Ayisha
Contributor
Just wait till he gets to the even tougher task loading in the second half of the course.
Fundamentals Part 1 and 2 is 4 - 5 very full days (for already certified divers) either together or in two parts.
GUE Fundamentals Class Report (22 APR 2019)
- Thread starter PullYourselfTogetherMan
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Just wait till he gets to the even tougher task loading in the second half of the course.
Fundamentals Part 1 and 2 is 4 - 5 very full days (for already certified divers) either together or in two parts.
OP
PullYourselfTogetherMan
Contributor
Just wanted to let any readers know that i plan on finishing up the last few day's worth of my fundies report after I get off of work on Wednesday-ish.
OP
PullYourselfTogetherMan
Contributor
Day 4 (Wednesday) - 2nd Day of Diving
I woke up late. I know I pissed Rob and Tim off by getting out of bed at 0640. Max had already left for Blue Grotto to meet up with Mer and I still had coffee to make and my lunch to pack. I also forgot that I had disassembled my gear in the garage so it wouldn't get mildew-y. Tim and Rob noticed this last fact and started to get my stuff together benevolently. Asking why they didn't leave me so that they'd be on-time, one of them responded something along the lines of us being a team and that we need to arrive together. It made me feel worse. Nevertheless, coffee was made and bagel was toasted, gear was packed and we all departed a little after 0700. Takes around 45 mins to get to Grotto from High Springs.
Arriving around 5 minutes late, I got settled on the picnic tables and we all got our gear out of our trunks and put on tables. Afterwards, we grouped up and discussed.... something. I don't really remember if we discussed the individual goals that we each needed to work towards for that day or if we read more slides. I think it was the former rather than the latter. As such, Mer basically just went through a list for each of us again and said what we were doing well on after the previous day's dives and what we weren't so hot on. Having that kind of information is really important when it comes to improving.
After the discussions we grouped up and again donned our bp/w's with zip-tied regsets and walked to a clearing with Mer for more drills and dry-runs. Today was the day we were to shoot SMBs. We discussed the pros and cons of different types of SMBs and the good and bad features of some over others and then we got right to the drill. Mer guided us through, step by step, how GUE divers shoot one and had us follow her steps. After a few repetitions we were to do it on our own (up to the point where you release it upwards). Once she was mostly satisfied with our progress, she had us do it again in formation and then grabbed our SMBs and walked backwards to simulate actually shooting it. We all did that well... until I noticed I left my double-ender on my SMB and I had essentially lost it. Lol dummy. Oh well.
After drilling the SMB, we drilled the legendary S drill. Its important, very important. Not to say that everything else we learned isn't but donating gas to someone who needs it is pretty damned important. It was pretty obvious that Mer thought so too with the amount of times that we rehearsed this drill. Small mistakes would warrant a re-do in the drill. We did it until we all got it right every time. We practiced in cross formation and we took turns donating and receiving. It felt good after a while and I guess it showed because Mer seemed satisfied. I recall doing a few more Basic 5 drills either before or after the S drills.
After the drills, we went back to the tables and we reviewed the previous day's video footage. It was laughable. I would've laughed if it wasn't so terrible on my part. While my trim and buoyancy was as Mer said (somewhat good), I clearly didn't feel that way in the water because I was anything but still. Mer said that the most important rule when diving is to look cool (which is much deeper than face-value, believe me) and I did NOT look cool when I would break trim for no reason because I didn't feel like I was in trim. I won't do a play-by-play of the video so I'll just say that we had lots of sloppiness, knee-dropping, leg-spreading, head-dropping, fin-lowering, etc. It was good to actually see us doing it. It would make it easier to feel our corners being sanded down to curves, as it were.
After the video, we analyzed gas and donned our gear. Getting into the water a few hours after arrival, we did our GUE EDGE with a new captain and proceeded. Before diving, I noticed we had a new diver with us and Mer introduced him as Steve, another of her students from a previous class that still needed to demonstrate a few skills before she passed him. He had a tech pass configuration on. We all started rough again, but not as badly as the previous day. We descended smoother, more in-formation. We were aware of our problems now (conscious incompetence) and we made steps to correct them. Mer was right next to us the entire time, showing us what to focus on personally. We would practice holding perfect trim and buoyancy while one of us was front and center with Mer on the platform demonstrating a skill. Then we would take turns. The task loading was never too much, I would say, though as our time underwater progressed we were finding ourselves able to handle more and more task loading without breaking trim or buoyancy. It was feeling better.
I had a **** flutter kick, a **** mod flutter as well. I worked on it. My back kick was pretty good: I was using it the entire time to keep myself from running headlong into my teammates. My frog was sloppy but improved. We practiced no-mask swims and we practiced more Basic 5's. I was getting more and more comfortable doing these tasks while keeping in position. It was just the gradual confidence boost that I needed. I wasn't worrying about the pass/fail anymore. I was just enjoying the dive and the skills I was clearly learning. It FELT like on the job training that was do-or-die and I wasn't failing it. I felt like a competent learner. This made me realize that Fundies, while very achievable for most serious divers, simply isn't for everyone. Some people are just under-performers and those people simply need to hire a diving mentor.
After that first dive, all of which was recorded on video (as all dives are), we felt good. We practiced our ascent to 20 feet (sloppy but somewhat cohesive) and then to 10 and I blew through the stop. Mer told me how to fix the problem and I drove that lesson home hard: you gotta SERIOUSLY get on dumping your wing well-before your stop or you're gonna fly through it. Lesson learned. The next dive was more of the same drills and repetitions. We all demonstrated our propulsion, individual steps of drills that we might have been weaker on and our communication in turn. After that dive, we ascended as a group and mostly by-the-book and it was yet another confidence booster. This 2nd day of diving was much better than the 1st, thankfully. After a debrief and gear disassembly, we headed back to Extreme Exposure and filled tanks. Mer came over to me at the shop and told me that my regs had a leak and that I should let the EE guys look at them. Long story short, they fixed the minor leak but revealed another separate bigger problem on my reg that basically grounded my regset. I had to rent a Halcyon regset to finish the class with while they kept mine and tweaked it. Wasn't a big deal.
After get back to the diver house, we discussed everything with each other before starting lecture. After a few hours of lecture, we wrapped up and ate dinner and then hit the sack by 10ish. When they say that your days at Fundies were going to be LONG... they really mean it, boss.
I woke up late. I know I pissed Rob and Tim off by getting out of bed at 0640. Max had already left for Blue Grotto to meet up with Mer and I still had coffee to make and my lunch to pack. I also forgot that I had disassembled my gear in the garage so it wouldn't get mildew-y. Tim and Rob noticed this last fact and started to get my stuff together benevolently. Asking why they didn't leave me so that they'd be on-time, one of them responded something along the lines of us being a team and that we need to arrive together. It made me feel worse. Nevertheless, coffee was made and bagel was toasted, gear was packed and we all departed a little after 0700. Takes around 45 mins to get to Grotto from High Springs.
Arriving around 5 minutes late, I got settled on the picnic tables and we all got our gear out of our trunks and put on tables. Afterwards, we grouped up and discussed.... something. I don't really remember if we discussed the individual goals that we each needed to work towards for that day or if we read more slides. I think it was the former rather than the latter. As such, Mer basically just went through a list for each of us again and said what we were doing well on after the previous day's dives and what we weren't so hot on. Having that kind of information is really important when it comes to improving.
After the discussions we grouped up and again donned our bp/w's with zip-tied regsets and walked to a clearing with Mer for more drills and dry-runs. Today was the day we were to shoot SMBs. We discussed the pros and cons of different types of SMBs and the good and bad features of some over others and then we got right to the drill. Mer guided us through, step by step, how GUE divers shoot one and had us follow her steps. After a few repetitions we were to do it on our own (up to the point where you release it upwards). Once she was mostly satisfied with our progress, she had us do it again in formation and then grabbed our SMBs and walked backwards to simulate actually shooting it. We all did that well... until I noticed I left my double-ender on my SMB and I had essentially lost it. Lol dummy. Oh well.
After drilling the SMB, we drilled the legendary S drill. Its important, very important. Not to say that everything else we learned isn't but donating gas to someone who needs it is pretty damned important. It was pretty obvious that Mer thought so too with the amount of times that we rehearsed this drill. Small mistakes would warrant a re-do in the drill. We did it until we all got it right every time. We practiced in cross formation and we took turns donating and receiving. It felt good after a while and I guess it showed because Mer seemed satisfied. I recall doing a few more Basic 5 drills either before or after the S drills.
After the drills, we went back to the tables and we reviewed the previous day's video footage. It was laughable. I would've laughed if it wasn't so terrible on my part. While my trim and buoyancy was as Mer said (somewhat good), I clearly didn't feel that way in the water because I was anything but still. Mer said that the most important rule when diving is to look cool (which is much deeper than face-value, believe me) and I did NOT look cool when I would break trim for no reason because I didn't feel like I was in trim. I won't do a play-by-play of the video so I'll just say that we had lots of sloppiness, knee-dropping, leg-spreading, head-dropping, fin-lowering, etc. It was good to actually see us doing it. It would make it easier to feel our corners being sanded down to curves, as it were.
After the video, we analyzed gas and donned our gear. Getting into the water a few hours after arrival, we did our GUE EDGE with a new captain and proceeded. Before diving, I noticed we had a new diver with us and Mer introduced him as Steve, another of her students from a previous class that still needed to demonstrate a few skills before she passed him. He had a tech pass configuration on. We all started rough again, but not as badly as the previous day. We descended smoother, more in-formation. We were aware of our problems now (conscious incompetence) and we made steps to correct them. Mer was right next to us the entire time, showing us what to focus on personally. We would practice holding perfect trim and buoyancy while one of us was front and center with Mer on the platform demonstrating a skill. Then we would take turns. The task loading was never too much, I would say, though as our time underwater progressed we were finding ourselves able to handle more and more task loading without breaking trim or buoyancy. It was feeling better.
I had a **** flutter kick, a **** mod flutter as well. I worked on it. My back kick was pretty good: I was using it the entire time to keep myself from running headlong into my teammates. My frog was sloppy but improved. We practiced no-mask swims and we practiced more Basic 5's. I was getting more and more comfortable doing these tasks while keeping in position. It was just the gradual confidence boost that I needed. I wasn't worrying about the pass/fail anymore. I was just enjoying the dive and the skills I was clearly learning. It FELT like on the job training that was do-or-die and I wasn't failing it. I felt like a competent learner. This made me realize that Fundies, while very achievable for most serious divers, simply isn't for everyone. Some people are just under-performers and those people simply need to hire a diving mentor.
After that first dive, all of which was recorded on video (as all dives are), we felt good. We practiced our ascent to 20 feet (sloppy but somewhat cohesive) and then to 10 and I blew through the stop. Mer told me how to fix the problem and I drove that lesson home hard: you gotta SERIOUSLY get on dumping your wing well-before your stop or you're gonna fly through it. Lesson learned. The next dive was more of the same drills and repetitions. We all demonstrated our propulsion, individual steps of drills that we might have been weaker on and our communication in turn. After that dive, we ascended as a group and mostly by-the-book and it was yet another confidence booster. This 2nd day of diving was much better than the 1st, thankfully. After a debrief and gear disassembly, we headed back to Extreme Exposure and filled tanks. Mer came over to me at the shop and told me that my regs had a leak and that I should let the EE guys look at them. Long story short, they fixed the minor leak but revealed another separate bigger problem on my reg that basically grounded my regset. I had to rent a Halcyon regset to finish the class with while they kept mine and tweaked it. Wasn't a big deal.
After get back to the diver house, we discussed everything with each other before starting lecture. After a few hours of lecture, we wrapped up and ate dinner and then hit the sack by 10ish. When they say that your days at Fundies were going to be LONG... they really mean it, boss.
Without being critical, more as a tip. As you're passing through 30'/10m you should be making fine adjustments - given that you're presumably neutral. Indeed all the way up
From there it's simply a matter of breathing correctly all the way up - not breathing in the top nor bottom half of your lungs. It's your lungs which are making the fine control
If you are rising too quickly a quick exhale should be sufficient to arrest the ascent
I always like reading these reports, reminds me of my fundies days 
we had all started out super ambitious on day 0, gradually met reality to the point of all being convinced we would all fail by day 2 and 3, for everything to somehow magically come together on day 4 and all getting rec passes
@pullyourselftogetherman curious how the rest of your class went and where you plan to take your diving from here
we had all started out super ambitious on day 0, gradually met reality to the point of all being convinced we would all fail by day 2 and 3, for everything to somehow magically come together on day 4 and all getting rec passes @pullyourselftogetherman curious how the rest of your class went and where you plan to take your diving from here
OP
PullYourselfTogetherMan
Contributor
Day 5 (Thursday) - 3rd and Final Day of Diving
Going into this day was a little daunting, given that it was our final day to shine. We met up at Blue Grotto again and went right to reviewing our previous day's video footage. All in all, we looked markedly better. We stayed together in formation and we communicated on ascents/descents/stops. Our trim and buoyancy looked great. No sculling with our hands and we kept our depth. I couldn't help but be a bit amazed at how fast we retained the skills we practiced. I think the only things we were told to improve upon after seeing the latest videos was whatever propulsion problems we as individuals were having. Mer told me that I needed to improve upon my flutter and mod flutter.
When we hit the water, Mer had us shoot SMBs for the first thing she wanted us to demonstrate. I did it no problem. It felt good being able to task-load while maintaining trim and buoyancy. I bet it looks cool, too, which is all important. After that, we did some individual steps of the basic 5 to show proficiency and then we just worked on smoothing out the propulsion that we were lacking in. It all went swimmingly.
At the surface, after a small debrief during lunch and then switching tanks, Mer called us over to talk with us individually to tell us where we stood as far as if she thought we were on track to passing. I was first up and I was told that my only weakness was my flutter kick. I agreed and I kinda already knew thats what she was going to mention. I knew I could fix that by my next dive with her. I was told that I was solidly in rec pass territory. Hearing that, I knew that the last dive of fundies was going to be simply a fun dive with little to worry about. I wasn't wrong.
Forgive me if I gloss over the details of this dive day as the details aren't really necessary to the story and are somewhat repetitive. Long story short, we went back to the diver house and debriefed and took notes over our final lecture and were told what to expect of the final exam. I was nervous about it but I was reassured by my teammates that it wasn't anything to worry about. They were right, though the test was a difficult one that requires you to have paid attention in lectures and actually done the worksheets/calculations enough to be proficient.
Day 6 (Friday) - Final Debrief and Results
We woke up, had breakfast and coffee and got ready for Mer to come over to give us the final debrief. We went through our final exam together and tallied our incorrect answers and I don't think any of us got below a 94. With that, I knew that we probably all were getting passes. After some bullshitting and relaxed banter, Mer gave us 5 scripted questions to answer (my answers underneath, by the stars):
1.) What are your strengths? (what do you do that makes a strength "work")
*Awareness, communication, risk mitigation. I make it a point to think first before doing.
2.) What are your weaknesses?
*Needing extra repetition to internalize skills, planning dives, streamlining movement
3. What actions can you take to improve your weaknesses?
*Record video during dives, practice planning more dives
4. Do you consider yourself a GUE Diver?
*Absolutely.
5. Why or why not?
*I consider both the commitment to the GUE system and the passing of Fundies as qualifying one as a GUE diver.
After writing these answers down, Mer and Max started calling us one by one to the back yard to discuss our results. I was told that I was to receive a rec pass and congratulations. I was elated. Mer and Max went over my responses to the questions and asked what my plans were now that I passed fundies. I told them that I fully intended on upgrading to a Tech Pass after getting the proper gear and getting some solid diving with it. After that, I wanted to do Tech 1. My mind would eventually change on this but at the time I was awash with relief of passing and I was just looking forward to doing more with GUE.
After we all packed and said goodbyes, I headed to EE to settle accounts and get my regs back since I had to rent some Halcyons from them to complete the class. I was told one of my G250s was needing an overhaul and that I shouldn't dive it but all my other regs were just fine. So I splurged and bought a Halcyon Halo. Heh, couldn't help myself. I then thanked Mer and drove home.
Going into this day was a little daunting, given that it was our final day to shine. We met up at Blue Grotto again and went right to reviewing our previous day's video footage. All in all, we looked markedly better. We stayed together in formation and we communicated on ascents/descents/stops. Our trim and buoyancy looked great. No sculling with our hands and we kept our depth. I couldn't help but be a bit amazed at how fast we retained the skills we practiced. I think the only things we were told to improve upon after seeing the latest videos was whatever propulsion problems we as individuals were having. Mer told me that I needed to improve upon my flutter and mod flutter.
When we hit the water, Mer had us shoot SMBs for the first thing she wanted us to demonstrate. I did it no problem. It felt good being able to task-load while maintaining trim and buoyancy. I bet it looks cool, too, which is all important
. After that, we did some individual steps of the basic 5 to show proficiency and then we just worked on smoothing out the propulsion that we were lacking in. It all went swimmingly. At the surface, after a small debrief during lunch and then switching tanks, Mer called us over to talk with us individually to tell us where we stood as far as if she thought we were on track to passing. I was first up and I was told that my only weakness was my flutter kick. I agreed and I kinda already knew thats what she was going to mention. I knew I could fix that by my next dive with her. I was told that I was solidly in rec pass territory. Hearing that, I knew that the last dive of fundies was going to be simply a fun dive with little to worry about. I wasn't wrong.
Forgive me if I gloss over the details of this dive day as the details aren't really necessary to the story and are somewhat repetitive. Long story short, we went back to the diver house and debriefed and took notes over our final lecture and were told what to expect of the final exam. I was nervous about it but I was reassured by my teammates that it wasn't anything to worry about. They were right, though the test was a difficult one that requires you to have paid attention in lectures and actually done the worksheets/calculations enough to be proficient.
Day 6 (Friday) - Final Debrief and Results
We woke up, had breakfast and coffee and got ready for Mer to come over to give us the final debrief. We went through our final exam together and tallied our incorrect answers and I don't think any of us got below a 94. With that, I knew that we probably all were getting passes. After some bullshitting and relaxed banter, Mer gave us 5 scripted questions to answer (my answers underneath, by the stars):
1.) What are your strengths? (what do you do that makes a strength "work")
*Awareness, communication, risk mitigation. I make it a point to think first before doing.
2.) What are your weaknesses?
*Needing extra repetition to internalize skills, planning dives, streamlining movement
3. What actions can you take to improve your weaknesses?
*Record video during dives, practice planning more dives
4. Do you consider yourself a GUE Diver?
*Absolutely.
5. Why or why not?
*I consider both the commitment to the GUE system and the passing of Fundies as qualifying one as a GUE diver.
After writing these answers down, Mer and Max started calling us one by one to the back yard to discuss our results. I was told that I was to receive a rec pass and congratulations. I was elated. Mer and Max went over my responses to the questions and asked what my plans were now that I passed fundies. I told them that I fully intended on upgrading to a Tech Pass after getting the proper gear and getting some solid diving with it. After that, I wanted to do Tech 1. My mind would eventually change on this but at the time I was awash with relief of passing and I was just looking forward to doing more with GUE.
After we all packed and said goodbyes, I headed to EE to settle accounts and get my regs back since I had to rent some Halcyons from them to complete the class. I was told one of my G250s was needing an overhaul and that I shouldn't dive it but all my other regs were just fine. So I splurged and bought a Halcyon Halo. Heh, couldn't help myself. I then thanked Mer and drove home.
OP
PullYourselfTogetherMan
Contributor
In retrospect, I had a fantastic time. Fundies, and GUE as a whole, makes you a better diver. Its a proven system that works and I daresay it works better than the others. Its worth the money and its worth the time and effort needed to complete it. I had like 15 or so dives going into it and I got a rec pass. Was it easy? Hell no, but they give you what you need to succeed if you're at a certain level already. That level cannot be determined by experience or dives. I almost think its simply a mental thing and a coordination/ spatial awareness thing. I'm proof that a recreational level diver with practically no dives and some determination can pass. I hope I have the same result when I go to upgrade to a tech pass.
All that said, I think the class is not for everyone. Those that refuse to be molded, are not team players and are quick to giving up need not apply. You don't need to drink the kool aid like me to do great in fundies and become a better diver but you do need to be ok with GUE's system of teaching and team building. I recommend people take this class earlier rather than later. If I could spread the word to all divers that this is the class that will set them on the right track, I would.
So as far as personal plans for diving as of right now, I plan on upgrading to a tech pass. Its damned expensive getting a twinset, a drysuit and a canister light so its going to take a little while to acquire the funds for it. Once I do, though, I'll get the upgrade and then I think I'd like to move on to Cave 1. I've seen too many pictures of pristine, gorgeous caves only 5 measly hours to the south of me. I've seen the GoPro videos of GUE divers scootering through Ginnie and Peacock. It looks addictive and exhilarating but strangely relaxing. I would love to experience it. Also, it'd be cheaper than Tech 1 LOL. Helium is just too damned expensive and I'm not willing to put the money out for a rebreather (yet).
If any of you have questions about the specifics of my class or about me or about future dives, please leave a post and thank for reading.
All that said, I think the class is not for everyone. Those that refuse to be molded, are not team players and are quick to giving up need not apply. You don't need to drink the kool aid like me to do great in fundies and become a better diver but you do need to be ok with GUE's system of teaching and team building. I recommend people take this class earlier rather than later. If I could spread the word to all divers that this is the class that will set them on the right track, I would.
So as far as personal plans for diving as of right now, I plan on upgrading to a tech pass. Its damned expensive getting a twinset, a drysuit and a canister light so its going to take a little while to acquire the funds for it. Once I do, though, I'll get the upgrade and then I think I'd like to move on to Cave 1. I've seen too many pictures of pristine, gorgeous caves only 5 measly hours to the south of me. I've seen the GoPro videos of GUE divers scootering through Ginnie and Peacock. It looks addictive and exhilarating but strangely relaxing. I would love to experience it. Also, it'd be cheaper than Tech 1 LOL. Helium is just too damned expensive and I'm not willing to put the money out for a rebreather (yet).
If any of you have questions about the specifics of my class or about me or about future dives, please leave a post and thank for reading.
Goingforsound
Contributor
Nice write up!
You cand also rent the doubles and canister light to do the tech pass in a wet suit! It is what I did.
You cand also rent the doubles and canister light to do the tech pass in a wet suit! It is what I did.
Thanks for the great report! And, congratulations on earning your Rec pass!
Any idea how the answers to these questions would affect getting a Rec or Tech pass?
For example, what if your answers had been:
4. Do you consider yourself a GUE Diver?
No.
5. Why or why not?
I don't believe that Nitrox is required for every dive - air is fine for many dives at recreational depths. I would generally choose the Best Mix for a dive, rather than limit myself to a Standard Gas. And, I believe that Solo diving is perfectly acceptable for people with the right training, skills, mindset, and equipment.
Do you think you would still have gotten your Rec pass? Would someone who otherwise qualified still get a Tech pass?
Any idea how the answers to these questions would affect getting a Rec or Tech pass?
For example, what if your answers had been:
4. Do you consider yourself a GUE Diver?
No.
5. Why or why not?
I don't believe that Nitrox is required for every dive - air is fine for many dives at recreational depths. I would generally choose the Best Mix for a dive, rather than limit myself to a Standard Gas. And, I believe that Solo diving is perfectly acceptable for people with the right training, skills, mindset, and equipment.
Do you think you would still have gotten your Rec pass? Would someone who otherwise qualified still get a Tech pass?
CptTightPants21
Contributor
Wow. Just...wow. Did you read all his report? You just completely missed the entire tone and purpose of the class and those questions. Obviously the answer to those questions would have had no bearing on a rec/tech pass. Do you think you are the first solo diving, air breathing, trimix mix diver to take a GUE class?
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