Yup - losing some weights is what I'm planning to do in my next dive -
I'm going to try going down with 6 pounds instead of 8 after which I'll do
all of your suggestions. Problem is I can't go on a "next" dive yet -
Arrrggghhh - waiting for my C-card is killing me. I always thought that
after my OW class - the Dive Centre will immediately issue the C-card
themselves.

   Oh well, I'll just go check out some diving gears for now(mask, snorkel,
wetsuit, fins- Mares Volos/Quattro  :-)   ).  Most probably, the next thing
I'll ask you guys is gonna be about diving gears.


- Angelo




                    Huw Porter
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                    18/07/2001
                    06:22 PM
                    Please respond
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On Wed, 18 Jul 2001 16:27:01 +0800, Angelo Pardinas
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Specially for a guy like me who can sink like a rock in
>a matter of seconds. But the fourth dive site was all covered with boulder
>corals so my choice was either break some corals trying to hover
>unsuccessfully or swim around to maintain buoyancy. I chose to swim around
>to preserve the corals.

Hi Angelo,

You've already had lots of good advice from some of the extremely
experienced divers on this list, so in addition here is a beginners tip
from a relative newbie who is just starting to feel he's getting the hang
of bouyancy after 100 dives!  :-)

If you are prone to 'sink like a rock' at any point during a dive, I'd bet
you are overweighted.

The way I test my weighting is, at the end of the first of a sequence of
dives, doing your safety stop at 5 metres with about 50 bar left in the
tank, (preferably with something like a shotline to grab on to, if
necessary) then try letting *all* the air out of your BCD.  If there is any
more than a tiny burp of air in the jacket, and you start sinking fast then
try taking a little weight off your belt before the next dive, (just do
this a kilo or two at a time - you don't want to be positive at this point
in a dive either) and test again at the end of your next dive.

(If you change kind/size of tank or thermal protection you'll have to start
all over again until you start to get a feel for it!)

I feel correctly weighted when I have *no* air in my BC at 5 metres with 50
bar and breathing normally (slowly, relaxedly, *continuously*) and I'm not
sinking or floating.  When I get my weighting right, my comfort levels in
the water improve, hovering and maintaining a horisontal attitude become
much easier, and my air consumption drops dramatically! :-)  Being
correctly weighted means you are much less likely to sink fast at any point
during a dive, and actually less likely to have a runaway ascent as well,
as there is less air in your BC at any point to start expanding fast if you
do start to drift up a bit.  You will always have some air in your BC to
get neutral at the start of a dive because of the weight of the air in your
full tank, and compression in your wetsuit at the deepest part of your
dive.

But... as everyone says there is no substitute for going diving to gain
experience!  Please anyone feel free to pitch in if I've missed anything.
I'm no instructor.

HTH,
Huw
--
http://www.huwporter.com
"A wise diver will refrain from written descriptions of his experiences"
- William Beebe