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Hey, thanks for the input guys! It was strange to see this quote from skorb: "I cannot imagine diving in a lake or such.
just the concept of not being able to see beyond your forearms in muddy water is something that creeps the fuck out of me."
That was pretty much the deal. We were on one of our open water cert dives, and the visibility was like 2 ft. It had been a very busy day at the lake, so the water was very rough. The instructor said that when we got to depth the water would clear up, so we thought no big deal. What happened was the water never cleared, but the instructor kept going deeper. We figured he would abort the dive early, but the MF just kept going. Now remember, this was a shore dive, so as we were going deeper, we were also going way out into the lake. My dive buddy was my wife, and the first and foremost thing you're taught in scuba is to look out for your buddy above all else. I eventually let her get a little ahead just so I could see her. Thank god she has bright neon pink fins, or there's no way I could have seen her, and still had to stay close enough that I was having to avoid her fin kicks. We were both supposed to be folowing the instructor, but, at about 35 feet, the instructor just disappeared into the depth. We were instructed that if we lost him, stay put, and he would find us. Well, we were trying to "stay put", but were freaking out in that cold dark murky water. We both freaked out so bad that we were trying to control hyperventilating. After a couple of minutes we said fuck it, and surfaced . It was almost impossible to control the ascent because of the visibility (or lack thereof), and neither of us could really see our guage console. We just inflated the BC and went up. It seemed slow enough, but it was probably a bit speedy. When we reached the surface it seemed we were a mile from the shoreline. About half way back the instructor popped up, and said he couldn't find us. Anyway, it was a very long swim back, especially under the stress we had endured. When we got on the shore the instructor acted like it was no biggie.....but to us un-experienced divers it was one of the scariest events in our lives! We used to skydive regularly until the two children, so that put that sport on hold for awhile. Everybody said that skydiving was much more scary than scuba diving, so we thought there would never be any fear involved. We've both jumped from 15,000 feet into clouds and NEVER been as scared as we were yesterday!
Anyway, to you experienced divers that may not sound like much of a story, but to us it was something we'll never forget. Today we go back for two more open water dives, then we're certified. What we're questioning right now is that if the water is still as murky (the instructor insured us it wouldn't be) do we abort, or go ahead with it. This time of year is bad because next week the water could turn over and there will be no more diving (students) for the winter. That would mean waiting until next summer for the certifications.........which would also mean that our planned ocean diving on our trip to the east coast next month would be impossible. We've been planning that trip all summer, and this would really suck. Not to mention that we've spent a ton of cash on the scuba gear, which would just sit there all winter for us to stare at wondering...what if?
Anyway, that's the story. I appreciate the experienced divers input.
just the concept of not being able to see beyond your forearms in muddy water is something that creeps the fuck out of me."
That was pretty much the deal. We were on one of our open water cert dives, and the visibility was like 2 ft. It had been a very busy day at the lake, so the water was very rough. The instructor said that when we got to depth the water would clear up, so we thought no big deal. What happened was the water never cleared, but the instructor kept going deeper. We figured he would abort the dive early, but the MF just kept going. Now remember, this was a shore dive, so as we were going deeper, we were also going way out into the lake. My dive buddy was my wife, and the first and foremost thing you're taught in scuba is to look out for your buddy above all else. I eventually let her get a little ahead just so I could see her. Thank god she has bright neon pink fins, or there's no way I could have seen her, and still had to stay close enough that I was having to avoid her fin kicks. We were both supposed to be folowing the instructor, but, at about 35 feet, the instructor just disappeared into the depth. We were instructed that if we lost him, stay put, and he would find us. Well, we were trying to "stay put", but were freaking out in that cold dark murky water. We both freaked out so bad that we were trying to control hyperventilating. After a couple of minutes we said fuck it, and surfaced . It was almost impossible to control the ascent because of the visibility (or lack thereof), and neither of us could really see our guage console. We just inflated the BC and went up. It seemed slow enough, but it was probably a bit speedy. When we reached the surface it seemed we were a mile from the shoreline. About half way back the instructor popped up, and said he couldn't find us. Anyway, it was a very long swim back, especially under the stress we had endured. When we got on the shore the instructor acted like it was no biggie.....but to us un-experienced divers it was one of the scariest events in our lives! We used to skydive regularly until the two children, so that put that sport on hold for awhile. Everybody said that skydiving was much more scary than scuba diving, so we thought there would never be any fear involved. We've both jumped from 15,000 feet into clouds and NEVER been as scared as we were yesterday!
Anyway, to you experienced divers that may not sound like much of a story, but to us it was something we'll never forget. Today we go back for two more open water dives, then we're certified. What we're questioning right now is that if the water is still as murky (the instructor insured us it wouldn't be) do we abort, or go ahead with it. This time of year is bad because next week the water could turn over and there will be no more diving (students) for the winter. That would mean waiting until next summer for the certifications.........which would also mean that our planned ocean diving on our trip to the east coast next month would be impossible. We've been planning that trip all summer, and this would really suck. Not to mention that we've spent a ton of cash on the scuba gear, which would just sit there all winter for us to stare at wondering...what if?
Anyway, that's the story. I appreciate the experienced divers input.
Fortunately, I have never had a situation in which I had to bail. I probably would die of a heart attack! Now diving, I'm relaxed!
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