Alki II

went back to Alki again today.
Met up with Cory again who gave me another headful of knowledge about diving.
I'm so glad I found this guy. He's really patient and informative.

Today I got to try out my new backplate and wing BC. It was definitely a good experience, a lot better than last time.
Everything stayed in place and its a lot easier to stay horizontal with that thing.
However, it's still apparent that I need some practice with it.

Today Cory actually tried to show me a thing or two.
Since I had the new BC he wanted to work on buoyancy control.
We'd go up to these buoys that were set up, and just practice going up and down them at a gentle pace.
I so sucked.
I'd look up. There was Cory.
I'd look down. There was Cory.
It's all about the slightest addition/subtraction of air to the BC.
It's very easy to overcompensate. You'll put in some air, it doesn't seem like enough, so you put in just a bit more, then you start rocketting to the surface!
You'd think that after the third or fourth time you'd get it down, but I still seemed to plummet or rocket every damn time.
I guess it's because the reaction time is so slow.
it's very gentle, then quickly hits you.
I guess i need to learn to be more patient.
but it's hard when you're sinking fast to the bottom.
I guess the biggest pet peeve of any diver is some retard that kicks up silt from the bottom.
Today that retard was me.
Cory would point at his eyes, point at me, then point to the "dust" cloud behind us that looked like a huge truck just rolled on through a dirt road.
my bad.
even though i tried to be really attentive in that aspect, i still blew it.

but. after we were done and came up to the surface, Cory gave me a few pointers to work on for next time.
Have I mentioned how cool this guy is?

So I think my first time around, Cory kinda let anything slide.
This time he kinda tried to have me pick up the slack.
For our next round, he requested that I leave the camera behind.
That's kinda sad cuz you won't get to see any of this, but ok by me because if i want to get better at taking photos, I first need to get good at learning to actually dive well.

Just like anything, I gotta put in the work before I get the benefits.
I wasn't really planning for Cory to be a teacher on this calibur, but I think after today's dive showing me that buoyancy control isn't an innate ability, I'll put all my effort into learning what Cory is willing to teach me.

So, next time I'm afraid I'll only be able to get pictures above water and write about my experience.
I know. Not as fun.
But more fun will come later.
Later I'll be able to go where ever I want and not just Alki.