DIR-F: March 10-11, erm, March 9-11: Part 1

[amascuba]

A. he got a grand for two students. One weekend = one grand.

Mine got $400x3 + gear that we bought from him. I bought a new smb, the other two bought much more. You also have to take into account the instructors expenses, which I'm not even going to try to concieve, but I'm sure the money he made wasn't all profit.

D. most importantly, I didnt give a hoot about the cost, counting the trip, hotel, meals, new gear, tuition, misc fees, I paid lots more than the 500 bucks for the course. I just wanted something besides what I got.

Honestly, what did you expect? I'm not ragging on you, but asking a serious question.

E. reading what other students got only confirms my feeling that my course was too short and not productive. This started by one person's account of his two weekend course where he received materials in advance, homework, pool sessions and a subsequent weekend of diving. It continued with one person's account of four 7 am till 11pm days of training.

So far, what I have gotten is 2 1/2 days of lecture, field drills, and pool work. Basically around 22 hours of actual work. I expect by the time it's all finished on Saturday evening we'll have another 8-10 hours of work, so 30-32 hours of actual instructed class time. The rest (homework) is done on my own time. I can't speak for the other class, since I wasn't there.

G. my investment had been way more than money. I used to really enjoy diving, loved seeing the beauty of it all. Since the course I only practice dive in a pool and to be honest, diving is just not fun anymore.

Don't take this personally, but this is your own fault. Find a DIR oriented buddy and go hit the local lakes, quarries, the GULF!, or make weekend trips to florida to enjoy the springs. You're not going to get much out of your investment if you don't enjoy it. All my regular diving buddies live in CO and NM. We generally meet up atleast once a month for some fun and practice dives and just a general social day. We'll goof off and laugh and have a cook out. After all, this is about fun and it's only going to be as much fun as you make it. You're more than welcome to dive with us in NM.

H. why would you think it was about money? But, by your measuring stick and statements that the instructors are working for peanuts, I say hogwash. A thousand bucks for a weekend aint bad, I dont care what your profession is (unless you are a pro athlete). And I would bet that most of his classes have more than 2 students which only increases that weekend total. As for travel, the instructor lived in the town where the course was. I was the one who traveled not the instructor so forget his expenses, they were lunch, at most.

Pool rental expenses, classroom expenses (electricity, rental, etc), travel expenses, tank filling expenses, etc. Things like that add up quick. I've worked with scuba shops long enough to appreciate that. A typical GUE instructor probably makes more then a typical Open Water Instructor, but that's only because a GUE instructor demands more compensation of his/her time.

J. I am convinced DIR diving is a superior way to dive. I am convinced most of their philosophy is superior to the methods taught by conventional agencies. And for that reason I still wear the BP/W even though I would be more comfortable and most certainly a better diver if I used my old scubapro glideplus jacket. I am not convinced the course is jump in, get pointed at to perform a skill then surface to watch it on video.
and I keep saying this is my last comment. I know I am alone in my opinion but I was there, I have an actual, honest account of what transpired and in my opinion, the instructor could have and should have done a better job.

Nobody here is getting after you because you feel that you had a bad experience. Honstely, it's bound to happen and you can discuss it all you want on this thread. I think the things that have been pointed out to you are sensible, such as $25 for a copy of the presentation. If the workbook was available, then you would have spent roughly the same amount of money for the same material. In all honsty, I wish my instructor gave me the choice of paying $25 for a printed copy of the presentation. I would love to be able to go back through it and read over it again as I'm sure I've missed some things and the way my mind works I pick things up more easily later on after I have had an opportunity to absorb the information.

Probably the only thing that my instructor did much differently than yours was give us handouts prior and during class as well as allow us the opportunity to have extra pool time. That may have made all the difference in the world to you, but based on what you have expressed so far, probably not. My instructor pressed trim and buoyancy above all else for the class, but we didn't spend any time in the pool on how to achieve proper trim and buoyancy. We were briefed on what skills we were to perform, he demonstrated, and we tried to execute them to the best of our ability. We then reviewed the film and saw first hand the mistakes that we made. How much differently is that from your experience?

The light in my head finally went on after my instructor explained what the provisional, full pass, and fail were. The class simply gives you the tools to improve your diving. If you recieved a provisional rating then the instructor is telling you that you need to practice in some areas and then you can come back and be re-evaluated. I never got that until I heard it come out of my instructors mouth. With the amount of information that is gone over in the 3-4 days of class it could easily be an 8 week class if you went into detail.

All in all, I'm happy that I've taken the class, even if I get a provisional this weekend. With the tools that I've been given so far it's been more then worth the money that I've spent. Now, lets go diving.

 

[Jasonmh]

CD, it sounds like you have some legitimate complaints, and I hope you voiced them to GUE.
BUT, and I mean this in the nicest way, you need to smack yourself and SNAP OUT OF IT!

"I used to really enjoy diving, loved seeing the beauty of it all. Since the course I only practice dive in a pool and to be honest, diving is just not fun anymore"

This has nothing to do with your instructor or the class. Who told you to only dive in a pool?
If you got more out of one video than from the course, I have to wonder if you were paying attention and/or participating in the class. I don't know if you are saying that nothing was taught to you or if you are saying that you already knew everything that was taught. Watching the video gives you a good visual of how some things should be performed, but it does nothing to tell you how YOU are performing. I hope at least that you got something out if the video review, and critique on your performance.

Don't quit and let it get you down. Go diving, have fun, practice what you can when you can. Now that you have seen the video, seen yourself on video, and know the mechanics to perform the skills, you will know what to practice and what to look for. Take your time, and take some time to get used to the BP&W, there is no race to get through it. Go do some diving, don't worry about dir-f, just dive with the BP and long hose, give yourself some time to get used to it. You'll get the bouyancy and trim down with alittle more dive time with the gear, and when you do you will be able to
work on the other skills and things will fall into place.
Good luck!

 

[Vayu]

Having dove with a number of poor instructors and also Mark Messersmith, I can firmly say that Mark is not a poor instructor. The class gives a student what the student puts into it. Obviously some of the posters here havn't had the oppurtunity to dive with a poor instructor. One that compromises safety or dive planning. Mark does neither of these and is one of the nicest instructors I have ever worked with. Anyone who disagrees is wrong

GUE instructors dive for the same reason all of us do: FOR FUN! Some people just take it too seriously. Learning is fun. Diving is fun. Just put the two togethor and go for it. The class won't make anyone a miracle diver. But it will make almost anyone more aware of their environment and therefore able to enjoy that environment to a greater capacity.

 

[Carribeandiver]

as I stated earlier, everyone indicated Mark is a good instructor. Everyone can have a bad day and maybe I didnt see his best effort. I do know that replying to my emails with questions regarding required gear and course syllabus' with links to GUE site was not what I expected nor should be provided by a professional "good" instructor.
amascuba, again, the instructor had no expenses, we had no pool training, I did my swims in a health club pool and paid $10 to enter as a guest, I was there 15 minutes to do the underwater swim and laps.
I am off to price planefair to NM, amascuba said I could go to his bar b que and dive with his group. I wonder, what kind of exposure suit do I need for NM diving?

 

[SparticleBrane]

I am wondering...why are you annoyed that he linked you to the GUE website? The entire course syllabus and gear requirements are listed, in specific detail, right where he probably linked you. It tells you exactly what to bring and what you're going to go over in the course.
What other kind of answer were you looking for?

Note: Did he link you here? That's the syllabus for GUE-F, and if you scroll down, there's the equipment requirements...
It's also my understanding that classes with less people in them, the class is generally made shorter due to covering the material quicker. On the website it states that the max ratio is 6:1. You had 2 students in your class, yes? Seems to be that it would make the class shorter with only 2 students than the usual 3 or 4.

 

[TSandM]

Sparticle, I'd be annoyed at being linked to the website, too. If I had a specific question about equipment, I'd expect a polite answer. After all, the GUE website SAYS you are supposed to contact your instructor with your questions, before you invest money in inappropriate equipment, right?

No answer to an e-mail can mean any number of things, from "it got caught in the spam filter" to "I'm somewhere where I don't have internet access" to "read that one and was going to answer it and forgot." But a return e-mail that's just a link to the website would be a rather off-putting and almost patronizing response to me. It's not like these guys have hundreds of students pestering them with questions, after all . . .

My GUE instructor doesn't always answer his e-mails, but when he does, the answers are polite and friendly and useful.

 

[amascuba]

I am off to price planefair to NM, amascuba said I could go to his bar b que and dive with his group. I wonder, what kind of exposure suit do I need for NM diving?

55-62 degree water. So a 7mm suit, with gloves and a hood or a drysuit with hood and gloves. Fly to Albuquerque, NM and rent a car and drive to Santa Rosa (2 hours).

 

[SparticleBrane]

I tend to be a very literal person...

 

[amascuba]

I tend to be a very literal person...

RTFM

 

[SparticleBrane]

RTFM

I believe that emoticon is this...:rtfm: :rtfm: