DIR-F Report (Anilao Philippines July 1-4, 06)

[Ben_ca]

Congrats... thanks for the detailed report

 

[jagfish]

Great report

Sounds like a great class, with a great view.

Hope you take a lot away to work with...

(P.S. - I would have paid the course fee just to see you debate the average vs mean and swim distance... )

 

[Halthron]

I think you may be fixating too much on the trees, to see the forrest.

I can see where you might get that but that's not the case. The comment came from my belief that when teaching, there's no need to make concepts more difficult than they already are. GUE seems to want thinking divers. I can understand and approve but part of the thinking is trying to understand the WHY behind the process. That understanding becomes a lot more difficult when one thing is said and another is done.

 

[Ben_ca]

How was the vis any fun dives afterward?

 

[Kevrumbo]

What's the big deal about "eyeballing" the buoy for the distance Swim (give or take 50 meters or so)? If the conditions were obviously very rough or there was a strong current present, then that would be something to beef about. . .

 

[pakman]

And when are those Brazilian bikini babes coming back to Anilao?

 

[Diver Dennis]

Good job Eric.

 

[lamont]

Yeah, that was a mistake. The slide is saying select the average and then it's selecting the median value. In the slide, the value chosen is 2 ATA but the actual average of the values is 2.5 ATA.

to be technical you should take the time weighted average ATA and multiply it by total runtime. taking the median and multiplying it by total runtime is going to be close enough though and much easier to figure out in your head. the slide is actually correct in technique, but it sort of glosses over some mathematical simplification that happened which is allowable because its all just an estimate anyway...

 

[Halthron]

How was the vis any fun dives afterward?

The last two were "fun dives" that he escorted us on. Martin buddied with the guy with 12 dives, I buddied with JM. The viz was good on the first dive of that day and poor (for Anilao) on the second. The viz throughout the class was variable but mostly decent (50-75 feet was typical)

What's the big deal about "eyeballing" the buoy for the distance Swim (give or take 50 meters or so)? If the conditions were obviously very rough or there was a strong current present, then that would be something to beef about. . .

Had it been a simple 50 yards, it wouldn't have been an issue but he was off by a bit, times 12. So, being off 10-15 yards means an extra 120-180 yards being swam because we had to do there and back six times.

I generally don't care about a bit of slop. I'm not going to complain about 5% but once an estimate starts looking 10% off I start to wonder and when you're substituting meters for yards then eyeballing that, your accuracy has gone out the window. If the total distance is going to be estimated, then what's the point in timing it?

 

[lamont]

Had it been a simple 50 yards, it wouldn't have been an issue but he was off by a bit, times 12. So, being off 10-15 yards means an extra 120-180 yards being swam because we had to do there and back six times.

the 300 yards in 14 minute swim test is kind of pathetic though, and GUE instructors are free to make their students exceed standards if they feel it would be to the benefit of the student. although you should get a little credit for doing it in rough conditions in open water...