While I thought both of these reports were awesome I wanted to add just a couple things now that I have a few moments.
1. Donna and Sam are two good friends and dive buddies. It cannot be overstated how helpful this is when taking a challenging course. I noted how much they were able to communicate WITHOUT words at times, or with very few words. This was expedient, and efficient both in the water and above the water. That understanding can really help move things along when the need arises.
2. I noted that the question came up here in the thread about "continuing cave training." Personally, I feel that divers should progress slowly and deliberately though these levels. There is MUCH to see and do at each level of training. Sam and Donna should probably be concerned about honing their currently learned skills so that when they proceed to further levels, these skills are well ingrained. For those NOT able to cave dive regularly this is challenging, and I hope they try to replicate as much of the experience as possible in open water.
3. I was very happy to be able to re-do a day of cavern and watch Rich work. Running the reel has never been a strong suit of mine but I picked up some good tips from the class and will be doing some land work to hone my skills. Thanks for the refresher Rich.
4. It's always entertaining to me to see people come in from other areas and get immersed in "cave country" and the culture around it. I find that culture unique in the world of diving and enjoy it quite a lot. The shops are different, the dive stories are different, and sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. Sam and Donna took it all in stride, and it was great to see how much they took from the entire experience.
I'll be looking forward to a nice relaxing dive with them the next time they are down in cave country.