My experience as well.
Doc Wong's Fundamentals Course
- Thread starter DocWong
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My experience as well.
jumsted65
Contributor
Hey Doc,
We're waiting with baited breath for your report of the weekend.
Nice viz, huh?
We're waiting with baited breath for your report of the weekend.
Nice viz, huh?
OP
DocWong
Contributor
jumsted65:
Is all I can say!!!!! Words will not reflect the satisfaction that our team got from this class!
We got our "asses kicked" (and loving it!), it was hard, exasperating but gradually it got better and better. By the last dive, we were a team, our skills improved vastly, we were much more trim and able to hold our depths while doing our various skills while developing some very different buddy skills. It was all quite a revelation!
I am SO glad we did so many pool sessions because when it came to our 4 ocean dives in Monterey at Breakwater, it was a lot harder. Fortunaletly there was very little current, but the viz was 5-10 feet!
At first we really sucked!!! But as the dives progressed with the different drills and practice, it was quite amazing to see the three of us improve. By the end of the weekend, we had gone thru a wall of difficulties and came out the other end very changed and improved divers.
I'm rambling, but more on the specifics when I can get my head above water and take a breath in life!
fitdiver
Guest
Hey Doc,
I did hear that You, Greg and Todd worked very very hard this weekend. It is not an easy class due to higher standards. Kudos to you..
Fitdiver
I did hear that You, Greg and Todd worked very very hard this weekend. It is not an easy class due to higher standards. Kudos to you..
Fitdiver
OP
DocWong
Contributor
fitdiver:
Thanks! Yes, we're going for the Tech 1 pass standard of doing our drills and staying within a 3 ft variance. For example if the depth for the drills is 27 feet, we have to stay within the 28 to 25 foot depth range. I would have thought this impossible before taking the class, but now know it's a possibility!
OP
DocWong
Contributor
Saturday Dive 1: After the briefing on the beach by Beto, we swam out to our drilling location, did our equipment, bubble, modified valve and modified S checks and drills, SADDD (Sequence, Air, Depth, Duration, Deco, etc) and then down we went.
The Decent: We were supposed to keep sight of the anchor line while decending down together in formaion, stopping for 30 seconds at 10 feet and at 20 feet before getting to the bottom at 30 feet or so. This was hard. I'd never done that before and the amount of team coordination and control with decent was very much lacking. Todd ended up below me with Greg above me. After what seemed like a long time we got to 10 feet and finally to the bottom. We took way too long to get to the bottom and lost the anchor line. Beto, however was on the bottom so he gave us a visual reference and we landed in the square that was marked off for us.
The Drills: First was to get to one corner and get set and trim, then do the various kicks, corner to corner (Flutter, Modified Flutter, Frog, Modified Frog) we forgot to do the back kick on this dive. Then we did the Basic Five Drill (consists of removing the primary regulator, then doing a primary reg deploment and mask drills). Our plan was to do a 30 minute dive with a possible 5 minute extension. None of us kept track of the time and Beto even hinted at the time, but still we were clueless. It took us a way too long to get trim, to be at the right depths and in formation. He finally called it.
The Ascent: We were supposed to ascend together, in formation using our rear dump valve. It was bad...while I was trying to dump with the rear valve, my feet got full of gas, expanding and I went feet first to the surface. Upside down, etc. Buddies and Beto trying to hold me down and them with their own problems too. We got to the surface and I felt like I needed to take my NAUI open water class over again.
Saturday Ocean Dive 2: After our surface drills we decended. This time was a bit better and it only took us 4 minutes to get down to 30 feet. On this decent, I failed to put enough air back into my wing to not hit rock bottom.
Drills: Anyway, we got back together and each took turns doing the Back Kick. First it was Greg which was no surprise as he easily did it in the pool, then me. In the pool, Todd could not do the back kick but said that he practiced in his pool during the week and said he got it. So when he actually did it in the ocean we were quite happy! Of course while I was celebrating with a Hi-5 underwater, we almost lost sight of Greg (viz about 7 feet or so). Next was the valve drill and we all had trouble doing them. My suit was way too constricting (bad technique) and I couldn't execute the valve drill. All thru this dive, the three of us were having difficulty maintaing trim and depth. Our ascent was difficult as far as staying together as a team. We did, but it was a bit of a struggle.
That evening we did the video review which was very educational. Susan did a great job of getting some pretty clear shots despite the poor viz. Beto went over how to get the kinks out of our undergarmet so we would have better mobility and of making sure our drysuits had enough gas in it to not be so "shrink wrapped" that would constrict our range of motion, plus techniques of how you move your arm and head to get maximum range of motion to reach those valves.
We all slept extremenly well. Going to bed tired does that to one!
Sunday Dive 1: Descending was better and we got down in 3 minutes. We started with valve drills and with the better techniques was able to do them. Then it was the basic five again and I could see that we were all much more calm with better buoyency and trim. Also thru the dives we had plenty of incidences of needing to help our buddies with gear, etc. Then it was S drills where we were sharing gas and doing that protocol. Ascent was much better too.
Sunday Dive 2: On this dive everything came together. We decended in control getting to the bottom well. Then swam as a team using light signals, etc to get to a corner and signaled shooting up a bag. The three of us were perfectly steady, almost motionless in trim and depth. What an awesome feeling! We each took turns shooting the bag and ascending with good communication and control. At some point in the dive Beto would have one of us pull and emergency out of air drill and ascent and we each in turn would do likewise. By this time we were all smiles!
Instead of doing a boring surface swim back to the beach I decided that we would scuba in underwater, but Greg has low on gas, so I said no problem we'll air share all the way in! Beto agreed and we air shared all the way in with Beto videoing us.
The end of day included a final video review and we could see a vast difference between our first ocean dive and our last one. It was very satisfying to see us so much calmer and more in control of ourselves in the water! We all ended up with individual evaluations for the end of the class.
We all have a good amount of practice ahead of us to do all the drills and maintain a 3 foot depth window but all 3 of us improved immensely with a lot more knowledge and a whole new viewpoint in teamwork and buddy systems.
The Decent: We were supposed to keep sight of the anchor line while decending down together in formaion, stopping for 30 seconds at 10 feet and at 20 feet before getting to the bottom at 30 feet or so. This was hard. I'd never done that before and the amount of team coordination and control with decent was very much lacking. Todd ended up below me with Greg above me. After what seemed like a long time we got to 10 feet and finally to the bottom. We took way too long to get to the bottom and lost the anchor line. Beto, however was on the bottom so he gave us a visual reference and we landed in the square that was marked off for us.
The Drills: First was to get to one corner and get set and trim, then do the various kicks, corner to corner (Flutter, Modified Flutter, Frog, Modified Frog) we forgot to do the back kick on this dive. Then we did the Basic Five Drill (consists of removing the primary regulator, then doing a primary reg deploment and mask drills). Our plan was to do a 30 minute dive with a possible 5 minute extension. None of us kept track of the time and Beto even hinted at the time, but still we were clueless. It took us a way too long to get trim, to be at the right depths and in formation. He finally called it.
The Ascent: We were supposed to ascend together, in formation using our rear dump valve. It was bad...while I was trying to dump with the rear valve, my feet got full of gas, expanding and I went feet first to the surface. Upside down, etc. Buddies and Beto trying to hold me down and them with their own problems too. We got to the surface and I felt like I needed to take my NAUI open water class over again.
Saturday Ocean Dive 2: After our surface drills we decended. This time was a bit better and it only took us 4 minutes to get down to 30 feet. On this decent, I failed to put enough air back into my wing to not hit rock bottom.
Drills: Anyway, we got back together and each took turns doing the Back Kick. First it was Greg which was no surprise as he easily did it in the pool, then me. In the pool, Todd could not do the back kick but said that he practiced in his pool during the week and said he got it. So when he actually did it in the ocean we were quite happy! Of course while I was celebrating with a Hi-5 underwater, we almost lost sight of Greg (viz about 7 feet or so). Next was the valve drill and we all had trouble doing them. My suit was way too constricting (bad technique) and I couldn't execute the valve drill. All thru this dive, the three of us were having difficulty maintaing trim and depth. Our ascent was difficult as far as staying together as a team. We did, but it was a bit of a struggle.
That evening we did the video review which was very educational. Susan did a great job of getting some pretty clear shots despite the poor viz. Beto went over how to get the kinks out of our undergarmet so we would have better mobility and of making sure our drysuits had enough gas in it to not be so "shrink wrapped" that would constrict our range of motion, plus techniques of how you move your arm and head to get maximum range of motion to reach those valves.
We all slept extremenly well. Going to bed tired does that to one!
Sunday Dive 1: Descending was better and we got down in 3 minutes. We started with valve drills and with the better techniques was able to do them. Then it was the basic five again and I could see that we were all much more calm with better buoyency and trim. Also thru the dives we had plenty of incidences of needing to help our buddies with gear, etc. Then it was S drills where we were sharing gas and doing that protocol. Ascent was much better too.
Sunday Dive 2: On this dive everything came together. We decended in control getting to the bottom well. Then swam as a team using light signals, etc to get to a corner and signaled shooting up a bag. The three of us were perfectly steady, almost motionless in trim and depth. What an awesome feeling! We each took turns shooting the bag and ascending with good communication and control. At some point in the dive Beto would have one of us pull and emergency out of air drill and ascent and we each in turn would do likewise. By this time we were all smiles!
Instead of doing a boring surface swim back to the beach I decided that we would scuba in underwater, but Greg has low on gas, so I said no problem we'll air share all the way in! Beto agreed and we air shared all the way in with Beto videoing us.
The end of day included a final video review and we could see a vast difference between our first ocean dive and our last one. It was very satisfying to see us so much calmer and more in control of ourselves in the water! We all ended up with individual evaluations for the end of the class.
We all have a good amount of practice ahead of us to do all the drills and maintain a 3 foot depth window but all 3 of us improved immensely with a lot more knowledge and a whole new viewpoint in teamwork and buddy systems.
Fun to read your description and remember the AWFUL descents that our only-a-team-by-designation pulled off.
One of the great things about this class is the excitement that comes when you realize that things ARE possible -- that stuff you couldn't do at all at the beginning is starting to come together. Then that feeling of accomplishment becomes addictive, and you keep challenging yourself more . . . and eventually your husband says, "Promise me, NO MORE TRAINING DIVES for the summer!"
One of the great things about this class is the excitement that comes when you realize that things ARE possible -- that stuff you couldn't do at all at the beginning is starting to come together. Then that feeling of accomplishment becomes addictive, and you keep challenging yourself more . . . and eventually your husband says, "Promise me, NO MORE TRAINING DIVES for the summer!"
*Floater*
Contributor
Doc, could you elaborate a bit on the drysuit flexibility tips and tricks? I took my DIRF in a wetsuit and hence wasn't exposed to DIR drysuit techniques. (In my current drysuit at least I'm not even close to reaching my valves.)
OP
DocWong
Contributor
TSandM:
That's great that you love training!
I'm finding training dives fun too. Tonight we have a pool training dive at my house and I'll be working out the kinks in my new drysuit. I just get a TLS 350 and got the 400 gram Thinsulite undergarmet.
I'm really looking forward to getting more skilled!
rainman_02
Contributor
*Floater*:
*Floater*,
I was initially taught to "just take the squeeze off" in my drysuit class. That it definitely not enough air in a suit to reach your valves consistently and comfortably. Also, having your bp/w adjusted correctly is a big deal. For example, I could not effectively reach my valves during my Intro to Tech class. Let's just say that drill wound up in an air-share with my buddy. Not so good.
During the Intro to Tech class, Joe demonstrated the "proper" amount of air in the suit. He had me kneel, negative, on the bottom (*gasp* the horror!) and he added air into the suit until I felt like a balloon. He then had me vent the suit until it equalized. I now had the proper amount of air in my suit and could feel it. After the dive, he explained that I should have that much gas in my suit, proportional to depth.
So, after every dive of the class, we also tweaked my rig until it was just right.
Now, I've gotten to the point where I "know" how much gas to add and have my gear adjusted. In a class a few weeks ago (without a single valve drill practice in the meantime), I was able to quickly, easily, and efficiently run through a valve drill while my buddy had struggled before me. The difference between the two of us? Not experience! Gas in the suit and a well adjusted rig!
Oh, and these help too:Shoulder stretches!
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