GearHead
Contributor
<yaaaaaaaaaaawn>
Sorry for that, it's Monday morning, and I'm still feeling pretty beat-up from the class over the weekend. Bwerb, Nurseshark and I completed DIR-F over the weekend and speaking for myself, it was an awesome class. I probably wouldn't feel so tired if it wasn't for the unusual weather that UnclePug talked about in another thread. On Saturday, the temps were in the mid-90s and that's not a fun outdoor-classroom environment when there's no shade, and you spend part of it in drysuits.
And, this is just my opinion, but latex neckseals and raging sunburn are not a good combination.
I don't plan on giving a detailed report since that's ground that has been pretty well covered here. If there are any questions, though, I'll be happy to respond.
What I think is worth addressing pass/fail nature of the course and other changes.
In a nutshell, if you have what our instructor would characterize as "Life Threatening Buoyancy" - you're not passing the class. Beyond that, she didn't explain in detail any other attributes that would give you an "F" for the class. There were 5 students in our class with a large range of experience, and we all passed. I think that showing a "passable" skill level, a desire to improve, and solid concentration and understanding during lectures and planning will go a long way into ensuring you'll pass.
Every diver in the class improved hugely between the first dive and the last - and I'm not just talking about skills either - buddy awareness, dive planning, plan formulation and execution, etc.. I'm sure that's an important factor in whether you pass or not.
Our instructor, Sonya Tittle, did a GREAT job of tailoring the class based on each of our goals, and shockingly never ran low on energy in spite of the detailed lectures and discussions. Oh, and did I mention that the vis was between 5 and 7 feet for the entire class? It's pretty amazing that she was able to keep a handle on two dive teams and a videographer in those conditions. I'm not exaggerating, by the way, the plankton/algae bloom was one of the worst I've seen in Puget Sound. Now, if we'd done the dives in 80 fsw, it would have been a different story but . . . I digress.
The other difference I wanted to bring up was the fact that "Ratio Deco" aka "GUE Multilevel on-the-fly dive planning" has been put on the shelf and is no longer a topic being taught in Fundamentals. Even if you ask "pretty please with sugar on it", you're not getting the formula. Sonya explained why in detail, but the bottom line is that it's too much liability on the instructor and GUE. Instead, what they're emphasizing is diving "computer smart" instead of "computer dumb". They want you to understand what a good profile is, and why it is good. I was satisfied with the deco theory covered in the class.
Well, it looks like I wrote a bit of a report anyway.
To confirm what a number of others have said, it was the best money I've spent on instruction in a LONG time, and I'm not just talking dive instruction.
Man, as tired as I am right now, I want to get back in the water!
Sorry for that, it's Monday morning, and I'm still feeling pretty beat-up from the class over the weekend. Bwerb, Nurseshark and I completed DIR-F over the weekend and speaking for myself, it was an awesome class. I probably wouldn't feel so tired if it wasn't for the unusual weather that UnclePug talked about in another thread. On Saturday, the temps were in the mid-90s and that's not a fun outdoor-classroom environment when there's no shade, and you spend part of it in drysuits.
And, this is just my opinion, but latex neckseals and raging sunburn are not a good combination.
I don't plan on giving a detailed report since that's ground that has been pretty well covered here. If there are any questions, though, I'll be happy to respond.
What I think is worth addressing pass/fail nature of the course and other changes.
In a nutshell, if you have what our instructor would characterize as "Life Threatening Buoyancy" - you're not passing the class. Beyond that, she didn't explain in detail any other attributes that would give you an "F" for the class. There were 5 students in our class with a large range of experience, and we all passed. I think that showing a "passable" skill level, a desire to improve, and solid concentration and understanding during lectures and planning will go a long way into ensuring you'll pass.
Every diver in the class improved hugely between the first dive and the last - and I'm not just talking about skills either - buddy awareness, dive planning, plan formulation and execution, etc.. I'm sure that's an important factor in whether you pass or not.
Our instructor, Sonya Tittle, did a GREAT job of tailoring the class based on each of our goals, and shockingly never ran low on energy in spite of the detailed lectures and discussions. Oh, and did I mention that the vis was between 5 and 7 feet for the entire class? It's pretty amazing that she was able to keep a handle on two dive teams and a videographer in those conditions. I'm not exaggerating, by the way, the plankton/algae bloom was one of the worst I've seen in Puget Sound. Now, if we'd done the dives in 80 fsw, it would have been a different story but . . . I digress.
The other difference I wanted to bring up was the fact that "Ratio Deco" aka "GUE Multilevel on-the-fly dive planning" has been put on the shelf and is no longer a topic being taught in Fundamentals. Even if you ask "pretty please with sugar on it", you're not getting the formula. Sonya explained why in detail, but the bottom line is that it's too much liability on the instructor and GUE. Instead, what they're emphasizing is diving "computer smart" instead of "computer dumb". They want you to understand what a good profile is, and why it is good. I was satisfied with the deco theory covered in the class.
Well, it looks like I wrote a bit of a report anyway.
To confirm what a number of others have said, it was the best money I've spent on instruction in a LONG time, and I'm not just talking dive instruction.
Man, as tired as I am right now, I want to get back in the water!
