I haven't been on a real dive in almost three weeks, but I've got a good reason--I just completed GUE Fundamentals! (Warning: long post)
After several months of informal discussion, a few regular buddies and I decided to sign up for the course. We've been diving together for over a year now, and figured it was high time for some formal training. We got in touch with our local GUE instructor, Alberto (Beto) Nava late last year, and set up class for January. The format would be five full 10-12hr days over two weekends (including one Friday): January 16-18, and 24-25. The first weekend would be mainly lecture and pool work at the LDS, the second weekend would be in open water in Monterey (at Point Lobos, no less!).
Beto with his former can light
Wow, this class was a total eye opener for me. We felt pretty good about our diving before. But by the first pool dive, it was clear that this class was kicking it up a few notches. Every dive had a detailed briefing, plan and equipment check, and we were responsible for assigning roles and performing them. We practiced buoyancy, trim, kicks, and safety drills. Throughout, the focus was not only on performing the skills proficiently, but also being able to maintain buoyancy, trim and team position throughout. The team aspect was a huge component of class - if someone forgot a step during a drill, it wasn't so much their fault as it was the teammates who failed to notice and alert them to it.
Gear adjustments
All dives were videoed for review and feedback, and in so many instances the way I looked during a dive differed vastly from the way I thought I looked (sometimes better, more often worse). Beto was tremendous in providing each of us with individualized feedback on what we were doing right and wrong, and in preparing us for our next dives.
Setting up for pool session
In the week between the pool and open water sessions, I tried to pay attention to work, but to be honest, my mind was filled with practicing air shares and valve drills, remembering to tighten up hamstrings and glutes, and keeping my head up against the manifold. This went on for five full days while I waited for the next weekend.
The next Saturday and Sunday were essentially a repeat of the pool dives, only this time in open water. The conditions and viz were phenomenal, something I try not to think about now, since most of my memory is trying to stare at a chiton or sea palm marking the center of our practice area.
For us, the magic happened on the final day of class. After adjusting equipment, performing and assisting on drills, and being an attentive teammate over the last 6 dives, it felt like something clicked. Controlled descent as a team? Check. Backwards kick to stay in formation? Check. As we worked through our drills once again, we suddenly found that we were devoting less brain power to about constantly maintaining our buoyancy and trim, and more about getting the skills right and watching the team. It was a momentus occasion. We still had plenty of screw-ups, but I think it was a world of difference from not only the pool dives, but also just the day before. We did s-drills, v-drills, smb delpoys, backup light deploys, and s-drill ascents with the team captain spooling up an smb. We also had a demonstration and attempt at an unconscious diver rescue.
Over lunch, we reviewed the video of our final dive, graded the written exam, and took turns meeting one on one for our individual evaluations. We all received recreational passes. One hotshot showboat (who shall remain unnamed) rocked every skill and category, but tried way too hard to keep perfect trim on ascent, and ended up popping to the surface from 10ft every time--welcome to the peanut gallery, sucka
. We all felt that our evaluations were on point, fair, and most of all, helpful.
Post-dive munchies
In the end, the class was fantastic, and highly exceeded my expectations (and I like to think I did my research in advance). We all finished feeling like we had a clean slate, with an understanding of our strengths and areas for improvement, and what's more, a system that affords better preparation, teamwork and situational awareness. So what are we going to do now? We're gonna go dive a ton, have an insane amount of fun doing it, and sometime in the future we'll see if we want to try out for tech endorsements. I can't wait to get into the water again, because I know that taking what I've learned here, I'm going to enjoy my dives that much more.
I thought I'd finish up with my take on some questions I've heard (or had myself before taking the class):
1. How high are the standards? They seem ridiculous at first. At some point, we were reviewing the videos and Beto said, "see here, as you guys are ascending to the next stop, you fall about a foot below the rest of your team." And we had just been congratulating ourselves for staying together so well! But by the last day, we were actually able to maintain our position in the water within a foot (most of the time), and we could definitely notice when we or our buddy were about to drift a foot up or down in the water column. You don't need to be perfect to pass the class, but it does show you the level of proficiency that's possible if you want to get there.
2. What's the emphasis of the class? Some people say skills, some say maintaining buoyancy and trim while being distracted by skills. I came away with feeling that safety is clearly the main emphasis. You make a detailed plan for your dive, you don't cut corners, and you stick with your plan. If you need to deviate, you make sure everyone is on the same page. If you don't stay together as a team, you're not in a position to give or receive help is something goes wrong. If our ascent was one minute slower than planned, we deconstructed it and determined what held us up at each stop, and we discussed how such delays affected the minimum gas calculations made at the beginning of the dive. And you learn and practice skills that make you safer and more reliable to your team, and get them to a point where the mechanics feel like second nature so you have more cycles to spare on the important stuff.
3. How good are the divers? Watching Beto in the water was *amazing*. On the few occasions we did see him (he probably spent 90% of the time hovering just above and out of sight of us), I was blown away by how he was effortlessly, and seemingly instantly, wherever he wanted to be. I never saw him vent from his suit or wing (though he has to at some point, right?), and he notices everything (of course). The videographers for our class, GUE-trained tech divers, were also quite a sight to behold. We gave them a workout, by forcing them swim around us to find angles, back kick like crazy to keep us in frame, and generally stay out of our way as we did our thing, but in the end they were deft, and never failed to deliver great footage, showing our successes and failings in glorious 30fps. Great watermanship skills. Watching all of these guys in the water gives me highly aspirational goals.
4. Is it like boot camp? Not at all. I'm sure other instructors have different teaching styles, but there was no drill sergeant attitude, no unannounced drills or failures, no scoffs or sarcasm or condescension. Discussions and questions were encouraged, and all questions were answered thoughtfully, thoroughly and respectfully. Criticism was always constructive, and there was clearly a great amount of effort taken into making the class a fun, if demanding, environment. Yes, Fundamentals is the gateway to GUE technical training, but there was never a push in that direction (even though we all took the class in drysuits, doubles and can lights), and there was nothing like "you'll never advance if you don't get this right." The goal of the class was clearly to make the pastime more fun by increasing the preparedness and competency of the diver.
5. When am I ready to take the class? Part of me wishes I took the class as early as possible, so I would have fewer bad habits to unlearn and more time to apply what I did learn. But do you need to have a certain level of proficiency or comfort in order to get the most out of the class? Probably. I think for someone to get the most out of the class, they should be able to keep their general position in the water column, and not have to rest on the bottom in order to do anything they'd typically do. But with with those basics down, you can get what the class has to offer.
6. Who should take the class? I think the folks who would most appreciate the class are those who notice and dislike that they aren't extremely comfortable in the water, or find themselves inadvertently bracing against or pushing off the reef or bottom at times. People who actively wonder if the safety procedures and dive planning they learned in OW are adequate, and people who are attracted to the idea of a strongly team-oriented approach to diving, where you're actively responsible for your buddy at all times and vice versa, would also be good candidates who would appreciate what Fundies has to offer.
Well, that's it. If you made it this far, I'm sure you have something to say about it
After several months of informal discussion, a few regular buddies and I decided to sign up for the course. We've been diving together for over a year now, and figured it was high time for some formal training. We got in touch with our local GUE instructor, Alberto (Beto) Nava late last year, and set up class for January. The format would be five full 10-12hr days over two weekends (including one Friday): January 16-18, and 24-25. The first weekend would be mainly lecture and pool work at the LDS, the second weekend would be in open water in Monterey (at Point Lobos, no less!).
Beto with his former can light
Wow, this class was a total eye opener for me. We felt pretty good about our diving before. But by the first pool dive, it was clear that this class was kicking it up a few notches. Every dive had a detailed briefing, plan and equipment check, and we were responsible for assigning roles and performing them. We practiced buoyancy, trim, kicks, and safety drills. Throughout, the focus was not only on performing the skills proficiently, but also being able to maintain buoyancy, trim and team position throughout. The team aspect was a huge component of class - if someone forgot a step during a drill, it wasn't so much their fault as it was the teammates who failed to notice and alert them to it.
Gear adjustments
All dives were videoed for review and feedback, and in so many instances the way I looked during a dive differed vastly from the way I thought I looked (sometimes better, more often worse). Beto was tremendous in providing each of us with individualized feedback on what we were doing right and wrong, and in preparing us for our next dives.
Setting up for pool session
In the week between the pool and open water sessions, I tried to pay attention to work, but to be honest, my mind was filled with practicing air shares and valve drills, remembering to tighten up hamstrings and glutes, and keeping my head up against the manifold. This went on for five full days while I waited for the next weekend.
The next Saturday and Sunday were essentially a repeat of the pool dives, only this time in open water. The conditions and viz were phenomenal, something I try not to think about now, since most of my memory is trying to stare at a chiton or sea palm marking the center of our practice area.
For us, the magic happened on the final day of class. After adjusting equipment, performing and assisting on drills, and being an attentive teammate over the last 6 dives, it felt like something clicked. Controlled descent as a team? Check. Backwards kick to stay in formation? Check. As we worked through our drills once again, we suddenly found that we were devoting less brain power to about constantly maintaining our buoyancy and trim, and more about getting the skills right and watching the team. It was a momentus occasion. We still had plenty of screw-ups, but I think it was a world of difference from not only the pool dives, but also just the day before. We did s-drills, v-drills, smb delpoys, backup light deploys, and s-drill ascents with the team captain spooling up an smb. We also had a demonstration and attempt at an unconscious diver rescue.
Over lunch, we reviewed the video of our final dive, graded the written exam, and took turns meeting one on one for our individual evaluations. We all received recreational passes. One hotshot showboat (who shall remain unnamed) rocked every skill and category, but tried way too hard to keep perfect trim on ascent, and ended up popping to the surface from 10ft every time--welcome to the peanut gallery, sucka
. We all felt that our evaluations were on point, fair, and most of all, helpful.
Post-dive munchies
In the end, the class was fantastic, and highly exceeded my expectations (and I like to think I did my research in advance). We all finished feeling like we had a clean slate, with an understanding of our strengths and areas for improvement, and what's more, a system that affords better preparation, teamwork and situational awareness. So what are we going to do now? We're gonna go dive a ton, have an insane amount of fun doing it, and sometime in the future we'll see if we want to try out for tech endorsements. I can't wait to get into the water again, because I know that taking what I've learned here, I'm going to enjoy my dives that much more.
I thought I'd finish up with my take on some questions I've heard (or had myself before taking the class):
1. How high are the standards? They seem ridiculous at first. At some point, we were reviewing the videos and Beto said, "see here, as you guys are ascending to the next stop, you fall about a foot below the rest of your team." And we had just been congratulating ourselves for staying together so well! But by the last day, we were actually able to maintain our position in the water within a foot (most of the time), and we could definitely notice when we or our buddy were about to drift a foot up or down in the water column. You don't need to be perfect to pass the class, but it does show you the level of proficiency that's possible if you want to get there.
2. What's the emphasis of the class? Some people say skills, some say maintaining buoyancy and trim while being distracted by skills. I came away with feeling that safety is clearly the main emphasis. You make a detailed plan for your dive, you don't cut corners, and you stick with your plan. If you need to deviate, you make sure everyone is on the same page. If you don't stay together as a team, you're not in a position to give or receive help is something goes wrong. If our ascent was one minute slower than planned, we deconstructed it and determined what held us up at each stop, and we discussed how such delays affected the minimum gas calculations made at the beginning of the dive. And you learn and practice skills that make you safer and more reliable to your team, and get them to a point where the mechanics feel like second nature so you have more cycles to spare on the important stuff.
3. How good are the divers? Watching Beto in the water was *amazing*. On the few occasions we did see him (he probably spent 90% of the time hovering just above and out of sight of us), I was blown away by how he was effortlessly, and seemingly instantly, wherever he wanted to be. I never saw him vent from his suit or wing (though he has to at some point, right?), and he notices everything (of course). The videographers for our class, GUE-trained tech divers, were also quite a sight to behold. We gave them a workout, by forcing them swim around us to find angles, back kick like crazy to keep us in frame, and generally stay out of our way as we did our thing, but in the end they were deft, and never failed to deliver great footage, showing our successes and failings in glorious 30fps. Great watermanship skills. Watching all of these guys in the water gives me highly aspirational goals.
4. Is it like boot camp? Not at all. I'm sure other instructors have different teaching styles, but there was no drill sergeant attitude, no unannounced drills or failures, no scoffs or sarcasm or condescension. Discussions and questions were encouraged, and all questions were answered thoughtfully, thoroughly and respectfully. Criticism was always constructive, and there was clearly a great amount of effort taken into making the class a fun, if demanding, environment. Yes, Fundamentals is the gateway to GUE technical training, but there was never a push in that direction (even though we all took the class in drysuits, doubles and can lights), and there was nothing like "you'll never advance if you don't get this right." The goal of the class was clearly to make the pastime more fun by increasing the preparedness and competency of the diver.
5. When am I ready to take the class? Part of me wishes I took the class as early as possible, so I would have fewer bad habits to unlearn and more time to apply what I did learn. But do you need to have a certain level of proficiency or comfort in order to get the most out of the class? Probably. I think for someone to get the most out of the class, they should be able to keep their general position in the water column, and not have to rest on the bottom in order to do anything they'd typically do. But with with those basics down, you can get what the class has to offer.
6. Who should take the class? I think the folks who would most appreciate the class are those who notice and dislike that they aren't extremely comfortable in the water, or find themselves inadvertently bracing against or pushing off the reef or bottom at times. People who actively wonder if the safety procedures and dive planning they learned in OW are adequate, and people who are attracted to the idea of a strongly team-oriented approach to diving, where you're actively responsible for your buddy at all times and vice versa, would also be good candidates who would appreciate what Fundies has to offer.
Well, that's it. If you made it this far, I'm sure you have something to say about it
