Wow! I’m so glad I took GUE Fundies!! What a class!!
‘Twas the night before GUE Fundies: Months of practice while waiting for the class, many dives with DIR divers, about 30 doubles dives, teammates with DIR diving experience. I’m so excited, getting a solid 6 hours of sleep the night before is almost a miracle.
Teammates
A room of friendly familiar faces greets me at 8:30am! Warm handshakes from Beto Nava our local GUE Instructor and Fundies Instructor candidate Rob Lee and hugs from my two other teammates Erik and Peter.
Our Fundies course is divided over two weekend, the first weekend consisted of three 12 hour days of classroom & pool work and on the second the plan was to meet for two 12 hour days of open water dives, lectures and video review. Poor conditions delay the final open water day ‘till a third weekend.
Beto
On the first day of class Beto’s warm personality floods the room, Robs lectures and coaching are clear, rich and concise! Soon we are well into exploring an overview of the class and discussing topics like buoyancy, weighting, balance and trim and equipment configuration in detail. As the afternoon progresses, we move on to propulsion techniques. Lying on the table, body tensed into trim, practicing back kicks, gentle hands skillfully guide my limbs into effective positions. Occasionally my eyes travel to the instructor’s shirts with GUE insignia and I think about the misconception about DIR diving and GUE on the boards. They do not resemble this session which is packed with laughs, friendly guidance, and incredible support
.
Soon we are well into discussions, watching equipment being assembled, talking in detail about the merits of various pieces of equipment, adjusting our own. All three of us are fully kitted out in DIR gear which the instructors skillfully tweak and adjust to a perfection that we don’t even know exists.
Then it is off to face the pool and swim test. Beto ups the standard to 400 yards. Relax, I kept telling myself, this will be easy. 28 laps later my teammates and instructors clap as I exit the water. As my heart beats itself back to a normal rhythm, I smile inside knowing we all passed! Now it is time to get busy with pool work. Little fins, mask, breath held practice in bathing suits, holding trim and practicing kicks. Lots of laughs, lots of fun! Soon all three of us are fluttering, frog, back and helicopter kickin’ even before the big jet fins come out! Out of the pool and back to the pile of gear & classroom to discuss pre-dive planning, gas management, deco strategies, teammate roles, signaling & lots of other useful material!!
On the second day out comes the scuba gear. Our instructor Beto and his promising apprentice Rob prove masters at improving our diving. Wow did I need improvement! Discouragement follows me out the door into the night, but the next day offers renewed hope when both instructors skillfully work to resolve my issues. They bring new gear to sample, swap my back plate, adjust gear, redistribute weights, encourage my body into new positions, and patiently remind me over and over in the pool and on video reviews to hold these positions. The new video review shows great improvement. Sunday night rolls around and just about the time I’m questioning whether I will even pull a provisional, Beto calls a team meeting to spread the encouraging news that he anticipates we will all earn recreational passes (which is our aim). Then to our disbelief he tells us he is happy with our progress and technical passes are possible—he sets the new bar.
Group shot (Rob, Susan, Beto, Peter, Kathy & Erik)
By the next weekend we’ve recovered a bit from exhaustion & our team is ready for more fun! Susan Bird (another apprentice instructor) joins us to add lectures and underwater coaching. Let me tell you -- 3 students to 3 GUE instructors/apprentice instructors underwater is quite an intense dive!! I don’t think those three incredibly graceful divers missed a move! What an amazing amount of personal coaching & feedback! Topside, the three instructors joined forces to lecture and review videos filled with valuable information and laughs. Rob and Susan really show their colors as fantastic future GUE instructors!
Rob demonstrating drills
The swell drops a little by the next weekend and our team collectively agrees that we can complete Fundies in 5-7 ft grainy vis with 6 ft surge. Stepping back in time to my first contact with GUE when I was still tropical diving in forever vis wearing a 5mm and AL 80 -- Fundies in 53F water, a drysuit, HP100 doubles, dry gloves, low vis and surge was unthinkable. It could have never happened without all you generous DIR mentors.
Almost a year later after starting the quest, our team of three slips into the choppy water and swims together through the swell. This time we are joined by one instructor Beto and Doc Wong is shooting video. The surge has decreased a little to 1-6ft, but the vis is still poor and Beto must hover a few feet away to see detail. Three hours later--hungry, exhausted, chilly we help each other through the surf zone back to the video review.
Our class status remains a mystery until, after the video debrief, Beto offers his progress reviews to our impatient curiosity. I am a bit shocked when Beto explains to earn the tech pass I only need to demonstrate smoother skills on ascent/decent and to task load it all with a smoother repeat SMB shoot. Ah, for now I have pages of notes for improvement at rec limts so I'm not in a hurry to move on just yet - I’m quite content with the rec pass in these conditions and gear and the improvements needed are nothing a few more practice sessions in this brand new DUI TLS 350 and doubles won’t cure . From a team perspective, I am very happy to report it was a fantastic class and we are all awarded rec passes with a short list of check off skills for the tech pass.
I really appreciate the support and dedication of our teammates which made the whole experience much easier. It is really unbelievable to watch everybody progress throughout the class both individually and collectively. A testimony to the effectiveness of GUE’s training and our commitment to our own diving and to each another!
The GUE instructor’s compassion and generosity really surprised me. Throughout the class I consistently had the sense that they wanted us to learn and succeed. They clearly explained everything, patiently answered 1,000’s of sometimes challenging questions, showed us where we needed to improve and how, offered individual coaching when we didn’t understand, had incredible patience, endlessly encouragement, and offered us numerous opportunities to practice, perform and even repeat the new skills for evaluation. In the end… who would have thought GUE instructors hug? Maybe it’s just a California thing?
A huge thanks to Beto, Rob, Susan, my awesome teammates Erik and Peter (who I hope will chime in with their stories and picture), all of you who have provided so much help and support from our local DIR community (especially you Don & Doc ;-), and to those of you who have offered so much advice and support on the online DIR forum (especially you Lynne)! there is no way could I have taken this class in doubles without your help! I love this path! You are all the best!
‘Twas the night before GUE Fundies: Months of practice while waiting for the class, many dives with DIR divers, about 30 doubles dives, teammates with DIR diving experience. I’m so excited, getting a solid 6 hours of sleep the night before is almost a miracle.
Teammates
A room of friendly familiar faces greets me at 8:30am! Warm handshakes from Beto Nava our local GUE Instructor and Fundies Instructor candidate Rob Lee and hugs from my two other teammates Erik and Peter.
Our Fundies course is divided over two weekend, the first weekend consisted of three 12 hour days of classroom & pool work and on the second the plan was to meet for two 12 hour days of open water dives, lectures and video review. Poor conditions delay the final open water day ‘till a third weekend.
Beto
On the first day of class Beto’s warm personality floods the room, Robs lectures and coaching are clear, rich and concise! Soon we are well into exploring an overview of the class and discussing topics like buoyancy, weighting, balance and trim and equipment configuration in detail. As the afternoon progresses, we move on to propulsion techniques. Lying on the table, body tensed into trim, practicing back kicks, gentle hands skillfully guide my limbs into effective positions. Occasionally my eyes travel to the instructor’s shirts with GUE insignia and I think about the misconception about DIR diving and GUE on the boards. They do not resemble this session which is packed with laughs, friendly guidance, and incredible support
.Soon we are well into discussions, watching equipment being assembled, talking in detail about the merits of various pieces of equipment, adjusting our own. All three of us are fully kitted out in DIR gear which the instructors skillfully tweak and adjust to a perfection that we don’t even know exists.
Then it is off to face the pool and swim test. Beto ups the standard to 400 yards. Relax, I kept telling myself, this will be easy. 28 laps later my teammates and instructors clap as I exit the water. As my heart beats itself back to a normal rhythm, I smile inside knowing we all passed! Now it is time to get busy with pool work. Little fins, mask, breath held practice in bathing suits, holding trim and practicing kicks. Lots of laughs, lots of fun! Soon all three of us are fluttering, frog, back and helicopter kickin’ even before the big jet fins come out! Out of the pool and back to the pile of gear & classroom to discuss pre-dive planning, gas management, deco strategies, teammate roles, signaling & lots of other useful material!!
On the second day out comes the scuba gear. Our instructor Beto and his promising apprentice Rob prove masters at improving our diving. Wow did I need improvement! Discouragement follows me out the door into the night, but the next day offers renewed hope when both instructors skillfully work to resolve my issues. They bring new gear to sample, swap my back plate, adjust gear, redistribute weights, encourage my body into new positions, and patiently remind me over and over in the pool and on video reviews to hold these positions. The new video review shows great improvement. Sunday night rolls around and just about the time I’m questioning whether I will even pull a provisional, Beto calls a team meeting to spread the encouraging news that he anticipates we will all earn recreational passes (which is our aim). Then to our disbelief he tells us he is happy with our progress and technical passes are possible—he sets the new bar.
Group shot (Rob, Susan, Beto, Peter, Kathy & Erik)
By the next weekend we’ve recovered a bit from exhaustion & our team is ready for more fun! Susan Bird (another apprentice instructor) joins us to add lectures and underwater coaching. Let me tell you -- 3 students to 3 GUE instructors/apprentice instructors underwater is quite an intense dive!! I don’t think those three incredibly graceful divers missed a move! What an amazing amount of personal coaching & feedback! Topside, the three instructors joined forces to lecture and review videos filled with valuable information and laughs. Rob and Susan really show their colors as fantastic future GUE instructors!
Rob demonstrating drills
The swell drops a little by the next weekend and our team collectively agrees that we can complete Fundies in 5-7 ft grainy vis with 6 ft surge. Stepping back in time to my first contact with GUE when I was still tropical diving in forever vis wearing a 5mm and AL 80 -- Fundies in 53F water, a drysuit, HP100 doubles, dry gloves, low vis and surge was unthinkable. It could have never happened without all you generous DIR mentors
.Almost a year later after starting the quest, our team of three slips into the choppy water and swims together through the swell. This time we are joined by one instructor Beto and Doc Wong is shooting video. The surge has decreased a little to 1-6ft, but the vis is still poor and Beto must hover a few feet away to see detail. Three hours later--hungry, exhausted, chilly we help each other through the surf zone back to the video review.
Our class status remains a mystery until, after the video debrief, Beto offers his progress reviews to our impatient curiosity. I am a bit shocked when Beto explains to earn the tech pass I only need to demonstrate smoother skills on ascent/decent and to task load it all with a smoother repeat SMB shoot
. Ah, for now I have pages of notes for improvement at rec limts so I'm not in a hurry to move on just yet - I’m quite content with the rec pass in these conditions and gear and the improvements needed are nothing a few more practice sessions in this brand new DUI TLS 350 and doubles won’t cure . From a team perspective, I am very happy to report it was a fantastic class and we are all awarded rec passes with a short list of check off skills for the tech pass. I really appreciate the support and dedication of our teammates which made the whole experience much easier. It is really unbelievable to watch everybody progress throughout the class both individually and collectively. A testimony to the effectiveness of GUE’s training and our commitment to our own diving and to each another!
The GUE instructor’s compassion and generosity really surprised me. Throughout the class I consistently had the sense that they wanted us to learn and succeed. They clearly explained everything, patiently answered 1,000’s of sometimes challenging questions, showed us where we needed to improve and how, offered individual coaching when we didn’t understand, had incredible patience, endlessly encouragement, and offered us numerous opportunities to practice, perform and even repeat the new skills for evaluation. In the end… who would have thought GUE instructors hug
? Maybe it’s just a California thing?A huge thanks to Beto, Rob, Susan, my awesome teammates Erik and Peter (who I hope will chime in with their stories and picture), all of you who have provided so much help and support from our local DIR community (especially you Don & Doc ;-), and to those of you who have offered so much advice and support on the online DIR forum (especially you Lynne)! there is no way could I have taken this class in doubles without your help! I love this path! You are all the best!
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