I figured I'd post a new thread here to try and prevent the 3/20 Lobos thread from dying under a pile of congratulations. I ASSUME they're coming... right?! 
Yes - I'm done with my DM. It's been a long few months, and I ultimately ended up getting a lot more out of it than I expected (and in completely different ways than I expected). I'm looking forward to taking a few weeks off, and then getting back to helping more classes!
Regardless of what kind of diving you prefer to do on your own time (I know of lot of us are heading in the broader tec direction, albeit along slightly different trajectories of interest), I really can't state strongly enough how enjoyable and gratifying it is to help brand-new divers get their fins wet, and especially to get them into our waters. It's something that I'd recommend checking out to anybody who's really passionate about diving and wants to share that passion with others. The instructors at my shop (Wallin's) have also been really open to me using my less "traditional" gear in the ocean (depending on the instructor and the students' comfort levels), which makes for a great opportunity to talk about different styles of diving and get new divers thinking about the possibilities that SCUBA can offer.
Thanks to everybody who's ever dove with me, because every dive was a good experience going into DM. Yes, MikeG - that includes the day at Lobos when I had to do the sprint under the kelp with 450psi in the tank. Not only is it (now) a funny story to me, but it makes a great anecdote about why respecting safety margins in gas plans is a Really Important Thing(TM).
Yes - I'm done with my DM. It's been a long few months, and I ultimately ended up getting a lot more out of it than I expected (and in completely different ways than I expected). I'm looking forward to taking a few weeks off, and then getting back to helping more classes!
Regardless of what kind of diving you prefer to do on your own time (I know of lot of us are heading in the broader tec direction, albeit along slightly different trajectories of interest), I really can't state strongly enough how enjoyable and gratifying it is to help brand-new divers get their fins wet, and especially to get them into our waters. It's something that I'd recommend checking out to anybody who's really passionate about diving and wants to share that passion with others. The instructors at my shop (Wallin's) have also been really open to me using my less "traditional" gear in the ocean (depending on the instructor and the students' comfort levels), which makes for a great opportunity to talk about different styles of diving and get new divers thinking about the possibilities that SCUBA can offer.
Thanks to everybody who's ever dove with me, because every dive was a good experience going into DM. Yes, MikeG - that includes the day at Lobos when I had to do the sprint under the kelp with 450psi in the tank. Not only is it (now) a funny story to me, but it makes a great anecdote about why respecting safety margins in gas plans is a Really Important Thing(TM).
