GearHead
Contributor
Yeeeeehaaaawww!!!!!!!!!!! 
Earlier today I wrapped day two of scooter training - what a rush! Four of us took the class here in Seattle with two instructors. Over two days, we got in three scooter dives with one more night dive to come later this week. Boy, having your hand on the trigger can really change a diver's perspective on the sport. Seriously, the two sites we dove are completely different dives when you're flying through the water instead of swimming. And to be specific, I'll never dive Edmonds again without a scooter. Period. But with a scooter, it's downright fun.
We had a couple hours of morning lecture and discussion each day covering just about everything pertinent to scooter diving, followed by two dives yesterday and one long one today. Even though we did what we had to do with drills, techniques, and procedures, the dives felt like they were all about fun. The "Hang Loose" and "Rock On" hand signals were used in abundance.
Lectures covered a good amount of information on scooter hardware, parts, maintenance, potential failure spots, repair, etc. We also went into great detail on buddy responsibilities and techniques while scootering for both two and three man teams plus battery and gas management. The S-Drill procedure including stowing the DPV, towing a diver, etc. was pretty straight forward - but making headway while towing was tough.
We were all using Gavin shortbody scooters with PVC or HDPE bodies with about 60 minutes of runtime. For our region and the types of dives we do, these seem to suit the divers around here just fine. Luckily, those of us that took the class will be able to rent Gavins from now on down at FifthD.
As far as the ride, it took some time to get the feel for steering and using the tow-cord properly. At first, my instinct was to go white-knuckle with my trigger hand and struggle hard to steer. Gradually, after I got the length of the cord more dialed in, it felt comfortable to have the bolt-snap fixed on the tow-cord, whereas at first I was wishing it was free.
Anyway, the class and the experience was a real kick in the pants - I highly recommend it. Can't wait to join my buddies on some DPV dives in the near future.
Earlier today I wrapped day two of scooter training - what a rush! Four of us took the class here in Seattle with two instructors. Over two days, we got in three scooter dives with one more night dive to come later this week. Boy, having your hand on the trigger can really change a diver's perspective on the sport. Seriously, the two sites we dove are completely different dives when you're flying through the water instead of swimming. And to be specific, I'll never dive Edmonds again without a scooter. Period. But with a scooter, it's downright fun.
We had a couple hours of morning lecture and discussion each day covering just about everything pertinent to scooter diving, followed by two dives yesterday and one long one today. Even though we did what we had to do with drills, techniques, and procedures, the dives felt like they were all about fun. The "Hang Loose" and "Rock On" hand signals were used in abundance.
Lectures covered a good amount of information on scooter hardware, parts, maintenance, potential failure spots, repair, etc. We also went into great detail on buddy responsibilities and techniques while scootering for both two and three man teams plus battery and gas management. The S-Drill procedure including stowing the DPV, towing a diver, etc. was pretty straight forward - but making headway while towing was tough.
We were all using Gavin shortbody scooters with PVC or HDPE bodies with about 60 minutes of runtime. For our region and the types of dives we do, these seem to suit the divers around here just fine. Luckily, those of us that took the class will be able to rent Gavins from now on down at FifthD.
As far as the ride, it took some time to get the feel for steering and using the tow-cord properly. At first, my instinct was to go white-knuckle with my trigger hand and struggle hard to steer. Gradually, after I got the length of the cord more dialed in, it felt comfortable to have the bolt-snap fixed on the tow-cord, whereas at first I was wishing it was free.
Anyway, the class and the experience was a real kick in the pants - I highly recommend it. Can't wait to join my buddies on some DPV dives in the near future.
