robbcayman
Contributor
Interesting how fluid your work schedule is.
A day in the life!
- Thread starter mjatkins
- Start date
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OP
took out a group today for a couple of dives. First stop, Santa Rosa, and you know how much I love it there. Second dive was at Villa Blanca wall, and it was great. Turtles, lionfish, eels out hunting, on and on..... Very relaxing, and good divers.
OP
today I started working with two new open water students, they took to it very well. I really liked the fact that every time they got to the point were I expected that one of them might get flustered or frustrated, they both just laughed like they were having the time of their lives. Awesome! That is going to help them along immensely. Back at it with them first thing tomorrow. I think they are going to be a lot of fun.
boomer68
Contributor
Mathew, this is a great blog. Thanks for taking the time to give us a glimpse of what it is like being a dive professional.
OP
One of those days today. Confirmed two nitrox students, a rescue student, a PPB, a refresher, and an open water referral. Also worked hard with my open water students and a new open water referral. It was a bit of a struggle with one person's ears, as well as the fact that he has bitten off a lot with how quickly he wants to do his course. We will work away at it and see where we get to. That is all we can do some times.
Tomorrow we finish the open water students. Whoot!!!!
Tomorrow we finish the open water students. Whoot!!!!
OP
It's been a few days since I posted an update, but let me recap the last little while. My referral student on Wednesday was having some serious issues related to his ears. He had just spent a whole day in the pool with an instructor two days before, and was blowing as hard as possible to clear his ears. We talked about it, and I asked why he was blowing so hard. He said that's what he had been doing during the pool portion of the course. By now his ears were shot. We got done what we could and called it for the day, and also cancelled the next day so he could recover.
The next day I was finishing up with the couple I had been doing an open water course for. Right at the very end of open water dive number four we had a mishap during a skill and a bit of panic. On my way home from work on my bike, I had some crazy angry eastern european guy pull up next to me in his jeep and start screaming and cursing at me. Next thing I knew I was being forced off the road so that he could get out and scream at me some more. Good times. I thought he was going to punch me over what ever had set him off, but I was able to get back on my bike and leave before it got that far. It was quite day!!!
Thursday I worked some more with the person who had had the panicky moment the day before. We worked until we were both convinced that the issues were solved and he was able to perform the skills in a slow controlled manor and had regained his confidence in his ability to do so. Then I did a few more tanks with the referral student. His ears were better, and we found some new methods for him to clear them. Then we went out on the boat together and had a good time. His dive number 4 was cut short due to the reoccurrence of the ear issue. I think that they had gotten better with a day off, but then that much diving a day later just re-inflamed them. We were unable to finish the last two things needed for him to complete his certification. I felt bad for him, I know how hard he had worked to get it done. How disappointed he had been that first day with the ear problems, and how thrilled he was to come back and have his ears working. He was on a tight schedule, and was leaving that night on the ferry. He seamed so disappointed. We got back to the shop and decided to give it one more try on a shore dive to see if he could get down to depth and finish the requirements. It worked. I am very happy for him. He suffered through ear problems, and me being a tyrant about the skills (due to the fact that his referring instructor had not necessarily done him too many favours). I believe we did 7 tanks to get him through 4 open water dives.
I also taught a nitrox course on thursday evening, and went out as a divemaster today. I know that cozumel is a little slow right now, but I have been working early mornings until evening every day. Whew! And, I am grateful.
Tomorrow I have friends in town from Canada, so am taking the day off to hang out with them, my lovely wife, and drink beer on "the other side". Wow!!! A day off. : )
8 am monday it is back at it with an advanced open water student, and a refresher. I'll post more then
The next day I was finishing up with the couple I had been doing an open water course for. Right at the very end of open water dive number four we had a mishap during a skill and a bit of panic. On my way home from work on my bike, I had some crazy angry eastern european guy pull up next to me in his jeep and start screaming and cursing at me. Next thing I knew I was being forced off the road so that he could get out and scream at me some more. Good times. I thought he was going to punch me over what ever had set him off, but I was able to get back on my bike and leave before it got that far. It was quite day!!!
Thursday I worked some more with the person who had had the panicky moment the day before. We worked until we were both convinced that the issues were solved and he was able to perform the skills in a slow controlled manor and had regained his confidence in his ability to do so. Then I did a few more tanks with the referral student. His ears were better, and we found some new methods for him to clear them. Then we went out on the boat together and had a good time. His dive number 4 was cut short due to the reoccurrence of the ear issue. I think that they had gotten better with a day off, but then that much diving a day later just re-inflamed them. We were unable to finish the last two things needed for him to complete his certification. I felt bad for him, I know how hard he had worked to get it done. How disappointed he had been that first day with the ear problems, and how thrilled he was to come back and have his ears working. He was on a tight schedule, and was leaving that night on the ferry. He seamed so disappointed. We got back to the shop and decided to give it one more try on a shore dive to see if he could get down to depth and finish the requirements. It worked. I am very happy for him. He suffered through ear problems, and me being a tyrant about the skills (due to the fact that his referring instructor had not necessarily done him too many favours). I believe we did 7 tanks to get him through 4 open water dives.
I also taught a nitrox course on thursday evening, and went out as a divemaster today. I know that cozumel is a little slow right now, but I have been working early mornings until evening every day. Whew! And, I am grateful.
Tomorrow I have friends in town from Canada, so am taking the day off to hang out with them, my lovely wife, and drink beer on "the other side". Wow!!! A day off. : )
8 am monday it is back at it with an advanced open water student, and a refresher. I'll post more then
robbcayman
Contributor
I'm sure that the hardest skill to master in the mask clearing/removal. A lot of people panic or freak when water gets in their nose. I think it's natural to struggle with this skill. I know I struggled with mask removal at first, but after repeating it over and over it got easier to deal with. Some people have a hard time clearing their mask while blowing out their nose and breathing through the reg.
Matt, would love to hear your take on this. I have found that most people can overcome this issue with a lot of practice.
OP
It is true that the mask removal and replacement seems to be the skill that can invoke a panic response most often if the student is not adequately prepared for it. But I would have to say that there are other ones that people struggle harder to "master", they just rarely invoke that same panic response. I am finding lately that a lot of referrals that come down are really struggling with removing and replacing their BCD at the surface. I think it's because there is very little importance put on it in confined water sessions. I can tell you from experience though, that when someone is in open water with a weight belt pulling down on them and they are struggling to put the BCD on, they can get tired easily and full blown panic can result. And it's a difficult skill. When you are dealing with a bcd that has air in it, it can be hard to control if you don't have an actual process. I am finding that some students show up without really having been taught a way to do it, just having been asked to do it. Then, assuming they get the bcd back on, that was enough for the confined water session.
As for the mask R&R, I agree that it can be over come with practice. I find also though, that many people have no issue with it at all. To my way of thinking, it should be regulator recovery or similar that is the hardest one, because in that instance you can't breathe. But it must have something to do with not being able to see, that is the cause for a loss of control.
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