What a great bunch of friends! You guys have no idea how much all the moral support means.
The bottom line on the experience - the IDC absolutely sucked! Long days of class and pool work, constant harrassment, no meal breaks, no time to leave the facility for anything. I spent the first 6 days with just me and my CD, MI and one IDC staff instructor. Two other guys that had dropped out from an earlier IDC in May joined me for the last 4 days, and things continually improved from then on.
When it came time for the IE, it was a breeze. The examiner was a very genteel guy, offering valid coaching points in a constructive fashion, and the two days of testing flew by! Yesterday, I was getting perfect numbers on my exercises...
After the graduation, I put my gear back on, swam out over the quarry wall, and just hovered for 45 minutes, floating, blowing bubble rings, doing that little upside-down thing, and, in general, reminding myself of why I stayed with the program.
You know, this scuba thing is a lot of fun, and a great thing to share with other people. And look at the kind of friends you meet!!!
All the best to everbody down south. Let's go diving together soon...
-Grier
PADI OWSI 193906
