ligersandtions
Contributor
A couple months ago, my buddies (Stephen and Cody) and I started tossing around the idea of setting up a Fundamentals class. Weve been diving with the local GUE/UTD/DIR community for a while, and it was time to step it up and take the class. Being in socal, that meant we had a few local options for instructors.
Turns out that one of our weekly night dives, Steve Millington (one of the local GUE instructors) was planning to join us. I was hoping to buddy up with him and secretly interview him. Things worked in my favor and I was able to hatch my evil plan! Steves a new GUE instructor (this was his second class) but very enthusiastic and a beautiful diver. All three of us enjoyed talking and diving with him, so I contacted him the next day to set up the class.
Between the initial meeting and the start of class, Steve joined us on a number of fun dives. Im not sure if this is typical of instructors, but it was a great sign that he actually enjoys diving (within recreational ranges even!) and didnt mind the three of us! By the time class started, I was pretty pumped.
The first weekend (Feb. 20/21) was the classroom and pool sessions. The classroom sessions were jam-packed full of information....probably even more so considering all the questions we asked. We also did a nice, long pool session. I didnt expect it would be that helpful, but I was pleasantly surprised. Plus, it was the best diving around socal in February
We concluded the pool session with the swim test. All three of us had been mildly worried about this part of the class (I mean, seriously, who fails Fundies because they cant swim?!?!) but it turned out to be a non-issue.
Finally, three weeks later (and practically no dives later with socal winter), we were off to Catalina for the dive portion of the class! The days were long, intense, and jam-packed with briefing, diving, de-briefing, reviewing videos, and a little bit of food and sleep at the end.
Since I had already taken UTD Essentials and want to eventually take Tech 1, I decided to take the class in doubles. Before the class, I had a grand total of 14 dives in doubles. Steve helped make the transition to doubles as smooth as possible we adjusted my harness a number of times, changed the hose routing on the reg a couple times till we finally got it about perfect (until the 5th LP port adaptor becomes available for the HOG regs)....finally, trimming out the doubles started to feel like it does with a single
The main focus for GUE Fundamentals is to get the team to work as an actual team. Skills are important, but they are secondary to ensuring good teamwork. The difference in our team between dive #1 and dive #5 was astonishing! Watching the video for dive #1 practically showed three individuals in the water (close to one another) at the same time. Dive #5 showed an actual team working together to achieve all the goals we had planned for the dive!
My goal for Fundamentals was to learn a lot and not fail I was not expecting a pass....a pass would have been a nice bonus to go along with everything I learned. At the conclusion of the class, Steve talked to each of us individually. We discussed my strengths and my weaknesses; we discussed how to improve upon my weaknesses; we discussed where great progress had already been made. I earned a recreational pass and know exactly what skills need a little further polishing to upgrade that to a tech pass. I have no doubt that I will be able to upgrade to the tech pass in the near future, but for now, I plan to do lots of fun dives with a little bit of skills work tossed in there occasionally.
I have to thank my teammates, Stephen and Cody. I am so glad the three of us took the class together. We worked really well together....and every time I made a stupid mistake (like not turning my back-up light off before re-stowing it *slaps forehead*), both of you were there helping me correct it right away. Whenever I was frustrated with myself (like when my spool fell out of my pocket and made a huge mess), you guys talked me down off the ledge. I can only hope that if the two of you were ever frustrated or struggling that I was as good a teammate to you as you were to me. Thanks again....cant wait to get out and dive with both of you!
Another big thanks goes out to Ken Liu for videoing the madness and always being there to offer a kind word or some advice. I cant imagine not having video for a class like this. Its amazing how something can feel so bad to you, but after watching it on the video, it actually doesnt look as bad as youve made it out to be. I think all of us were pleasantly surprised! Ken, it was really great to have you along for our class....and P.S. your snoring is not that bad
Finally, a huge thanks to Steve! We (obviously) could not have done this without you. Your attention to detail, patience, ability to diagnose a problem and offer a solution....it was amazing and invaluable. The hours were long and the work was hard, but you always did it with enthusiasm and a smile. I truly hope that weve created a team that you would be happy to dive with! Thanks for everything!
Turns out that one of our weekly night dives, Steve Millington (one of the local GUE instructors) was planning to join us. I was hoping to buddy up with him and secretly interview him. Things worked in my favor and I was able to hatch my evil plan! Steves a new GUE instructor (this was his second class) but very enthusiastic and a beautiful diver. All three of us enjoyed talking and diving with him, so I contacted him the next day to set up the class.
Between the initial meeting and the start of class, Steve joined us on a number of fun dives. Im not sure if this is typical of instructors, but it was a great sign that he actually enjoys diving (within recreational ranges even!) and didnt mind the three of us! By the time class started, I was pretty pumped.
The first weekend (Feb. 20/21) was the classroom and pool sessions. The classroom sessions were jam-packed full of information....probably even more so considering all the questions we asked. We also did a nice, long pool session. I didnt expect it would be that helpful, but I was pleasantly surprised. Plus, it was the best diving around socal in February
We concluded the pool session with the swim test. All three of us had been mildly worried about this part of the class (I mean, seriously, who fails Fundies because they cant swim?!?!) but it turned out to be a non-issue.Finally, three weeks later (and practically no dives later with socal winter), we were off to Catalina for the dive portion of the class! The days were long, intense, and jam-packed with briefing, diving, de-briefing, reviewing videos, and a little bit of food and sleep at the end.
Since I had already taken UTD Essentials and want to eventually take Tech 1, I decided to take the class in doubles. Before the class, I had a grand total of 14 dives in doubles. Steve helped make the transition to doubles as smooth as possible we adjusted my harness a number of times, changed the hose routing on the reg a couple times till we finally got it about perfect (until the 5th LP port adaptor becomes available for the HOG regs)....finally, trimming out the doubles started to feel like it does with a single
The main focus for GUE Fundamentals is to get the team to work as an actual team. Skills are important, but they are secondary to ensuring good teamwork. The difference in our team between dive #1 and dive #5 was astonishing! Watching the video for dive #1 practically showed three individuals in the water (close to one another) at the same time. Dive #5 showed an actual team working together to achieve all the goals we had planned for the dive!
My goal for Fundamentals was to learn a lot and not fail
I was not expecting a pass....a pass would have been a nice bonus to go along with everything I learned. At the conclusion of the class, Steve talked to each of us individually. We discussed my strengths and my weaknesses; we discussed how to improve upon my weaknesses; we discussed where great progress had already been made. I earned a recreational pass and know exactly what skills need a little further polishing to upgrade that to a tech pass. I have no doubt that I will be able to upgrade to the tech pass in the near future, but for now, I plan to do lots of fun dives with a little bit of skills work tossed in there occasionally. I have to thank my teammates, Stephen and Cody. I am so glad the three of us took the class together. We worked really well together....and every time I made a stupid mistake (like not turning my back-up light off before re-stowing it *slaps forehead*), both of you were there helping me correct it right away. Whenever I was frustrated with myself (like when my spool fell out of my pocket and made a huge mess), you guys talked me down off the ledge. I can only hope that if the two of you were ever frustrated or struggling that I was as good a teammate to you as you were to me. Thanks again....cant wait to get out and dive with both of you!
Another big thanks goes out to Ken Liu for videoing the madness and always being there to offer a kind word or some advice. I cant imagine not having video for a class like this. Its amazing how something can feel so bad to you, but after watching it on the video, it actually doesnt look as bad as youve made it out to be. I think all of us were pleasantly surprised! Ken, it was really great to have you along for our class....and P.S. your snoring is not that bad
Finally, a huge thanks to Steve! We (obviously) could not have done this without you. Your attention to detail, patience, ability to diagnose a problem and offer a solution....it was amazing and invaluable. The hours were long and the work was hard, but you always did it with enthusiasm and a smile. I truly hope that weve created a team that you would be happy to dive with! Thanks for everything!
