Sunday Sept 10th I became O/W Certified! Heres how it went
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I read the manual twice and watched the DVD twice as I enrolled to learn and for as much as possible to sink in! Some of the students went into the classroom with no pre-studying and it showed which was rather unusual. It also presented the opportunity to ask questions which obviously the book or DVD wouldnt answer. Our instructor was full of promoting the pleasures of diving but was also realistic in explaining what can and has gone wrong. I found this very helpful as I believe that from a students point of view, teaching with only rosy stories does not arouse the importance of safe diving to new students.
Our pool sessions went well and my class of 12 were all picking up well apart from one guy who just didnt feel right underwater unfortunately the first pool session was the last we saw of him.
Our open water dives 1 & 2 started on a Saturday and we were going to finish 3 & 4 on the Sunday. After a few heavy days of downpours, we remained optimistic that this would not spoil the viz as we kitted up in the quarry. Taking the first plunge was breathtaking it wasnt the cold, it was the excitement of putting my pool skills into action and being properly assessed on them. After a buoyancy check and snorkel/reg exchange on the surface we headed down the 6m line. Upon arriving at the platform (some 2-3m from the bottom) we all felt uncomfortable as the viz was no more than 2ft. After the obvious frustration of the Instructors and DMs getting us all together (they must have felt like they were rounding up sheep:11: !!!), we teamed up with a buddy and DM/Instructor to take a little swim off the platform. Within minutes the whole group reformed and the MSDT signalled to surface. Upon surfacing, we took turns doing our tired diver tows with our buddies and hopped out of the water. Our MSDT grouped us together after a brief discussion with his DMs & other instructor and stated that he felt that we could not go on due to the viz being so bad and the safety standard would be compromised. He apologised many times and politely asked if we could respect his decision to call the dive. His statement was diving should be fun, but even more than fun - it should be safe. The MSDT was clearly upset for having to call it but the morale of the group remained high. Needless to say, we all held utmost respect and most of us re-arranged our completion dates the following week.
Being due for my annual holiday abroad with the lads, I returned for mine on Sunday 10th Sept.
Catching up with a new group who were on dives 3 & 4, the Instructor, DM and I left early to finish skills which should have been done on dive 2. Being the only student for this part, it didnt take long and I surfaced to find the rest of the students now ready for their 3rd dive. I stayed in the water and buddied up to complete dive 3. After a tank swap and a pee break, we all did our final dive and every student completed their skills and we enjoyed a very easy swim to 15.2m and browsed the odd fish, small wreck and so on. I even christened my 15m mark with a nice sweet raspberry that kept me company in my suit for the remained of the dive although I maintained brilliantly neutral buoyancy like a pro!!!
Because of my delay in completing the course, my C-Card had already arrived in the interim and was already in the instructors hand who showed the rest of the students what they will receive while we were filling in our logs.
I have been on so many discovery dives before, I am so glad I have gone and started into this world now. Finally I have something apart from pictures to show that I have actually spent some quality time underwater. Taking nothing away from intro dives, when you are required to perform skills underwater like a mask removal and replacement, this is when you know your are doing something much more useful than a discovery dive!
Yes, this story is pointless but Im sure you all have good memories of your first C-Card. This is mine
I read the manual twice and watched the DVD twice as I enrolled to learn and for as much as possible to sink in! Some of the students went into the classroom with no pre-studying and it showed which was rather unusual. It also presented the opportunity to ask questions which obviously the book or DVD wouldnt answer. Our instructor was full of promoting the pleasures of diving but was also realistic in explaining what can and has gone wrong. I found this very helpful as I believe that from a students point of view, teaching with only rosy stories does not arouse the importance of safe diving to new students.
Our pool sessions went well and my class of 12 were all picking up well apart from one guy who just didnt feel right underwater unfortunately the first pool session was the last we saw of him.
Our open water dives 1 & 2 started on a Saturday and we were going to finish 3 & 4 on the Sunday. After a few heavy days of downpours, we remained optimistic that this would not spoil the viz as we kitted up in the quarry. Taking the first plunge was breathtaking it wasnt the cold, it was the excitement of putting my pool skills into action and being properly assessed on them. After a buoyancy check and snorkel/reg exchange on the surface we headed down the 6m line. Upon arriving at the platform (some 2-3m from the bottom) we all felt uncomfortable as the viz was no more than 2ft. After the obvious frustration of the Instructors and DMs getting us all together (they must have felt like they were rounding up sheep:11: !!!), we teamed up with a buddy and DM/Instructor to take a little swim off the platform. Within minutes the whole group reformed and the MSDT signalled to surface. Upon surfacing, we took turns doing our tired diver tows with our buddies and hopped out of the water. Our MSDT grouped us together after a brief discussion with his DMs & other instructor and stated that he felt that we could not go on due to the viz being so bad and the safety standard would be compromised. He apologised many times and politely asked if we could respect his decision to call the dive. His statement was diving should be fun, but even more than fun - it should be safe. The MSDT was clearly upset for having to call it but the morale of the group remained high. Needless to say, we all held utmost respect and most of us re-arranged our completion dates the following week.
Being due for my annual holiday abroad with the lads, I returned for mine on Sunday 10th Sept.
Catching up with a new group who were on dives 3 & 4, the Instructor, DM and I left early to finish skills which should have been done on dive 2. Being the only student for this part, it didnt take long and I surfaced to find the rest of the students now ready for their 3rd dive. I stayed in the water and buddied up to complete dive 3. After a tank swap and a pee break, we all did our final dive and every student completed their skills and we enjoyed a very easy swim to 15.2m and browsed the odd fish, small wreck and so on. I even christened my 15m mark with a nice sweet raspberry that kept me company in my suit for the remained of the dive although I maintained brilliantly neutral buoyancy like a pro!!!
Because of my delay in completing the course, my C-Card had already arrived in the interim and was already in the instructors hand who showed the rest of the students what they will receive while we were filling in our logs.
I have been on so many discovery dives before, I am so glad I have gone and started into this world now. Finally I have something apart from pictures to show that I have actually spent some quality time underwater. Taking nothing away from intro dives, when you are required to perform skills underwater like a mask removal and replacement, this is when you know your are doing something much more useful than a discovery dive!
Yes, this story is pointless but Im sure you all have good memories of your first C-Card. This is mine
