AIDA 2 star free diving Part 2

Rosie and I underwent the second part of our AIDA free diving course yesterday. We met Steve in the classroom at Capernwray, and sat the exam. Whilst it was not too taxing, it did check quite thoroughly whether I had been listening or not!

We then went into open water. We got weighted correctly and initially, it was just pulling down the line to 6m, and getting the feel for head first descents. Given my emphasis on good trim and body positioning on scuba, descending upside down and deliberately limiting my field of view felt very weird. We then progressed to 12m descents, I delayed equalising too long and had a few ear problems. These descents were "swimming" ones-not using the line to pull down, and duck diving from the surface. We both (I think) were finding that there was quite a bit of task loading. Trying to co-ordinate good diving style, finning technique, equalisation, "breathe ups" and body position during ascent and descent meant that I was unable to clear my mind and I think that this somewhat affected my performance.

Session 2 involved working up to some more depth. Rosie got down to over 17m, and I got to 15.5. I had a "good" learning experience when I tried to equalise, and some how managed to get some water in my mouth. Rather than do the obvious, and spit it out(!) I got a bit freaked out! Steve was with me (and actually supported my airway) so there was no risk as such, but it did spook me. It took a few dives for me to re-gain my confidence. Lastly, we looked at dealing with sambas (blackouts) at the surface-rescue techniques.

I was a little disapointed by my performance to be honest, and found that the clarity that came so easilly in the pool eluded. This may have been due to task loading, I don't think it was due to confidence in water. Once again though, Steve and team did a great job! Our final session is next Wednesday and am looking forward to it!