Ok, I need to really make this blog glow since Rob will read it and haze me until no end on the next class that I take from him. 
In preparation for the second half of my Fundamentals class I spent the week consuming copious amounts of caffeine, analyzing the kicks in the 5thd-x Essentials video, working on my study handouts, and laying down on the ground working on kick techniques trying to build muscle memory to keep my knees up. I really wanted to get some pool time in, but unfortunately with my work schedule it didn’t work out.
So the weekend finally comes and I meet up with my instructor, Rob, and class teammates at their hotel at 8AM before going to the infamous Rock Lake. It’s infamous if you are a diver in the region anyways. This was to be my first dives in Rock Lake and as much as I wanted to dive there, I wanted to do the class in the local watering hole that I was used to, or so I thought. As it turned out the local watering hole was packed full of open water classes, visibility was shot, and resembled a large can of sardines from what I'm told. So I was more gracious to be diving in Rock Lake after the fact and it didn't take long to get used to the small area of Rock Lake that we were exposed to.
The dives were packed full of skill drills and emergency skills. Each dive Rob gave us more long hose to hang each other with and became somewhat more complex. Over all, I felt that my teammates and I worked well together as a team, especially for not ever diving together other than in the pool the weekend before. One of the biggest benefits that I got out of this class was how the emergency drills (such as OOG and unconscious diver recovery) were conducted when you least expected them to happen. You really had to keep your awareness sharp so that you would notice the emergency and then react appropriately to it.
We definitely had some blooper moments during the class. Mine was while doing the primary light stow and reserve light deploy. I stowed my primary light, but left it turned on. So after I was working through the procedures to stow my backup light I was pointing the light against my hand to see if it was off, but my hand kept being illuminated by my primary light. After about three full turns of my backup light I finally realized what was happening and turned my primary light off. Rob said afterwards that he thought he was going to get to see three C cell batteries fall out the front of my backup light. It was definitely one of those brain-fart moments that were caught on film. Another blooper moment actually came from one of my teammates while trying to do a valve drill with a single tank. He had been struggling through out the dives trying to manipulate the valve, but could not reach it until the last dive. He managed to turn the valve completely off and then crack it open slightly, but then lost his grip on the valve. It was definitely a serious situation when it was happening, but we all had a pretty good laugh over it after the fact.
After our last dive of the day I was somewhat disappointed in myself. I didn't feel that my buoyancy and trim were where I wanted them to be and was telling Rob that I was just going to give myself a provisional rating. So it was surprising to me to have Rob tell me that he felt that my skills were within the standards and that he was going to pass me (tech pass). I almost had to look at my watch to make sure it wasn't April Fools Day. My teammates both received a provisional status and I'm sure that they will nail their update dive(s) with Rob in the future. They were excellent divers and all around great guys and I would definitely dive with them again.
Overall, This has been the best investment in scuba diving that I have made. I was very impressed with the GUE standards, the class, and Rob as an Instructor. I feel that my technique has improved and that I am overall a safer diver, which is my ultimate goal as a diver.
As stated, this is part 2. The first blog can be read here.
In preparation for the second half of my Fundamentals class I spent the week consuming copious amounts of caffeine, analyzing the kicks in the 5thd-x Essentials video, working on my study handouts, and laying down on the ground working on kick techniques trying to build muscle memory to keep my knees up. I really wanted to get some pool time in, but unfortunately with my work schedule it didn’t work out.
So the weekend finally comes and I meet up with my instructor, Rob, and class teammates at their hotel at 8AM before going to the infamous Rock Lake. It’s infamous if you are a diver in the region anyways. This was to be my first dives in Rock Lake and as much as I wanted to dive there, I wanted to do the class in the local watering hole that I was used to, or so I thought. As it turned out the local watering hole was packed full of open water classes, visibility was shot, and resembled a large can of sardines from what I'm told. So I was more gracious to be diving in Rock Lake after the fact and it didn't take long to get used to the small area of Rock Lake that we were exposed to.
The dives were packed full of skill drills and emergency skills. Each dive Rob gave us more long hose to hang each other with and became somewhat more complex. Over all, I felt that my teammates and I worked well together as a team, especially for not ever diving together other than in the pool the weekend before. One of the biggest benefits that I got out of this class was how the emergency drills (such as OOG and unconscious diver recovery) were conducted when you least expected them to happen. You really had to keep your awareness sharp so that you would notice the emergency and then react appropriately to it.
We definitely had some blooper moments during the class. Mine was while doing the primary light stow and reserve light deploy. I stowed my primary light, but left it turned on. So after I was working through the procedures to stow my backup light I was pointing the light against my hand to see if it was off, but my hand kept being illuminated by my primary light. After about three full turns of my backup light I finally realized what was happening and turned my primary light off. Rob said afterwards that he thought he was going to get to see three C cell batteries fall out the front of my backup light. It was definitely one of those brain-fart moments that were caught on film. Another blooper moment actually came from one of my teammates while trying to do a valve drill with a single tank. He had been struggling through out the dives trying to manipulate the valve, but could not reach it until the last dive. He managed to turn the valve completely off and then crack it open slightly, but then lost his grip on the valve. It was definitely a serious situation when it was happening, but we all had a pretty good laugh over it after the fact.
After our last dive of the day I was somewhat disappointed in myself. I didn't feel that my buoyancy and trim were where I wanted them to be and was telling Rob that I was just going to give myself a provisional rating. So it was surprising to me to have Rob tell me that he felt that my skills were within the standards and that he was going to pass me (tech pass). I almost had to look at my watch to make sure it wasn't April Fools Day. My teammates both received a provisional status and I'm sure that they will nail their update dive(s) with Rob in the future. They were excellent divers and all around great guys and I would definitely dive with them again.
Overall, This has been the best investment in scuba diving that I have made. I was very impressed with the GUE standards, the class, and Rob as an Instructor. I feel that my technique has improved and that I am overall a safer diver, which is my ultimate goal as a diver.
As stated, this is part 2. The first blog can be read here.
