I've decided to go Tech, my Intro to Tech experience
- Thread starter Tigerpaw
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
dylanfromwinnipeg
Contributor
Sidemount Cave Diver | GUE
www.gue.com
Sidemount Cave Diver | GUE
Wow, that's a lot of hoops to go through to get the GUE SM certification. Now I understand why @Tigerpaw said:
OP
Yes, they coonsider it to be an advanced course. Now I am very satisfied and happy with my sidemount training from TDI, had an excellent instructor and that is what he dives exclusively. We're diving together next week as a refresher. That being said the informal SM dive I'll be doing with my GUE instructor is to see how they dive and I'll probably will end up adapting some of the GUE procedures.
OP
I'm pro-GUE, but honestly GUE is the last place I'd go for sm training. There are a few GUE instructors I know that have done a ton of sm diving and likely would be excellent sm instrcutors, but I'd rather go see Edd or similar. who are diving sm all the time. SM is an afterthought to GUE. I'd rather learn from someone who's primarily diving sm
OP
OP
So the time finally came for me to do the open water session for my TDI ANDP class. I had completed the e-Learning a few months ago and a few days before heading out I did a good review of the material. A massive cold front had swept most of the nation. In the DFW Metroplex temps were in the 23-25 degree range and it was snowing. I was concerned about my flight but fortunately my flight went smoothly and departed and arrived on time! When I arrived in Florida, it was 29 degrees. I was accused of bringing the cold with me and that I needed to leave and take the weather back with me! LOL
Day 1 Blue Grotto
My drysuit is currently in the shop being repaired so I ended up diving my 3mm. Prior to getting into the water we did the usual review of material, pre dive checks, safety briefing, etc...... We also fine tuned my wing, gear setup and much to my surprise my instructor had two steel tanks (LP85's) waiting for me. (I've been practicing with AL80's, so I was slightly concerned)
We decided not to add any weight, so away we went. I hit the dump valve and nothing happened, I was floating just underneath the surface. After a while of struggling, I finally went headfirst and swam downwards, by the time I got to 15 ft, I began to naturally sink and then I leveled out. So we swam around for a bit and then we started with drills. We concluded our session by deploying a SMB and then simulating an ascent. Everything was fine until I hit 10ft at which point I popped to the surface. I maintained well at 15ft but somewhere between 14ft and 10ft I popped up. Prior to the second dive we discussed making sure ALL the air was emptied before starting the ascent. So towards the end of the 2nd dive I made sure ALL the air was out of my wing. And then something said to check my other bladder. I hit the dump valve and whooosh, out came air. I was so relieved!!! I finally was able to do the ascents and safety stop to the surface! Oh yeah I forgot to mention that my sidemount wing has a dual bladder. Whenever I'm not diving and my wing is hanging up, I add air to both bladders. Well I had forgotten to dump the air out of the secondary bladder and THAT was why I had problems submerging and maintaining a safety stop at 10ft! So now I make sure and pull the dump valve on that 2nd bladder during my pre checks.
So I'm excited that I was able to figure out my buoyancy issue and at that point my instructor brought me back to reality. While I did have forward motion with my frog kicks, my form was lacking and I also was kicking up silt! I would not pass if I could not effectively do my frog kicks.
Day 2 Manatee Springs
Before we got in the water my instructor had me hop on a picnic table and I practiced frog kicks with my fins, which I didn't realize how heavy they were out of the water. To further add to my misery it started raining and as a result the air temp dropped about 5-10 degrees and now I was cold. At that point it's like let's hit the water! Once at depth my instructor ran a line and I was to frog kick down the line, do a helicopter turn and frog kick back down and repeat this process. So after 25 minutes, we ascended and did a review and we went back down and for the next 30-35 minutes I did the same drill. I discovered that it was becoming more natural and that the glide phase was getting longer. So after we surfaced, we had a light lunch and review. I was actually getting better and improved. So on the 3rd and final dive of the day I did the drills yet again but this time we saved some time toward the end of the dive to practice other drills.
Day 3 Back at Blue Grotto
Day 3, the big day, we did a review of tasks, a review of material and into the water we went. To get a relaxed feeling we swam around for a bit and then we started going through the drills. Towards the end we swam around the cavern so that I could finish out the day relaxed! We surfaced, did a review and at that point I was informed that I passed Advanced Nitrox!!! The hard work with the frog kicks and the work I put in prior to coming in paid off!
As for the Decompression Procedures, I had opted to take it at a separate time. Due to upcoming dive trips and vacations, I have to really manage my vacation days very carefully. That being said, I'll be taking DP in the summertime! So I'll get a chance to review and keep practicing. The timing works perfectly because I'll have some wreck dives planned for the 2nd half of the year, so hopefully I'll get the chance to do a deco dive on them.
Day 1 Blue Grotto
My drysuit is currently in the shop being repaired so I ended up diving my 3mm. Prior to getting into the water we did the usual review of material, pre dive checks, safety briefing, etc...... We also fine tuned my wing, gear setup and much to my surprise my instructor had two steel tanks (LP85's) waiting for me. (I've been practicing with AL80's, so I was slightly concerned)
We decided not to add any weight, so away we went. I hit the dump valve and nothing happened, I was floating just underneath the surface. After a while of struggling, I finally went headfirst and swam downwards, by the time I got to 15 ft, I began to naturally sink and then I leveled out. So we swam around for a bit and then we started with drills. We concluded our session by deploying a SMB and then simulating an ascent. Everything was fine until I hit 10ft at which point I popped to the surface. I maintained well at 15ft but somewhere between 14ft and 10ft I popped up. Prior to the second dive we discussed making sure ALL the air was emptied before starting the ascent. So towards the end of the 2nd dive I made sure ALL the air was out of my wing. And then something said to check my other bladder. I hit the dump valve and whooosh, out came air. I was so relieved!!! I finally was able to do the ascents and safety stop to the surface! Oh yeah I forgot to mention that my sidemount wing has a dual bladder. Whenever I'm not diving and my wing is hanging up, I add air to both bladders. Well I had forgotten to dump the air out of the secondary bladder and THAT was why I had problems submerging and maintaining a safety stop at 10ft! So now I make sure and pull the dump valve on that 2nd bladder during my pre checks.
So I'm excited that I was able to figure out my buoyancy issue and at that point my instructor brought me back to reality. While I did have forward motion with my frog kicks, my form was lacking and I also was kicking up silt! I would not pass if I could not effectively do my frog kicks.
Day 2 Manatee Springs
Before we got in the water my instructor had me hop on a picnic table and I practiced frog kicks with my fins, which I didn't realize how heavy they were out of the water. To further add to my misery it started raining and as a result the air temp dropped about 5-10 degrees and now I was cold. At that point it's like let's hit the water! Once at depth my instructor ran a line and I was to frog kick down the line, do a helicopter turn and frog kick back down and repeat this process. So after 25 minutes, we ascended and did a review and we went back down and for the next 30-35 minutes I did the same drill. I discovered that it was becoming more natural and that the glide phase was getting longer. So after we surfaced, we had a light lunch and review. I was actually getting better and improved. So on the 3rd and final dive of the day I did the drills yet again but this time we saved some time toward the end of the dive to practice other drills.
Day 3 Back at Blue Grotto
Day 3, the big day, we did a review of tasks, a review of material and into the water we went. To get a relaxed feeling we swam around for a bit and then we started going through the drills. Towards the end we swam around the cavern so that I could finish out the day relaxed! We surfaced, did a review and at that point I was informed that I passed Advanced Nitrox!!! The hard work with the frog kicks and the work I put in prior to coming in paid off!
As for the Decompression Procedures, I had opted to take it at a separate time. Due to upcoming dive trips and vacations, I have to really manage my vacation days very carefully. That being said, I'll be taking DP in the summertime! So I'll get a chance to review and keep practicing. The timing works perfectly because I'll have some wreck dives planned for the 2nd half of the year, so hopefully I'll get the chance to do a deco dive on them.
Similar threads
