Generic running updates thread -or- "Going Pro's Goings Prose"

[ClayJar]

Tuesday evening, I was checking out a new moderately high end grocery store near here. While walking the aisles (and chuckling sadly at some of the stuff that must be there just so scientifically illiterate people can feel smug as they waste their money), I came across a Norwegian brand of bottled water: VOSS. Well, it just so happens that one of our DM course's instructors uses "VOSS" all the time as an acronym for "Value, Objective, Sequence of events, and Summary", which make up the framework of teaching the in-water skills. Seeing a nice cylindrical glass bottle with VOSS in big letters down the side was just too much, so I bought him a bottle.

So, at lunch yesterday, I dropped by the shop and presented him with his very own bottle of VOSS. He was thoroughly enthused, and it's now on his desk in the shop. Of course, nothing is ever so simple as dropping off a bottle of water, eh? While I was there, he noted that the currently-running Rescue course had moved their pool session up to this week (it had been scheduled for next week). He called the other DM candidate on the spot, and we moved our class to last night (Wednesday instead of the usual Thursday).

The pool was fun, although I'm *really* looking forward to being able to use my new mask. My almost-as-high-volume-as-a-HydroOptix mask has become too annoying. Of course, since it's a prescription mask, there is that little problem. To deal with that, as of last Saturday, I now have (disposable single-day) contacts on order. I'm a glasses person by nature, but I've worn contacts before, and being able to see topside and below *and* have a very nice frameless low-volume mask will be very pleasant, indeed. (And using single-day disposables means I don't have to worry about losing them. Que sera.)

Anyway, we did a bunch of things in the pool (practicing all the skills, both as "student" and "teacher"). My compadre may be a bit rustier than I (especially since he hasn't assisted with any classes yet -- I learn lots of wrong ways to do things by watching students ), but he's coming along nicely enough. I've worked with several classes now, so I've had plenty of opportunity to internalize all the usual stuff, but I'm still polishing (and when my contacts come in, there will be *much* rejoicing -- the mask is wonderful already, even if I can't see while wearing it :biggrin.

Oh, by the way, my back kick has actually started to work *much* more consistently! I was just puttering around while the other guy did the unconscious diver on the bottom drill several times (so, he's a little out of practice), and I finally seem to have discovered how to do a back kick *properly*. I have to keep it up, of course, but I was actually going consistently in the right direction, and I seem to have finally found the "feel" of a properly done back kick. (Once you find the feel, you can build muscle memory, or at least that's how I seem to work.)

After everything was over, we made our way out and geared down (hehe, that sounds funny, but it's *got* to be the opposite of gearing up, eh? :biggrin. Everyone was just about out of the building, and the shop van was already running. The instructor asked me if I had everything so he could turn out the lights.

It was then I jumped.

I asked him when I'd get a chance to do more of the watermanship skills, specifically the 900-yard snorkel in 18 minutes or less (which is the longest-time, most endurance-based skill I have left). He asked me when I wanted to do it, and I said I'm game whenever. He asked if I wanted to do it tonight; was I ready? I said I couldn't really tell whether I was ready or not until I tried. Good enough.

So, he shut off the van and got his iPhone (which has a stopwatch, of course), and I grabbed my split fins (purchased off eBay *specifically* for just this one skill, although I can use them for other things if I want ). I had two instructors, the other DMC, and some other guy forming my audience of four, and after a few breaths to get my pace figured, I was off and kicking.

I've done my share of 20+ mile day hikes, and the most important thing to do is to settle into your natural pace and then just keep going. As long as you keep a pace, you can go quite a bit farther than you *feel* you can go. This was quite a bit shorter, of course, but the same general idea. By about the second lap or so, I'd settled into my pace, and from there on, it was just a robotic march to the finish. (I look straight down, except at the turns, as looking ahead makes you aware of how far you have to go each length.)

I kept count on my right hand, one to five fingers, then a fist for six, repeated three times. Trying to count in your head doesn't work too well, at least for me. (I lose count and end up going quite a bit extra, as I always round down if unsure.) As I made the turn to the second half of the second-to-last lap (counting a lap as two lengths), I signaled out of the water above my back, "Time, Question, 1." My usual buddy would have easily understood ("What's my time going into the last lap?"), but nobody on the surface seemed to have a clue (or so they said later). I figured there was no point to sprint a full lap (two lengths) without knowing I needed to, so I kept my set pace going until the final turn. Then I went all in on a final sprint to the wall (no point in leaving anything in the tank, eh?).

I hadn't practiced the snorkel swim itself, so I didn't really know what to expect, time-wise. I figured it would at least give me an evaluation of where I was, if I was over the limit. I didn't try to push myself to go faster, choosing instead to simply take my natural pace and go with it, since I can keep that pace up almost indefinitely (although having a drink would be nice after each 700 yards or so of hard snorkel breathing). Anyway, I stuck my head up and waited for my time... which came in at 15:59. (I'd say that's acceptable for a cold-turkey swim after a long night in the pool, especially since I wasn't trying for speed.)

So, another night done, and another skill scratched off the list. I still have the tows, of course, but they're more like "power sprints" than true endurance, at least the way I see them. I look forward to polishing them all off.

Next week's class was moved as well. We're finishing up with chapter 18, "The Business of Diving", on Monday evening. That'll wrap up the classroom portion of the course, except for the final exam, which we'll talk about Monday. We've still got however much pool work we end up doing, of course, and working at least two checkout dive trips. My first of those will be not this weekend but the next. I've already worked two basic classes (and more), but I'll sign on for the April one as well (hopefully my little brother will get in that one, since he's now wanting to get in on diving). The second checkout trip this year will be at the end of April, so that might be the final cog in the machine for me. It certainly looks like we're heading in to the final stretch.

 

[ClayJar]

Well, the classroom portion (other than the test, which is whenever we want to drop by to take it) is complete. Now, only the watermanship skills, confined water stuff, and checkout trips remain (and the first of my two checkout trips is scheduled for this weekend).

I now have to decide when I want to take the test. Should I wait until Thursday, or just take it tomorrow? (I don't *need* to take it until late April, but why wouldn't I take it sooner, eh?)

 

[ClayJar]

Hehe, well, I'll wait until Thursday, then.

See, I went to the shop today with the intention of taking the exam, but when I walked in, I was immediately shunted into the back room, where they were just starting a regulator rebuild with the young kid. I got to participate in rebuilding a complete reg set instead of taking the test. It was quite informative, of course, even if it wasn't *my* brand.

So, *tomorrow* I'll drop by the shop to take the test. :biggrin:

 

[ClayJar]

Well, the test was rather easy. I got an esoteric commercial charter boating question wrong (had to guess) and a couple others (all tangential to diving). I actually had 10% of the answers marked wrong, but much of that was the key. (You can be *quite* sure that I did not get that dive table question wrong, for example.) I still have a couple questions out on appeal (the lead instructor wasn't there to respond to my less black-and-white comments), but even if they decline my case on those, the blatantly mistaken ones were enough to yield what I would consider and acceptably respectable score.

(The couple questions I didn't know would not have been ones I'd be likely to have committed to memory through even considerable study. I may have recalled the correct answers, but they were things I'd normally just look up, anyway, so that doesn't bother me.)

Anyway, the final exam has now been passed, so that's out of the way. This weekend is the first of two checkout trips, and other than that, it's just checking off the rest of the wet work. (Okay, and all the cost and paperwork stuff is ahead, but that's more or less post-course, so I don't have to count it. :biggrin

 

[ClayJar]

I guess I should get around to posting a little update about the checkout trip this past weekend, eh? :biggrin:

Vortex was ***PACKED***. There weren't as many swimmers as a Memorial Day weekend, but as far as divers go, if you had everybody freeze right where they were, you could swing from one octo to the next all the way across the spring without missing a breath. I mean, seriously, it was *packed*. Needless to say, the visibility dropped precipitously from *fantastic* in the cavern entrance all the way to "Oh, cool, I can see my nose from here!" in the bad spots.

I got to lead a snorkel around the basin, and while we only had four students, it got away from me. The two buddy pairs spread out, and as soon as that made an opening, the faster buddy pair was through it and in front of the slow pair. Naturally, the faster pair didn't really listen, and off they went. I tried to keep in range of both pairs, but the slow pair got slower, and then one of them had a minor issue. Dealing with that only took a few moments, but the faster pair was out of range by the time that was done. I admitted defeat and stuck with the slower, more potentially problematic pair as the instructor monitored the fast pair's completion.

I knew it was likely to happen like that, as did the instructor (of course). He'd even said that keeping them together was going to be hard. The crowded site forced my snorkelers apart, and that was all they needed to get out of hand. I need to keep working on my commanding, as ordering people around forcefully on the surface (such as when they're not paying attention and need to be pulled back to the group) is likely my biggest working point. (Underwater, I can order around quite well, but everything non-diving I do topside involves being discreet and unnoticed, so vocal commands were never something I practiced.)

Anyway, I got to learn some things on that snorkel (and in the briefings, for which the instructor gave me a nice handful of useful tips... *afterwards*, of course :biggrin. Then it was time for our first scuba dive. Did I mention that it was *packed*? Every platform and line was taken, and new bubbles took the place whenever one group of bubbles moved off. The instructor and I discussed it and decided that I'd stake out a spot on the flat top of one of the "artificial cave" tunnels, and we'd have the students descend along a line part of the way down, at which point we'd take them off and head to the spot. Thankfully, while we were executing that plan, the platform on which we were descending suddenly opened up, so we pounced on it and started there.

I was waiting with the first buddy pair while the second was descending, when the instructor signaled for me to take over one of the students who was having ear problems. As the other three students went through skills, we were above them with the fourth student trying to get through ear trouble. She couldn't equalize, and once we'd made it all the way back to the surface trying, she said that her ear wouldn't even equalize on the surface and was now in pain. She rightfully decided to abort the dive, and I escorted her to the stairs and out of the water. (She intends to be back soon, but since she apparently also had problems in the pool and since she couldn't equalize at all this time, she's going to see an ENT before next time.)

And so, we were down to three. I returned to the bottom to meet back up with the group, and I signaled the instructor that her ear wouldn't do and that she was back on land. We rebuddied (we had a dad and another certified diver with us), and it was time to swim off into the rest of the dive plan. The instructor led away, while I was in the back.

*Immediately* after he and a buddy pair moved off, an instructor with a veritable *herd* came charging through us with no courtesy or deference. He and his siltwalkers split my buddy pair and myself from the rest of our group, and I had to quickly take charge, pull us together, and get us through their wall of people. Apparently their instructor was a jerk to ours, too, as he more or less effectively kicked ours out of the air box. (Would *you* argue with a guy with a platoon of scuba marchers? :biggrin Anyway, I got my people through their cloud and back together with our instructor on the other side, and on we went.

It was among the harder sets of dives I've done. It was like herding cats... er... no, it was like herding *catfish*... um... well, maybe like herding catfish in a hurricane. There were so many people and the viz so bad, that at one point I had to ID our instructor, count heads (so to speak), and then turn around to fetch the student and dad who had decided not to follow. (They weren't but a couple kicks back, but the crowd of people was sufficient at that point to make ID-by-tank-markings my preferred method of knowing who's who.)

The rest of the dives were pretty similar. Sometimes you have more problems with certified divers than you do with students, but hey, you just have to deal with it all, eh? By the end of the weekend, quite a lot had been learned. (Well, not so much learned as practiced, I guess.) I also got to be unconscious on the bottom several times, which is always fun.

So, the biggest lessons for me were probably some tips on briefings, a practical illustration of how hard it is to keep people together on the surface, more practical experience managing groups underwater in adverse conditions ("You are in a silt cloud of flighty divers, all of them alike..."). As far as the briefings, I'm working on a "template" which should be quite nice for any generic site in the future, and as for the rest, well, I guess you learn what you observe, and you try to be even better next time.

Oh, and did I mention it was packed?

 

[ClayJar]

So, last week we had another basic scuba class. This one ended up being 16 students, so it was rather full, but not quite to the extent of the last one. The big difference was the distribution of students. Whereas last time we had several big and tall guys, requiring us to jump through hoops to get everyone kitted out, this time we had four or five kids (and I don't mean high school seniors, either). I wonder if I ever get to work a class with everyone in the middle of the bell curve... but this is better for training, eh? :biggrin:

Anyway, we had two instructors and a couple divemasters, and everything went amazingly smoothly on Tuesday evening. We were only missing a couple students' sizes by the time class started. About the most interesting part of my Friday, meanwhile, was having to rush home in the middle of class to get the generator running and the freezers/fridges powered. (Thankfully, I live but a mile or so from the shop, and the lead instructor didn't even know I'd left for a few minutes. Obviously, I let the others know.)

The wetsuit and BC/reg assignment sheets worked as well as usual Saturday morning. Actually, since I printed and laminated two (one to stay with each instructor's group), they worked even better than usual. The sorted-by-gear-ID tables make it quite easy to distribute the gear, since you just call out each piece's "owner" and hand them the item. It's easier to call names than look for gear -- people listen... sometimes (or at least, they tend not to end up stacked in a big pile ).

For some reason, we seemed to have a bunch of gear problems. A reg was slightly free-flowing (HP seat, most likely, or so I'd say), so we swapped it out. Two cylinders had very short fills (at least one's been pulled for a valve rebuild), but we obiously had spares. A couple of the small kids' BCs were just a headache and a half, but we just had to live with them, since they were all we had for little stick people (nothing serious, of course, but they're getting rather near the end of their useful life). I guess maybe it's just that this weekend had a 13th in it. Anyway, the shop tech (who is also one of the DM course instructors) had a nice pile of gear and list of errata when he got to work this morning. :biggrin:

(Oh, oddly enough, while I saw one O-ring being swapped out by someone else, I didn't have to replace a single one all weekend. I wonder if that means we've finished replacing all of them and it'll taper off for a while... HA!)

As for the pool sessions, we had maybe a couple more ear problems than normal on Saturday (or maybe it was just the size of the class). Having younger kids in the class was a whole additional challenge to what I've been used to, as they are less predictable... or sedate... than the usual adults. I will say that they seemed to listen *far* better than the teenage spearfishing guys who were there a couple classes back.

I didn't talk much with the other instructor about his group, but the group with which I was working did quite well on Sunday. There were still some with slow ears, but everybody made it down to the deep end and easily completed the required skills. I think there was only one mask-clearing problem in our group all weekend, and that was just a one-time thing at the beginning. Everybody seemed quite at peace with removing their masks. (I turned around at one point to see one of the kids whip his mask off, put it back on, and clear it without a hitch, all while maintaining a respectable hover. Frankly, he had less control of himself with the mask on, but I couldn't really have him do the whole day that way. :biggrin

I got to do quite a bit of work with the students this class. (Some instructors use you more; some just want your eyes.) The highlight was probably getting a big choke of water when one of them pulled me under to get to my inflator during "panicked diver at the surface". Let me just say for the benefit of whomever that was who said to pull them under (it was some thread once here on SB): It *doesn't* work too well. (Almost as fun were the three times I caught my weight belt on my leg. One of the "rescuers" saw it and pulled it the rest of the way away, but the other two didn't notice it got hooked on a fin when they dropped it without pulling it to the side first.)

Oh, and speaking of "panicked diver at the surface", my brother (8 years younger) was in the class (having finally decided he ought to at least get certified so he can tag along -- and borrow my gear, of course). I must admit, I was *so* hoping he would come at me on the surface so I could "educate" him with significant (albeit safe and controlled) prejudice. Alas, he performed admirably, and I was not able to beat the tar out of him... this time... Muahaha!


We're scheduled to have another DM pool session this Wednesday. I'm not sure whether I'll be given the opportunity to finish the watermanship skills, but that's what I'm hoping for. I believe we still need to teach a water skill "for a grade", too, unless one of the earlier ones counted. Regardless, I'm in no rush... as long as it's done before Sunday the 27th. It's probably better to have it done before that weekend, of course, since the checkout trip is the 25th through the 27th. :biggrin:

I've got a doctor's appointment scheduled for tomorrow, as it's been... um... some undisclosed amount of time since I've "officially" been to a doctor other than for an injury. With that out of the way and the last tidbits of pool stuff complete, the checkout trip should wrap up my requirements. (I'm not sure about the other guy, as I think the private class he's bringing will be his first class to work, and he hasn't gone on any checkouts yet.) Anyway, much fun is to be had in the next two weeks, and the beginning is now practically in sight.

 

[ClayJar]

Woo-hoo! I passed the physical! Okay, so that was never in the least doubt, but now my medical is officially signed off on.

The doc remembered me from his presentation on dive medicine, although he couldn't place me until I brought up diving. Then it clicked and he asked if I was there last November, at which point he knew who I was. Hehe, and now he knows which local shop to go to if he wants to try diving again. (He did a cruise Discover Scuba Injuries session years ago, hurt his ears, and hasn't been back yet, although his interest is returning.)

 

[ClayJar]

Time for an update, eh?

Let me start by describing the LSU Natatorium. Inside are two pools. On the right as you enter, you see a nice Olympic-class lap pool. It is a uniform 8 feet deep, and it stretches a pleasant 50 meters. Sometimes it has two rigid "float walls" (whatever you call them) in the middle, creating effectively two 25-yard lap pools with a small "no man's land" between them. The walls (which are each perhaps a yard wide) extend from above the surface to about half the depth, so when you're on scuba, it's still just one pool. (With the walls removed, relatively short sections of lane rope connect the two half-length lane ropes across where the walls and no-man's-land had been.) Oh, and did I mention, it's cold. (My wild guess would be mid 70s.)

Meanwhile, to your left, you'll find the diving well. It can also be used for lap swimming (they run ropes across it, perpendicular to the lanes on the longer lap pool), but its primary purpose is diving. The full complement of diving apparatus are available: low boards; high boards; and low, high, and you've-*got*-to-be-kidding-me platforms. The bottom slopes from about 17 or 18 feet at the side nearest the platforms and boards up to 15 or so feet at the break of the slope up the opposite wall. The diving well is practically bath-water warm, although after leaving the lap pool, it feels almost *hot* (and very pleasantly so).

When we do classes at the Nat, obviously we start in the 8-foot lap pool, but as it's a uniform 8 feet deep, we have a system for creating a "shallow end" that everyone can stand up in at first. We have several "tables" fabricated basically from what appears to be bleacher materials, each one about the area of a standard sheet of plywood. We drop them in the water at the first lane and use them like a "sandbar" to have an area about 4 feet deep. (In case you're wondering, yes, I did find that they will clear the float wall... by about an inch, maybe two.) After class, of course, we have to "salvage" the tables and put them back, which is always fun (they're somewhat heavy and cumbersome).

Anyway, so that's a basic description of the Nat. They really like our shop, too, as we go over and clean the bottom of the pool before all their competitions (and then some). They get complimented on how nice their pool looks, and we have the benefit of their being happy. :biggrin:

So, last night three of us (myself, the other DMC, and one of our instructors) headed over to the Nat for some more work. I wanted to get more of the watermanship checked off, and as the other DMC considered that a worthy cause, that became the plan. He started things off by doing the 25-yard underwater swim (and with *excellent* form, I might add -- he looked like the training videos I've seen). After that, we donned scuba and took turns each transporting the other 100 yards in *well* under four minutes.

Then the fun started. :biggrin:

As a bit of background, he had been originally certified a long time ago (to me, at least ), back when they were still teaching buddy breathing. He had a long dry spell, however, so I have *many* more dives much broader dive experience than he. Still, I was certified *well* after they stopped teaching buddy breathing, so while I've certainly *read* a lot about it, I'd never actually tried it.

So, we did a quick trial on the surface, and then we dropped down to the 8-foot bottom and did some buddy breathing. It wasn't that bad, although it wasn't exactly comfortable, especially when we (in turn) tried it without a mask. It wasn't so much getting the hang of it as it was just getting used to it and relaxing. Anyway, once we pretty much were in the groove, it was time to give the skill a try.

Of course, the buddy breathing skill isn't quite that simple. You must buddy breathe as donor. You must buddy breathe as recipient. You buddy breathe with your mask on. You must buddy breathe without a mask. Oh, and of course, you must do it all while swimming forward and maintaining buoyancy control.

We decided (okay, my buddy absolutely declared) that we would try the skill in the diving well. He was *very* cold by this point (the lap pool's cold, remember? ), and the warm water was welcome. It took a while to get started, however, as he was using a old Dacor BC that any of the three of us would have put out of its misery (and ours) if we only had a speargun or "pig-sticker" knife handy. (I practiced my back kick a little and then removed one fin, crossed my ankles, and dolphin kicked around the pool while I was waiting. Incidentally, I dare say the best way to learn the dolphin kick is to cross your ankles -- you can leave both fins on, of course -- as having your ankles crossed almost forces you to do it right.)

Anyway, he finally rustled the jacket into place, and we went to buddy breathing. Once I was content that we had the rhythm down, I signaled and we started to swim the perimeter of the pool. We were doing fairly well, although I noticed that he started purging the reg each time he took it (it was strange to me). Then I removed my mask.

The whole *reason* you do the buddy breathing skills (with their swimming, masklessness, et al) is to task load you. It's not a practical skill you're learning in case you ever need to rescue a well-trained buddy who has suddenly lost both his mask and his air while at the very same moment you've realized that a grouper has swallowed your octo and is dangling like a fish-shaped balloon behind you. The point is to give you an out-of-the-ordinary situation that is not necessarily straightforward so you can deal with it, while at the same time having the exercise be something that can be easily and safely aborted.

So, my mask came off, and I was now blind and at his mercy. At first, everything seemed fine, but then the pace stuttered a bit. A short while later, I could tell in my ears we were no longer holding depth. I felt us losing depth control, so I grabbed my other second stage, signaled a thumb, and surfaced. Turns out, we were practically surfaced already.

We discussed things. First, he said that the reg was breathing very wet, and that's why he was hitting the purge each time. Looking at it, I noted that the one we were using was a front/side-exhaust, and with us facing each other while swimming, the exhaust was relatively "up" for him. We altered the reg exchange motion so the exhaust would always be down. As for the loss of depth control, he was reminded that when I have no mask, he has to maintain control for both of us. He can see, so he just needed to exert positive control of the pair of us.

With that, we descended back to the bottom. He went to grab on to start the exercise, and I signaled to wait. First, establish neutral buoyancy and get horizontal, I signaled. (It's easy to forget the basics when you're concentrating on an "advanced" skill, but without the basics, you won't do the advanced skill well.) With neutrality sorted, we latched on and started the buddy-breathing swim.

I could tell by his smile (and lack of purge button use) that the adjusted swap procedure was indeed allowing him to blast clear the reg much better. Our buddy-breathing rhythm was pretty much second-nature by now. Then came the moment of truth. I removed my mask and we continued around the pool. This time, he handled our collective buoyancy like a pro. (And buoyancy in this skill is not quite normal, either, since you don't breathe "normally" while buddy breathing.) Before you knew it, we had done the requested time.

We swapped roles and did a second round, with the only slight glitch being that his ancient Dacor regulator apparently has an up and down, even though they did everything possible to hide that. Once I knew which end was up, the exercise went off without another hitch. (Frankly, we could've gone on like that for the rest of the tank, although I like it better with my mask on. :biggrin

Well, with the buddy breathing swim out of the way, it was time to choose the next skill to try. We decided that since we'd been buddy breathing so much already, why not do the buddy breathing gear exchange. (Hehe, would this be one of those times I can use my favorite quote? "If you're falling off a cliff, you may as well try to fly. You've got nothing to lose.") Anyway, there was no reason we *shouldn't* be able to do it, right?

First things first, we had to choose which equipment to use. We decided to use my fins, since my feet were too big for his (and having my spring straps didn't exactly make us sad :biggrin. My prescription mask was right out, so I had him try my non-prescription mask. Unfortunately, I've got a big head, apparently, and his face is quite narrow. It leaked terribly unless he held the sides. His mask strap didn't really fit over my head (okay, it didn't go over my head *at* *all*), but I figured we'd try it. As for which BC to use, the best comedian in the world could not have made a funny joke out of the idea of using his, so naturally, we used mine.

Let's see. What did we learn on our first attempt? Well, we learned that being even slightly positively buoyant (in part due to your breathing) without gear on makes it rather impossible, so we adjusted our weighting. We learned that his mask just *wouldn't* do, thanks to my big head (I didn't lose it, but I couldn't keep it on and have enough hands left). We learned a few other details, too, about how to pass a rig when you can't see anymore, and how to don it when you're getting rather low on pressure.

The second attempt, we used my mask, fixed our weighting, and altered our procedures slightly. Less than five minutes later, but not too much under the time limit, we had exchanged everything and we surfaced at the other end of the pool. It was a successful attempt, but we still had to do it again the other direction. With that in mind, we also altered the procedure slightly, giving me the mask first (since it actually fits me).

Anyway, we dropped back down, and this time, the exchange went off swimmingly. I got and cleared the mask. My next breath, he got his inflator-side arm out of the BC. His next breath, I spun into the BC. He pulled the fins, and I donned them in turn. Then I grabbed him and started the swim while I located and properly stowed the regulator, SPG, and so on. When we got to the other end, we went on alternate air breathing (instead of buddy breathing) and ascended a mere three minutes after we began (a significant improvement over the first previous run).

The instructor congratulated us and said that we looked completely at ease while doing the exercises (as opposed to the beginning of the evening, where we were getting into the groove). Apparently, we handled the task loading with aplomb, and he had no reservations about signing off on what we'd completed. I will say one thing: it sure makes you hungry. :biggrin:

Sadly (hehe), that was all we had time for. Next time, I'll get to do the scuba bailout (fun!) and scuba ditch and recovery (woo-hoo!), plus the 50-yard swimmer transport. Those are apparently the only three watermanship skills I have remaining. (The four skills the other guy got checked off last night were his first, so he has some work to go, but he *is* swimming regularly now.)

Anyway, the lead instructor will be back Sunday from his trip to Palau and Yap, so sometime next week, I should be able to finish with the pool, ahead of our checkout April 25th through 27th. I'm starting to become practically giddy with anticipation. :biggrin:

Guess that's about it for now.

 

[ClayJar]

Well, the clock is ticking, and I'm starting to get a bit fidgety. :biggrin:

I just stopped by the shop at lunch to pay for this weekend's checkout and to sync up with our lead instructor (returned this week from the south Pacific). We took a look at my folder and ticked off a few more completed things.

I have the scuba ditch and recovery and scuba bailout remaining, and transporting a swimmer 50 yards (no time limit). If we have our scheduled pool session Wednesday, those will bite the dust there. The rest of the items remaining are all things that will be part of the checkout this weekend (night and boat dives, for example, and the skin diver rescue).

So, if everything goes to plan... er, make that, if everything holds together (with duct tape and bailing wire, if that's what it takes)... five days from this very moment, I may be on my way home with everything complete but the paperwork. No wonder I'm getting all fidgety.


Now, all I've got to do tonight is work on the new revision of my "cue cards" (for briefings, the springs, the shop, the boats, our usual sites, and rescue procedures, among other things). Then, once all those are printed, laminated, and bound, I can start going over the specifics of the snorkel dive we're going to start with. I've just been told that I'll be leading that one for our group, and herding catfish on the surface is, oddly enough, *much* harder than doing so underwater. (I think it's being confined to two dimensions that does it. Underwater, I can go above, below, or around the students to keep them together. On the surface, the only way is around, which is usually much longer and slower than above and across.)

Anyway, my mind's racing all around a couple years of learning, and while I'm quite certain I'll do well, the planning, preparation, and waiting are always the hard parts. I've been told I think too much, but that's a trait that generally comes in handy in the end. I guess I'll just have fun working in front of two games seven tonight, and tomorrow, hopefully I'll get at least a little nitrogen in me.

 

[ClayJar]

Well, we didn't have the pool session due to various complications, but I figured that was likely (hence the "if" in the previous update). Having the night "off", as it were, gave me some time to whip up the briefing sheets and such. I now have a Vortex Spring briefing sheet, a "boat" briefing sheet, a "night" briefing sheet (well, "supplement", really), a dive site detail sheet (with all our usual sites' top and bottom depths, etc.), and so on. I'll laminate them all before I leave, of course. I should be well prepared for the briefing end of things.

The trip's almost upon us, so I stopped by the dive shop at lunch to pick up tanks (my nitrox 100s and air for myself and my brother). I also picked up a marking strobe, as that's one thing my kit had not yet assimilated. I want to mark our "deco bar" off the back of the boat (as well as the anchor, as usual). We tend to get a big knot of divers at 15' on the anchor line on many night dives, since it's often very hard to see the deco bar with nobody on it. The only reason we don't usually have it marked is because we don't usually have an additional strobe, so this'll take care of that.

Anyway, while I was in the shop, I showed my briefing sheets and such to the shop tech, who is one of our DM course instructors. He liked them (and said that they'll be really useful for the first few times, after which I'll have it all down and only use them for reference). At that point, he told me that I'd have the night dive briefing all to myself. (Obviously, he'll be there if needed.) Then he gave it a second thought and told me that he'll have me do the whole thing (everything from dock to dock). Apparently, I'll set the lights and *everything* (and retrieve his strobe at the end, not leaving it on the anchor line like a previous person did).

Needless to say (at least to any who know me), I basically said, "Okay, got it," as I thought, "Oi! Here... we... go!" I've been on umpteen trips, doing almost everything but the briefings and the crewing, so it's really nothing at all new, but I'll probably be just a *tiny* bit on edge. Hehe... just a wee *minuscule* bit... like, say, only an Australia's worth (not nearly a whole planet; not even an Asia). :biggrin:

So, basically, any comfort or shelter that I may have been using as a crutch just starting shooting up away from me like the rest of the branches. Guess I'd better flap well, eh?

Of course, just like in a Columbo episode, there's always that "one more thing..." moment. After all this, as I was starting to leave, he gives it a third thought and tells me that, you know what, I should get with the captain, too, and decide which site to dive. I suppose it's a good thing I've basically been to all the usual sites, eh? :biggrin:

This ought to be fun! :biggrin: