Nice boat dive with BonBini today. I buddied with the lady who was certified when I was, and Walt, the Divemaster, heeded our plea to "stay real close to us, please!!!" He was great about it, and we felt very secure. Dived to 60feet, and really enjoyed the experience. Found yesterday that I needed more weight, and 7 lbs worked great.

Tomorrow may be a GREAT adventure. Jake invited me to join the Dive Club on their dive tomorrow morning --- and if conditions are right, we'll dive the EAST SIDE. Yes, me, diving the east side. Almost too much to take in. The wind conditions look as if it will be possible, and Jake promises to hold my hand.... (Not that I'm nervous or anything!) Once again, I'm excited and nervous. But this is such an opportunity, can't miss it....

Keep posted for Josie's continuing thrills...

Josies Excellent Adventure..having fun following it from here Josie...how lucky you are to dive the east side..expect a full report please..I hav'nt had the opportunity yet....are you keeping your dive log ?

Josie, you are blowing us away with your adventures and leaps and bounds of achievement!!! I am in awe....Carole

Well, the east side dive didn't materialize, because it wasn't still enough. No matter, we had a nice dive at Jeanne's Glory. At least until I got too bouyant at the end. As my tank empties, I bounced up, and I haven't got the hang yet of getting and keeping down when I'm under-weighted. Putting on a couple more pounds today. Jake tells me that it's something I can control myself, but I'm not skilled enough yet to do that. As I couldn't keep down, I snorkeled in (with Jake as an escort, thank heavens, as it was much rougher than I'm used to). A LONG swim in - would have been much easier if I could have stayed undere!!!

Still much to learn....

Keep posted for the Small Wall sighting just after 4 pm this afternoon.

Josie: You're positively the spirit of Dunkirk!! I am in awe, and perhaps a TEENY bitjealous. (I keep hearing a little voice in my ear yelling "ME,TOO"!!!) So good to see you enjoying what you richly deserve for your efforts!

Josie at Small Wall!!!! Here are some captures!! Yay, Jose! Carole

As a new diver, I had the same problem when I was there in May. I added 2 pounds, and I found that continuously dumping my BC at about 30 feet or so really helped.

Josie,

As you have found out, you need to set your weight with a low tank pressure. I prefer 300 psi at the surface for safety.

Carole: Thanks for posting the pics. Josie, thanks for the privilege of watching. And Thank You, too, 'Good Right Arm'! If a girl has to lean on someone, reckon you're a terrific choice!

Ya look GREAT, Josie...

If you have the time, I think you should check out a few dive operators and see their bouyancy workshops.

Caribe Inn's - Bruce Bowker - method is the one I adopted. I use no air in my BC, 5 lbs and I'm big.

Others might be better - each operator has a diffeent technique. Try to see several.

Once you get more experience, you will learn to use your breathing to maintain bouyancy.

But, so far you must be doing okay...I keep seeing underwater pics and that's what counts for now.

Barry, is that with a wetsuit? If so, how thick (and new)?

I found that I needed 10 pounds, mostly because of that low-tank, bounce to the surface effect - towards the end of the dive I'd be fighting to stay down to the point where it was just not much fun. However, I was using a new 3mil.

Susan

Susan...that's with a polar tech.

I'll try to give some background.

Let's say the average dive is 45-60 minutes long. Let's say it takes a minute to get down and another 3-4 minutes for the safety stop. That means you add all that weight on for 4-5 minutes of diving and suffer with air in the BC, let it out, put some in, etc for the rest of the dive.

The more weight you have, the more you work, the more you work, the more you breathe, the more you breathe, the more air you use and you also begin to rise with all that air in you (faster breathing), so what do people do?, they add more weight....it's a vicious cycle that can be eliminated by proper weighting and breathing techniques from the beginning. That's what bouyancy is all about.

If you need to put a lot of air in your BC at 35-40 feet, you are overweighted in my opinion.

Fin down or pull yourself down on the anchor line at the beginning of the dive and hold onto dead coral rock or anchor line during your safety stop....there is nothing wrong with holding onto dead rock.

The time at 25-30 feet will be controlled by breathing as experience is gained. Of course you it took me many dives, but I am still neutral at 6 feet with 300psi with 4 pounds on my tank and 1 pound on my belt (that is there to keep me slightly negative). That means when I drop my belt, I'm positive, but I don't shoot up dangerously as one would if they dropped 14 pounds at once.

I think 85% of the divers out there are overweighted for the 5 minutes of dive time mentioned. The idea is NOT TO WORK HARD....it's the best sport in the world - no hard work.

I am glad this came up. It took me a while to find the right weight (cold water, 7 ml suit, hood, gloves, booties, skin) and then I got a new suit after a year. Threw my whole game off. On another thread somewhere we were talking about this. I think that the physiology of the male and female is different such that "standard" weight guides need to be adjusted for gender and body type. Certainly breathing techniques can make a difference, but the muscle to fat ratio, gender difference, and weight/fat distribution with gender must account for some differences. Also, going from a weight belt to weight integrated BC changed my distribtion...

Hey Josie!!! So glad I got to read about your great adventures! Ditta emailed me to let me know that she picked up the package! Many thanks. We will be going down the end of November, so if you need anything let us know. Also Ditta said she would get you pics of our place to bring back to see...we can't wait. And once again...can't thank you enough for taking our care package!

Cynde...you hit the nail on the head about standard weight guides - but, I would be in favor of throwing them out completely, cuz most divers don't use them as a guide. They use what their instructor told them to use and that's it. Adjustments have to be made until the conditions are ideal...then as you said, do it all over again when you change equipment.

I'm 6' and my went from 200 to 230 over a period of 3-4 years (too many deli hoagies ) Although I had muscle, I had a lot of fat, but it didnt' change my distribution except for 1 extra pound n my belt. I'm back to 200 (a lot less fat).

I changed my distribution by adding 4 lbs at the top of my tanks - I was foot heavy and had to fight so hard to level out...this did it naturally for me. I integrated 2 2-lb in my BC strap.

I also found that wearing my weights (now 1 lb) at the front of my belt instead of the sides helped to steady my body. Think about it - weights want to go downward, so if you have weights on either side of you, each time you lean slightly from one side to the other, you have to fight gravity. By having the weights in the front, the natural downward pull is centered, thus allowing you to be righted naturally with no effort when you lean.

I learned all this at the Caribe Inn. I encourage everyone to view Bruce Bowker's bouyancy workshop. It's not for everyone, but you never know. I knocked a lot of weight (8-9 lbs) off because of it.

I'm having a lot of fun catching up on all the postings that I missed while at another Caribbean locale - congrats, Josie! I backtracked and read all parts of your wonderful story.

For those who can't get to Bruce Bowker's bouyancy workshop any time soon, go to the Carib Inn's website (you can just click on the banner when his sponsorship appears on this site), click on Bruce's Page, and read his essay(s) - one particular on bouyancy control, another on selecting a BC, etc. Great reading.

Congratulations to you Ms. Josie. Will look for you next time I am in Bonaire.