The Dive Otter - Giant Stride

*Not pictures of me...pictures taken by me

Step Up

Mask On
Regulator in your mouth!!
Step up to the edge...but not all the way
Make sure where you will be landing is clear of other divers...your buddy is going to be VERY upset if you land on them
Totally fine to yell "hey dumbass...move" if said person is your normal dive buddy :)

Heels On The Edge

Step all the way up with your heels on the edge / fins hanging off
If you take a step further back, you could hit your knee or shin on the way down

Giant Stride

From wense this techique got it's name
Don't jump...simply take a big step forward with the foot of your choice
Right hand protecting the mask and regulator
Left hand securing the spg, pony bottle, whatever might flip up, smack your left elbow, give you a numb arm for 4 hours...yeah..that was fun. Not!

Land It

Don't try and bring your feet together, hit the water in the scissor position
You want your head looking straight out at the horizon
Not down, so it takes the full force of the water smacking you in the face
Not back, so you hit the back of your head on your tank valve
Just relax

Signal You Are Ok

WARNING WARNING WARNING - DO NOT JUST SIGNAL OK!!
I'm going to repeat this...
DO NOT JUST SIGNAL OK!!
It is VERY common for divers to IMMEDIATELY signal okay, with a fist on top of their head, as soon as they pop back up to the surface.

NO - DO NOT DO THIS!
Take a minute, check yourself. Does everything feel right?

I watched a VERY experienced diver giant stride off the boat in 80ft of water, signal he was okay, everyone turned around to focus on the next diver and nobody, including the diver, noticed that his doubles tank had disconnected from his backplate (later believed to have been the delron wing nuts sheared off). In seconds, he was struggling to stay at the surface as the wing was bobbing next to his head entangled in hoses, his doubles tank was down around his knees pulling him down by the entangled hoses, and he had a death grip on the regulator with his teeth while he was kicking up and grabbing for the tag line. Everything turned out okay after 2 minutes of adrenaline from everyone on the boat.