Is there a good place to take Rescue in warmer water?

[DukeAMO]

Above is mentioned 7+7 mil wetsuit, 32 lbs is not unreasonable.

Exactly. I'm pretty picky about my weighting, actually. I tried 2lbs less and got corked from about 7ft down after my safety stop, so I can't drop any weight. I get cold easily, so I need a thicker wetsuit than some people.

Now I am on a diet, but I'm not going to avoid diving for the year or so it takes to lose a chunk of weight.

You guys... you know, some people think Rescue should actually be included with the OW certification. Not that you should wait until you're a tech diver before you take it!

 

[DukeAMO]

Whoo, I finished my Rescue Diver class today! It was definitely a long day, and "serious fun". Also, Folsom Lake officially has the worst visibility I've ever seen. The visibility was from 0-4 feet all day. We had to hold on to each other under water, and sometimes we had to give signals with our hands touching each others' masks! It sure made for an interesting underwater search, but with the Jackstay search pattern, literally feeling along with our hands, we did it! We also found a fin a diver lost by lining up next to each other and swimming across. Two of us also stayed after class for one extra dive to practice navigating in zero vis.

Interestingly, the instructors also had us do every air-share by grabbing the primary out of the other diver's mouth, because they said it's what usually happens in the real world anyway. It was good practice, actually. By the third or fourth time, getting my reg pulled out and going for my secondary was hu-hum.