Guy Alcala
Contributor
Carol, my regular dive buddy Fofo and I took Fundies from Rob Lee, all of us in tech rig. We had the usual problems, screw-ups, frustrations, comedy, and small moments of satisfaction/triumph when we got something right as in pretty much every class report, so I won't repeat the details (even if I could remember which dive they happened on). Bottom line, Carol got a rec pass, Fofo and I provisional passes. I wanted a challenging dive class that wasn't a lowest common denominator, 'automatic pass if your check clears' class, and one that wouldn't leave me feeling like I'd wasted my time and money on yet another dive class. I got the class I wanted (and expected).
I'd like to thank Rob, whose patience is seemingly inexhaustible; even without my deafness I'm the student from hell, as I do a lot of reading/research outside of the class materials, have lots of questions and want the reasoning why something is done a certain way justified. As long as it's explained I'm content, even when I still disagree (and I'm not bashful about arguing if I think there's a weakness in the logic). Add in the need for frequent repeats owing to my hearing problems, and the inability to have dive de-briefs in-water (I have to get my hearing aids from the car) and it makes class go slower. So I'd like to thank Rob (and my classmates) for dealing with it. I think this was Rob's first independent class after being certified as a GUE instructor; all I can say is I think he's an excellent instructor now, and as he gains experience and refines his methods he'll be even better (if that's possible). GUE does seem to maintain very high standards for their instructors, and to date I don't think I've ever read a bad review of one.
I'd also like to thank Allison and Joakim for video'ing, and for their comments (even though I was unable to hear a word Allison said, and had to wait for Fofo or Rob's repeat for the high-frequency impaired
).
And I'd like to thank Carol (ccohn2000) for the loan of a reg, Dan (dannobee) for the loan of a wing and doubles, and Don (ae3753) for the loan of a can light, which allowed me to take the class in tech rig as I wished. While I've often dived with Carol, I've only met Don once or twice at BW, and only know Dan from posts on SB and ba_diving. So my deepest thanks again to all of them for trusting me with expensive equipment, in the latter two cases on limited acquaintance.
Given Fofo's and my lack of experience with doubles and can lights this was undoubtedly not the easiest way to take the class, as it boosted the task loading substantially. But we'd both like to go on to tech if able, and this seemed like the best way to try that out, get a head's up on what would be required, and see if we wanted to continue down that path. There are issues, some equipment-related for which Rob was very helpful, most skills-related (ditto, naturally), and at least one that's physical.
Although I was finally able to do a full valve drill in my drysuit, I'm at the very limit of my physical reach owing to lack of flexibility and prior injuries. As a consequence, the valve drill was quite slow and painful, I'd estimate 1 minute or so to shut down my right or left post (the isolator was a bit easier). For me, I'd think that 10 or at most 15 seconds from the get-go would be the limit; anything over that and you'd probably lose too much gas.
Rob did give us a link to some stretching exercises and I'll be doing them, and showed us a trick involving inflating your drysuit on the surface and stretching your arms out that finally allowed me to reach and shut down my left post. But I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to do a shutdown more rapidly in a drysuit, and I don't feel that my current limitations would be acceptable from a safety perspective for (team) tech diving; if I were to chose to risk my own life alone, that's my business. As it was I was using a thin undergarment to give me the maximum flexibility possible, and it was far too cold for extended tech dives involving deco hangs; as it was I was shivering at the end of every OW dive, as we weren't swimming around enough to keep warm.
Finally, I had issues with some of the DIR practices/ideology going into the class, and those same issues remain. I'm still not sure that, even if I am able to continue down a tech path, that I'll ever want to dive strictly with DIR (GUE/UTD) protocols (standard gasses etc.). I took the class to learn the skills (or see which ones I needed to learn/improve) and check out the procedures/protocols, not to get another C-card. I certainly want to upgrade from a provisional pass to a full pass, and eventually (if possible) to a tech pass, because the value of having those skills is so obvious (my back kick was becoming slightly less intermittent with each dive), and I want to have a skilled independent observer to judge me on them. But how I dive and my diving philosophy differs in some significant ways from GUE/UTD, and I'm not sure that I'll ever be fully comfortable in a system that seems to me to take too much responsibility for risk-assessment and decision-making away from the individual or the individual team. It may be that as I gain more experience diving with other DIR divers my opinion will change. At the moment I doubt it, but (to use the typical unfinished news story cop-out), only time will tell.
Guy
I'd like to thank Rob, whose patience is seemingly inexhaustible; even without my deafness I'm the student from hell, as I do a lot of reading/research outside of the class materials, have lots of questions and want the reasoning why something is done a certain way justified. As long as it's explained I'm content, even when I still disagree (and I'm not bashful about arguing if I think there's a weakness in the logic). Add in the need for frequent repeats owing to my hearing problems, and the inability to have dive de-briefs in-water (I have to get my hearing aids from the car) and it makes class go slower. So I'd like to thank Rob (and my classmates) for dealing with it. I think this was Rob's first independent class after being certified as a GUE instructor; all I can say is I think he's an excellent instructor now, and as he gains experience and refines his methods he'll be even better (if that's possible). GUE does seem to maintain very high standards for their instructors, and to date I don't think I've ever read a bad review of one.
I'd also like to thank Allison and Joakim for video'ing, and for their comments (even though I was unable to hear a word Allison said, and had to wait for Fofo or Rob's repeat for the high-frequency impaired
). And I'd like to thank Carol (ccohn2000) for the loan of a reg, Dan (dannobee) for the loan of a wing and doubles, and Don (ae3753) for the loan of a can light, which allowed me to take the class in tech rig as I wished. While I've often dived with Carol, I've only met Don once or twice at BW, and only know Dan from posts on SB and ba_diving. So my deepest thanks again to all of them for trusting me with expensive equipment, in the latter two cases on limited acquaintance.
Given Fofo's and my lack of experience with doubles and can lights this was undoubtedly not the easiest way to take the class, as it boosted the task loading substantially. But we'd both like to go on to tech if able, and this seemed like the best way to try that out, get a head's up on what would be required, and see if we wanted to continue down that path. There are issues, some equipment-related for which Rob was very helpful, most skills-related (ditto, naturally), and at least one that's physical.
Although I was finally able to do a full valve drill in my drysuit, I'm at the very limit of my physical reach owing to lack of flexibility and prior injuries. As a consequence, the valve drill was quite slow and painful, I'd estimate 1 minute or so to shut down my right or left post (the isolator was a bit easier). For me, I'd think that 10 or at most 15 seconds from the get-go would be the limit; anything over that and you'd probably lose too much gas.
Rob did give us a link to some stretching exercises and I'll be doing them, and showed us a trick involving inflating your drysuit on the surface and stretching your arms out that finally allowed me to reach and shut down my left post. But I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to do a shutdown more rapidly in a drysuit, and I don't feel that my current limitations would be acceptable from a safety perspective for (team) tech diving; if I were to chose to risk my own life alone, that's my business. As it was I was using a thin undergarment to give me the maximum flexibility possible, and it was far too cold for extended tech dives involving deco hangs; as it was I was shivering at the end of every OW dive, as we weren't swimming around enough to keep warm.
Finally, I had issues with some of the DIR practices/ideology going into the class, and those same issues remain. I'm still not sure that, even if I am able to continue down a tech path, that I'll ever want to dive strictly with DIR (GUE/UTD) protocols (standard gasses etc.). I took the class to learn the skills (or see which ones I needed to learn/improve) and check out the procedures/protocols, not to get another C-card. I certainly want to upgrade from a provisional pass to a full pass, and eventually (if possible) to a tech pass, because the value of having those skills is so obvious (my back kick was becoming slightly less intermittent with each dive), and I want to have a skilled independent observer to judge me on them. But how I dive and my diving philosophy differs in some significant ways from GUE/UTD, and I'm not sure that I'll ever be fully comfortable in a system that seems to me to take too much responsibility for risk-assessment and decision-making away from the individual or the individual team. It may be that as I gain more experience diving with other DIR divers my opinion will change. At the moment I doubt it, but (to use the typical unfinished news story cop-out), only time will tell.
Guy
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