Well, I have completely recovered from last weekends Fundies course up in Seattle, WA. To say it was a long weekend is an understatement. It encompassed 38 hours over a long 3 days, which did land me in a bit of trouble with the Wifey.
Day One
It was a full class of 6, three in doubles (including me) and three in singles. Four of us were local, and two were visiting one from Calgary, Canada, and another from Minnesota. Steve White was our instructor. I found Steve to have a warm and relaxed personality, and quite the wit to boot. You can immediately tell that he is very at ease with instructing students.
The first day was mostly classroom instruction, including watching videos of the basic kicks and skills. Mid-afternoon we donned our undergarments and drysuits, except for the lone wetsuit wearer of our bunch. It was an invariable advertisement for DUI. We had a CF 200, a TLS 350 and one CX450 among our group. There were only minor adjustments required to harness shoulder lengths and placements of D rings. All-in-all, we seemed pretty squared away and did not have to sweat for too long.
Following harness and suit fitting, we paired off and practiced S-Drills.
By 6 pm it was time for the feared swim test. Steve contacted a local pool that indicated their open swim started at 6:30. We made it to this pool, only to find that it was currently closed for a private swim. Never mind that they didnt list this on their phone message. A second pool was tracked down, and away our six car caravan went.
I had been dreading the swim test as I had let myself get a bit out of shape, not to mention that I rarely swim. So, I began working my *** off at the gym, Personal Trainer and all, for the week leading up to this class. It is safe to say that 14 min is a LOOONG time with which to swim 300 yards. I managed it in less than 8 min. The hard part was following the swim with a 50 foot breath hold. All of the cardio done that week paid off, as I wouldnt have made it through the breath hold without it.
Departed Renton 8:15 PM
Day Two
It was another rainy and quite chilly Seattle day at Cove 2. When Steve says he will lay out a challenging course, he isnt kidding. The up-line started at 18, progressed down to 24, turned right, progressed up to 17, turned right, progressed up to 13, over a boulder then right again and back down to the up-line. All in maybe 5 feet of visibility.
During our first dive, Steve demonstrated the Frog Kick, Modified Frog and the Modified Flutter to us, and we in turn performed them for the camera. Its safe to say that I had no clue as to what my feet were doing. After taking a stab at the kicks, our team lined up three abreast, with the middle member acting as team leader, to lead us around the course. We would make three trips around the course, switching who leads the team and perform a different kick during each lap.
While I was leading our team around the course, we were torpedoed by multiple divers from an OW course. They were everywhere. Steve grabbed and moved one diver out of our way, as another was making a bee line to go under the cave line denoting our course. He was immediately grabbed by Steve and tossed back from where he came. I doubt those divers even realized what happened to them. Our team received kudos for holding together during the mêlée.
At the end of the dive I became a STAR. I managed to catch by fin strap on the up-line. I somehow also caught a team member with me, sorry Eric. All of this took place only mere feet from Scott and his little friend the camera. I decided that rather than become further tangled, I would hang tight there and let Scott untangle us, which he did. What wasnt caught on film, was Scott becoming caught in the up-line, after freeing us..
This illustrated my need for better environmental awareness and to get spring straps on my fins pronto. I did not have a chance to make a set for my new Jet fins, prior to class.
It was a long, cold, damp wait between dives which left me cold, of course, but also quite unfocused. We dropped down the up-line to work on the final two fin kicks and the basic five skills. The backwards kick had me moving two strokes back, followed by 4 strokes forward to keep my trim. The helicopter, on the other hand, was even more abysmal. It was more like how far and wide of a turn can you make around a point, rather than turning directly over it.
I am happy to say that I was able to demonstrate the basic five skills of: remove and replace regulator, regulator switch, mask flood and clear, mask removal, modified S-drill. I was not however, able to do them and keep my buoyancy and trim, except on the mask removal. I was able to keep my buoyancy and trim while removing my mask, but completely lost it while clearing it. Up, up and away ..All of these skills will have to be demonstrated again tomorrow.
Back at the shop .we reviewed the dreaded tape. It wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. Steve has a very non judgmental demeanor when pointing out mistakes, concerns, or when we are shining at our best. This was the most educational aspect of this course. I was able to see what I was doing wrong, and discuss what needs to be done to correct it.
Class dismissed 9:30 PM
Continued in Post Two
Day One
It was a full class of 6, three in doubles (including me) and three in singles. Four of us were local, and two were visiting one from Calgary, Canada, and another from Minnesota. Steve White was our instructor. I found Steve to have a warm and relaxed personality, and quite the wit to boot. You can immediately tell that he is very at ease with instructing students.
The first day was mostly classroom instruction, including watching videos of the basic kicks and skills. Mid-afternoon we donned our undergarments and drysuits, except for the lone wetsuit wearer of our bunch. It was an invariable advertisement for DUI. We had a CF 200, a TLS 350 and one CX450 among our group. There were only minor adjustments required to harness shoulder lengths and placements of D rings. All-in-all, we seemed pretty squared away and did not have to sweat for too long.
Following harness and suit fitting, we paired off and practiced S-Drills.
By 6 pm it was time for the feared swim test. Steve contacted a local pool that indicated their open swim started at 6:30. We made it to this pool, only to find that it was currently closed for a private swim. Never mind that they didnt list this on their phone message. A second pool was tracked down, and away our six car caravan went.
I had been dreading the swim test as I had let myself get a bit out of shape, not to mention that I rarely swim. So, I began working my *** off at the gym, Personal Trainer and all, for the week leading up to this class. It is safe to say that 14 min is a LOOONG time with which to swim 300 yards. I managed it in less than 8 min. The hard part was following the swim with a 50 foot breath hold. All of the cardio done that week paid off, as I wouldnt have made it through the breath hold without it.
Departed Renton 8:15 PM
Day Two
It was another rainy and quite chilly Seattle day at Cove 2. When Steve says he will lay out a challenging course, he isnt kidding. The up-line started at 18, progressed down to 24, turned right, progressed up to 17, turned right, progressed up to 13, over a boulder then right again and back down to the up-line. All in maybe 5 feet of visibility.
During our first dive, Steve demonstrated the Frog Kick, Modified Frog and the Modified Flutter to us, and we in turn performed them for the camera. Its safe to say that I had no clue as to what my feet were doing. After taking a stab at the kicks, our team lined up three abreast, with the middle member acting as team leader, to lead us around the course. We would make three trips around the course, switching who leads the team and perform a different kick during each lap.
While I was leading our team around the course, we were torpedoed by multiple divers from an OW course. They were everywhere. Steve grabbed and moved one diver out of our way, as another was making a bee line to go under the cave line denoting our course. He was immediately grabbed by Steve and tossed back from where he came. I doubt those divers even realized what happened to them. Our team received kudos for holding together during the mêlée.
At the end of the dive I became a STAR. I managed to catch by fin strap on the up-line. I somehow also caught a team member with me, sorry Eric. All of this took place only mere feet from Scott and his little friend the camera. I decided that rather than become further tangled, I would hang tight there and let Scott untangle us, which he did. What wasnt caught on film, was Scott becoming caught in the up-line, after freeing us..
This illustrated my need for better environmental awareness and to get spring straps on my fins pronto. I did not have a chance to make a set for my new Jet fins, prior to class.
It was a long, cold, damp wait between dives which left me cold, of course, but also quite unfocused. We dropped down the up-line to work on the final two fin kicks and the basic five skills. The backwards kick had me moving two strokes back, followed by 4 strokes forward to keep my trim. The helicopter, on the other hand, was even more abysmal. It was more like how far and wide of a turn can you make around a point, rather than turning directly over it.
I am happy to say that I was able to demonstrate the basic five skills of: remove and replace regulator, regulator switch, mask flood and clear, mask removal, modified S-drill. I was not however, able to do them and keep my buoyancy and trim, except on the mask removal. I was able to keep my buoyancy and trim while removing my mask, but completely lost it while clearing it. Up, up and away ..All of these skills will have to be demonstrated again tomorrow.
Back at the shop .we reviewed the dreaded tape. It wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. Steve has a very non judgmental demeanor when pointing out mistakes, concerns, or when we are shining at our best. This was the most educational aspect of this course. I was able to see what I was doing wrong, and discuss what needs to be done to correct it.
Class dismissed 9:30 PM
Continued in Post Two
BTW, I've teased him about the barista myself . . . 
