GUE Fundamentals Class Report (22 APR 2019)

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Messages
130
Reaction score
113
Location
Augusta, GA
# of dives
200 - 499
Hey guys,

So I'm finally getting around to starting my class report for the 22-26 April 2019 Fundies session that I had with Meredith Tanguay ( @mer ). I'll break it up into chapters so that I can actually get this done.

The week leading up to Day 1
I won't go into the months of preparations before the class concerning gear purchases, gear-acquaintance dives, communications, etc. I'll just start with the final week. As many of you might know, GUE is very fond of assigning readings, worksheets and exercises prior to the actual class itself. I think this is a very good and necessary idea. Our class was assigned about 6 worksheets that needed doing before the class started and, in order to complete them, one needed to familiarize one's self with multiple chapters of the GUE Rec1 book (Beginning With the End in Mind). It taught GUE's ethos on standardized gear, team strategies, partial pressures, gas and min deco, calculating minimum gas, usable gas, SAC/SCR rate, absolute atmospheres, etc etc. For someone such as me with only PADI open water and around 15 or so dives under my belt, it was a lot to take in. I enjoyed it and I felt like I was learning something that most new divers simply aren't exposed to for a long time usually. We were instructed to read all of the powerpoint presentations that we would have during fundies and create 3 questions pertaining to each of the 6 lengthy sections of the readings. It took a while for me. The 6 or 7 worksheets proved only doable after I did all of the reading and work from the book and slides. We were also told to draft 3 personal goals that we would like to achieve by doing fundies. By the end of the working week leading up to fundies, I already felt like I was well on my way to being a better, thinking diver.

I should mention that there we so many small things that needed doing leading up to departure. Booking a place in the diver house that GUE provides was essential. It really does make a world of difference rooming with your teammates. The conversations and planning and help with lecture review meant a lot.
 
Day 1 (Easter Sunday) - Departure and Arrival
My wife and son planned a trip to Gatlinburg with my mother in law the same week I was gone for fundies. It was bittersweet leaving them on Easter Day but I didn't feel overly bad since we went to mass the night before and spent ample time together in the days before the trip. I didn't have a dive shop's worth of gear to bring with me, which made packing much easier. Make no mistake about it: you have at least a rubbermaid tub's worth of gear for fundies but if you're just going for a Rec pass, it shouldn't be a ridiculous amount. I set out from Augusta, GA to High Springs and listened to 5 hour's worth of Patrick Rothfuss' "The Name of the Wind" during the easy ride. Before I knew it was passing Extreme Exposure driving down Main Street in downtown High Springs en route to the diver house. Upon arrival I met with one of my teammates that had arrived the day before and made made introductions (though we had been talking for a few months prior). After a while, our 2nd teammate arrived and we all talked in the garage. Settling into the pretty spacious house was a piece of cake and then I went out to the local Bi-Lo to buy tv dinners and lunches/snacks for classes (a must-do). I brought my own moka pot coffee maker and that proved to be a seriousssss boon. Coffee is also a must-have (seriously, take a little time in the morning to make it before class/dives).

We had two GUE Cave 1 students staying with us (bring the total residents to 5 GUE students at this time) and we were told to expect a 6th roomate, Mer's instructor intern Max. The two cave 1 students turned out to be a married couple and were awesome to talk to. They had so much advice to give and inspirational stories, plus they were just all-around great company. It really helps talking with people who have walked the path successfully that you plan on walking yourself. Went to bed late-ish that first night, probably around 2330. I felt positive going into our first day of class.
 
Day 2 (Monday) - First actual day of class and the DREADED SWIM TEST

We started the day by meeting at Extreme Exposure at around 0800 and we finally got to meet Meredith and Max in person. I liked them both from the start. EE was seriously the bee's knees. Talk about a tech diver's wet dream. We were told to bring all of our gear with us and leave it all in our cars. After getting coffee and making introductions, we sat down for our lecture in the EE lecture room (which was covered from wall to wall with hand-drawn maps of all of the notable caves in Cave Country). It lasted for the entire morning and into the early afternoon, though several ample breaks were given. I figure we covered about 1/4 or 1/3 of the slides that first day before wrapping up and grabbing our gear from our cars to bring into the lecture room. Within 10 minutes, gear covered the entire floor of the large room. Meredith started with my gear and inspected every piece while the other students looked on and took mental notes. Mer made comments about what of the gear needed re-configuring, what needed outright replacement (practically nothing) and what was needed to be purchased to complete the proper loadout. I ended up buying a new 22" inflation hose and a new halcyon slanted knife sheath because the one I had was a floppy POS. Lots of gear modifications followed such as bungee-ing items of clothing, putting new mouthpieces on our regs, adjusting backplates, adding/tackling new boltsnaps to gear, etc. Once that was all done, we departed to Gilchrist Blue spring about 15 mins away to do our swim test. We all left feeling just a bit nervous, I think.

Firstly, Gilchrist Blue is absolutely gorgeous. The water is just crystal clear and azure blue where the sink is. It stretches out from the swimming area to a meandering river about 100 yards out. The water was kinda cold (around 70F) but what are you gonna do? We all got into our swim attire, including Mer and Max. After getting wet, we plotted out how far of a swim we needed to do (300 yards, actually) and worked out how many laps we would be doing in a straight line to and fro. Once that was established, we hit it. I decided to do all elementary backstroke while everyone else did freestyle. Long story short: we all finished in under 7:30 minutes (12 minutes was the limit that we had to complete it in). It was actually very easy. Once completed, we went back to EE to fill tanks with nitrox and then we went home. I felt triumphant after the swim since it was really the only thing prior to fundies that I was a bit apprehensive about. After shooting the **** for a few hours at the diver house with Max, the two cave 1 divers Jayme and Alex, Tim and Rob we hit the sack and I set my alarm for 0630. We were to meet at Blue Grotto 45 minutes away at 0800 for our first dive day.
 
Day 3 (Tuesday) - First day of diving

We met at Blue Grotto at 0800 and got our gear out and semi-assembled. Afterwards, we covered a few slides on Mer's tablet and were put on our stomachs on the picnic tables to practice propulsion techniques. Mer would demonstrate and then take turns going to each of us so that we could demonstrate what our kicks looked like. This is a GREAT way to practice kicks outside of the water. Mer also recommended practicing at home in bed or on the couch by assuming that position with a pillow resting on the bottom of your feet. Try to bring your feet and legs close to your core and then away from it without the pillow dropping off. Thats how you know that the soles of your feet are leveled-out. After practicing kicks, I think we donned our bpw's and zip-tied our regsets to them and then practiced doing the Basic 5 as a group, step by step.

Having done our drills and kicks on dry land, we donned our gear and got into the water. You'll see that each dive we did had a new person as descent/ascent captain and that person would do the GUE EDGE prior to each dive. After doing gue edge at the surface, we attempted to descend slowly and in a cross formation (like a triangle, really) and it was a mess. At a depth of 30-ish feet, we were to maintain formation above the lowest wooden platform in the grotto. We couldn't even do that because I felt unsteady as f*** and I was sculling and couldn't get my breath steady enough to maintain position in the water column. Tim, who was leaps and bounds more experienced than Rob and myself, was off from the group and maintaining position well. The entire first dive was spent trying to address our buoyancy and trim issues. After a few surfacings and redistribution of weights, I was able to maintain my position, albeit unsteadily. After 10 mins, Mer had us somewhat steady and in formation so she had us attempt the beginning of the basic 5. We fell apart. Halfway into the reg remove/replace, we would gain 5 or more feet of depth and have to stop to descend again. It was just a mess. We were dropping knees, sculling and getting frustrated before we were down even an hour. We tried to do our ascent as a group and in-formation but we broke apart and hit the surface individually. I was frustrated, that I can say confidently.

Its worth noting that Tim was attempting a tech pass with doubles, a drysuit and a can light. Rob and myself were attempting a rec pass with wetsuits, singles and no can light. After the first dive, we went back to the picnic tables and put new tanks on and took a lunch break. Mer reviewed her notes with us regarding our pros and cons and then we hit the water again. This next dive was better. We were able to maintain position better and not gain/lose asinine amounts of depth with minor task loading. We still looked like flaming **** but at least we looked better than our first dive. Mer did a FANTASTIC job of taking detailed notes of what we, as individuals and as a group, needed to work on and what we were doing well. Of course, we were being recorded on video and Mer took that back home after the day and edited the footage to show us just what we needed to see. My propulsion sucked but my trim and buoyancy were actually pretty decent. It didn't feel like it. In fact, it felt like I was completely unstable and foot-heavy but it was just something that I needed to see with my own eyes before I felt comfortable with. I wouldn't see the video of myself until the next day.

After the day of dives, we went back to the diver house and did lecture on the couches in the living room with Mer. It was hard to concentrate on it and take notes; my head was spinning around the dives that day and what I could have done better. I won't lie: I was beginning to assess if I was going to be able to get a rec pass at all. They say don't focus on the pass but we all know thats impossibru.

With the lecture over, we ate and hit the sack. Alarm set for 0630, we had to be at Blue Grotto again by 0800.
 
One of mine was a junior sized mouthpiece, lol. It was on my necklaced reg so that's why I didn't catch it. Also, I didn't have my necklace ziptied to the mouthpiece, so I had to do that too.
 
I never realised you could get a rec pass without lights. Personally I dive with a can light 100% of the time, it's just so useful even in daytime reef dives. There's a couple of skills around cord management & signalling that's are taught on the course that are good to know.

So what do you use to manage your long hose? Do you tuck or have a hose keeper on your harness?

I thought I was keen trying fundies at 50 dives. It must be difficult with less than 20 dives under your belt. It will be interesting to read how it all finishes up
 
I never realised you could get a rec pass without lights. Personally I dive with a can light 100% of the time, it's just so useful even in daytime reef dives. There's a couple of skills around cord management & signalling that's are taught on the course that are good to know...

Yes, the only light required for a rec pass is 1 backup light. In my Fundamentals course, we had to make the back and forth motion with the left hand as if we had a primary light while doing drills in order to start some muscle memory. Not sure if that's common or not. Having a diver on the team who is geared for a tech pass exposes you to seeing and hearing feedback about doubles valve drills, managing a light cord, light etiquette, light communication, etc. I found it very helpful also when being mentored to observe what the other divers were doing.
 
This sounds fascinating. Thank you for the breakdown! My current instructor is a cave and technical diver and I'm just now realizing that his teaching style is very in line with GUE (I shouldn't be surprised, but I still am a little). Is the course only a week long?
 

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