Kwbyron
Contributor
Don't tempt me....My LDS called and said my drysuit is back from getting fixed....untill now I had that excuse....I think I'll wait one more week, just to be safe. Y'all have fun.
for the newer divers ...
- Thread starter MXGratefulDiver
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rachelscott51
Contributor
Ooh, don't know if I can make it this week. What are people's plans next week? I need to get wet since my dive buddy is gone for the summer. :-(
Ben_ca
Contributor
Greetings from down south (Monterey) I hope you don't mind if I intrude but I'm thinking of putting one of these on and I could use some ideas...
From the newer divers:
Did the big buddy dives help you?
What worked... what would you like to see in the future.
From the newer divers:
Did the big buddy dives help you?
What worked... what would you like to see in the future.
dsteding
Contributor
Ben_ca:
Ben,
I'd strongly encourage you to do this down in Monterey. As a newer diver, these dives have helped me a lot (actually, I only made the first one-damn work gets in the way sometimes).
What worked: Both Bob and Lynne made it a low pressure, welcoming environment. One of the things that may be intimidating to newer divers is diving with people with a lot more experience. With that being said, it was a good environment to receive advice, after all, these were mentor dives, and that advice was given in a low-key manner. New divers are looking for chances to dive with others, so it should be fairly easy to dredge a crew up.
For me, why I found them valuable is (1) I was further exposed to a different style of diving (in a no pressure manner); (2) I met a great dive buddy (Lynne); and (3) I learned a lot about where my diving could go (still working on getting there).
What I'd want to see in the future is quite simple. Keep it low-key (this is one of Bob's real strengths as a teacher, he gets you out there, having fun, and the learning happens along the way). Also, keep it welcoming to all types and skill levels, to the credit of the mentors, I've never seen or heard of an instance where any frustration was expressed in regards to the newer divers. That is one of the reasons why these dives work.
One of these days, I want to get down to Monterey. I grew up in Los Altos, lived in Santa Cruz for 4 years, but grew up surfing and didn't dive at the time . . .
Cold_H2O
Guest
Ben ~ Make sure you have enough mentors to go around.
I agree new divers are sometimes intimidated by the more experienced divers or they worry that their "lack of skills" will make the dives less enjoyable for the more "skilled" divers.
STRESS that this is a newbie/Mentor dive. The more experienced divers are there to assist the newer divers.
Fun is the name of the game here. And building skills.
I agree new divers are sometimes intimidated by the more experienced divers or they worry that their "lack of skills" will make the dives less enjoyable for the more "skilled" divers.
STRESS that this is a newbie/Mentor dive. The more experienced divers are there to assist the newer divers.
Fun is the name of the game here. And building skills.
I met Bob on one of these last year, and everybody knows where THAT went.
My tips would be -- pick an easy, well-known site where it's simple to do a dive tailored to the abilities of the novice divers. Some will be rank beginners; others will be able to do a bit more.
Collect a group of mentors who are enthusiastic about the idea. Bob recruited a wonderful group of people who honestly want to help. From my reading of the 5thD-x board, my guess is that you have such people, too.
Don't get yourself in a state about the ratios. This last one that I ran, I was going nuts trying to make sure we had the right balance, and in the end, almost all the novice divers were no-shows and lamont got to mentor ME.
You will probably get a MUCH better turnout if you do it on a weekend. For various logistical reasons, we have not done that, and I think it's really limited the participation.
Good luck with it. I've benefited from both sides -- I got a mentor that way, and I picked up a wonderful dive buddy (dsteding) from volunteering to mentor.
My tips would be -- pick an easy, well-known site where it's simple to do a dive tailored to the abilities of the novice divers. Some will be rank beginners; others will be able to do a bit more.
Collect a group of mentors who are enthusiastic about the idea. Bob recruited a wonderful group of people who honestly want to help. From my reading of the 5thD-x board, my guess is that you have such people, too.
Don't get yourself in a state about the ratios. This last one that I ran, I was going nuts trying to make sure we had the right balance, and in the end, almost all the novice divers were no-shows and lamont got to mentor ME.
You will probably get a MUCH better turnout if you do it on a weekend. For various logistical reasons, we have not done that, and I think it's really limited the participation.
Good luck with it. I've benefited from both sides -- I got a mentor that way, and I picked up a wonderful dive buddy (dsteding) from volunteering to mentor.
PuyallupCoug
Contributor
I would love to do a buddy dive on a weekend. I am not realistically able to make it during the week due to work etc etc. I live in Kirkland and wouldnt mind meeting up for a weekend buddy dive in Edmonds or somewhere around this area. My only thing is I am not able to dive on a weekend when there is a WSU home game as I travel to Pullman for every game:14:
I like your priorities! Go Cougs!
Biodiversity_guy
Contributor
Are these buddy dives still going on? If not, I am hoping they will be restarted next spring/summer. Sounds like a great group of folks to learn from and dive with.
If I can talk Bob into doing one on a weekend, we may try in November.
I got a little discouraged with the last one, because we had so few novice divers show up. Not that the mentors don't enjoy diving with one another, mind you, but it's hard to keep asking people to come to do this if there isn't much interest on the part of the newbies.
I got a little discouraged with the last one, because we had so few novice divers show up. Not that the mentors don't enjoy diving with one another, mind you, but it's hard to keep asking people to come to do this if there isn't much interest on the part of the newbies.
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