Andreina's Second Open Water Dive
Martha, Andreina and I floated on the surface for 10 minutes debriefing her first dive. I expressed my concerns that Andreina could be overweighted at 10 pounds or as a new diver she might just be having trouble controlling her buoyancy with her breathing. I suggested that she pay more attention to her trim and try to stay horizontal in the water.
I also advised her that we would be making a 5-Point descent and that she should descend slowly and equalize often on the way down. I signaled to descend by holding my arm up with my thumb pointing down. Both Martha and Andreina acknowledged the signal and responded similarly. We let the air out of our BCDs and exhaled then slowly sank to the sand.
Once everyone was down and ready to go, we swam South along the reef. Before we got to the Sectioned Rock, though, we moved onto a sand flat and Andreina tried to hover again but was unable to make herself buoyant enough to lift off the bottom.
She did satisfactorily demonstrate taking her gear off and putting it back on. She kept the BCD with its integrated weights over her center of gravity but did have a little trouble getting in the shoulder straps.
She indicated that she was down to 1000 psi, so I turned the dive and we continued South to the Sectioned Rock. At the Sectioned Rock, I had her take and use my alternate air source. She held onto the back of my BCD and kept clear of my legs so I could kick against the current without kicking her and vice versa.
Notice, too, how much better her trim is on this second dive.We traveled West past the staghorn coral, Southwest over the rubble, West over the sand flat to the Rock Line, then to the large Coral Head, where I signaled that she should finish the dive breathing from her tank using her primary regulator.
We surfaced just at the buoy line and then swam in on the surface as required by the municipal code. Evan met us at the shoreline and helped us over the step and onto the beach which was very much appreciated.
The Dive time was 46 minutes, maximum depth was 21.5 feet and the bottom temperature was 80.6 degrees. My SAC was 23.59 psi/minute and the RMV was 0.61 cubic feet per minute, though she did share my tank for approximately 1000 psi.
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