed to as a introduction for further classes down the line. this was to be better buddies, expose more extreme situations.

i hope clare made it out ok.

She was fine after a day. Hydrogen sulfide dissolved in the water can permeate your mucous membranes and makes some people puke. That's the "rotten egg" gas.