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Had a great dive yesterday. My frog kick got pronounced “pretty good” and “looks normal.” It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to this point. Yay! :D I was also told my new sidemount rig doesn’t need any tweaks. It’s much more solid than the old one. I was at Wazee Lake near Black River Falls, WI. Gorgeous day. Got to talk with a lot of divers in the group from the Madison dive shop. They had several classes going on.
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Go to 4:40 in this video for a good look at frog kick. It keeps your feet up so you don’t kick up the bottom, unlike the flutter/scissors kick that most recreational divers use.
https://youtu.be/btsJZ2Zu9u8
Beautiful, Tradd. Sounds like you had a great day!
So the last few days have been interesting.
WI instructor told me that I needed to improve my stamina before doing full cave as dives are mostly upward of 90 minutes as well as getting frog kick better. I went back to the gym at the beginning of September. Did pool laps (snorkeling) for a couple of weeks, but I went back to the recumbent bike as it’s a much more intense workout. I’m now doing 60-70 sessions 3x a week, 14-16 miles. I did 16.8 miles in 70 minutes last night. I’ve lost about 12 lbs as a bonus!
Was in contact with WI instructor Sunday and no bueno. She’s still concerned about my stamina. Frog kick is decent now but not powerful enough to deal with the flow (current) in the higher flow caves in FL or MO. And even if she had approved me doing full this winter, I wouldn’t have been able to finish in FL. She was already committed to other students. Really pissed me for since I had told her multiple times I wanted to do the class this winter AND finish in FL since physical access to the sites is pretty difficult for some of the MO sites. I don’t know where the disconnect happened. But in any case, next time everything will be in writing and in writing multiple times.
I’m invited to hang out with them every night in FL as there is a whole group that comes down.
I had a couple of pretty bad days. Major blue funk. Lotsa crying. I’ve calmed down. WI instructor told me I just have to progress at my own pace. She said I’m really improving so to celebrate that and move forward. A diving friend talked me off the edge. I dived with her last winter at the WI mine after I got my intro to cave certification. She suggested doing a day or two with a FL instructor who is a friend. He’s also recommended by my WI instructor for people who want to train only in FL. I had a really good hour long phone call with this FL instructor last night. We’re going to do two days at the beginning of my trip. We are going to do full cave level dives. You can do dives one step above if you’re with an instructor. Since I’m partway through the deco procedures class, we’ll be able to do deco dives. The WI mine is filled with ground water so there is no flow or current. The FL caves were formed by springs and they all have flow, of varying levels. We’re going to do day one at a lower flow cave and second day at a higher flow one. I’m calling this “intro to flow.” The FL instructor is considering this to be “pre-full cave” for whenever I take that class. The rest of the trip I’ll be cave diving with friends for fun. The first day (Sunday) I’ll be recovering from the two day drive and will go to a spring where you can solo dive (no cave, just room to dive).
WI instructor told me she was more concerned about me with high flow in the MO caves than the physical access. She told me to dive higher flow caves in FL and see how it went. If I do OK in the high flow, that opens up full cave being finished in MO if I continue to progress. We will see.
Honestly, it sounds like your instructor is calm, rational, and analytical in assessing your skills. That my dear is your safety net.
I have to agree with IL - and it sounds like you really do realize all this, just that it is not where you want to be. I agree with your instructor who said you have made tremendous gains in your diving! And you are taking all the steps you need to get where you want to be! I'm still in awe of your diving knowledge and skill.
What the others said. This is definitely a hobby where you want to err on the side of caution. If your hobby was knitting or pressing flowers, that would be a different story. :)
Yes, it’s quite frustrating I’ve been working my ass off and it’s not good enough. I’m pissed and that makes me work harder, like when I didn’t pass the broker’s exam the first time.
Hang in there, Tradd. You are an inspiration with your effort and commitment.