I have been aggresively diving for a couple of months now. Love it! I feel completely comfortable in the water and have completed my OW, AOW and have one more dive to complete my Rescue Cert. Something dawned on me though through the Rescue class....diving can be some serious business!! Until now, I have gotten so excited when I know I am going diving. I dive every weekend, Sat and Sun. No wife and Kids helps, but I'm sure that will change eventually.
The tired diver tow...no problem. Gaining control of a tired or panicked diver fully donned w/ gear...bit more tough but still passed with flying colors. Controlling that tank empowered me enough to know that I was in charge. Now, the distressed swimmer? That scared the **** out of me! My instructor is dead serious about teaching real world experience and I am truly thankful for the. But the first time I swam out with a flotation device to him, I thought I was helping Jesus himself! I have never seen anyone come out of the water so high and lunge so far. I swear his arms grew 5 feet. I was able to get away applied the proper techniques in doing so, but I am sure he loved how large my eyes were when I was fleeing for my life.
We did this a few times and the skills were obviously in need of more practice, so he said he would repeat this exercise the next day. I haven't been this nervous since I had to give a speech in front of 100 people. It took all the courage I could muster to go to the boat the next day. I even showed up late (not on purpose) but when I did, depp down I was hoping to see an empty slip. Nope, the boat was there and they greeted me with smiles and a reassuring sense that they were happy I was there. Thankfully, I wasn't the cause of the boat still being there....some otheres were late as well. Still no excuse.
So we tied off and began our class. Still scared, but I got out there. It is my intention of gaining a DM classification and I want to be an effective one. Correction, I will be an effective one. I jumped in and placed my fear aside and focused on the task at hand. Still took a beating but survived and successfully completed that potion of the class. I guess I was thinking that is was wrong to be scared but moreover, I am proud of the fact that I accepted the fear and was able to channel it to the side and effectively save the distressed swimmer. Something I hope I never have to do, but should the need arise, I am confident that I can do everything necessary to save that life.
To be honest, my thoughts on being a DM were more along the lines of how cool it would be. I have gained a better understanding of the responsibilities required of DM and in order to be an effective one, I should slow down and learn what I need to do properly. Wise man once told me to slow down and I'll get there faster.
My reason for this post is that I never really thought about "new" divers and diving with them. I know that I can better handle myself now based on the training I have received and my comfort with my abilities. I also understand that when diving with new divers, assuming that you are a trained diver w/ a solid understanding of skills required, changes your dive from that of rec to more of a watchdog. Not saying you can't have fun diving w/ new divers but as a trained, experienced diver it is your resposibility to keep an eye on the newbies. Just like other divers have done with me when I was green. I will definitely return that to the community. That being said, I also know it will be a blast to dive with experienced, trained divers where you can focus a little more on your dive, and a little less on "mothering" because you know you are all watching out for each other.
Be safe
