NE Wreck diver meets "high-ender" solo diver course

[lowviz]

Doppler’s solo course report:
(it gets complicated…)

Background:
I'm coming from a Northeast wreck diving culture that I have no intention of leaving, but I also want to learn the skills of accomplished cave divers. I'm finding out that transitioning in this direction can be a significant problem. My training is fairly typical for New Jersey boat diving. I am reasonably cool under very adverse conditions and can really enjoy the average inshore dive. I could easily quit there and just enjoy ocean diving, but the problem started when I got cave certified (by the skin of my teeth). 8 day marathon, can't believe that any instructor would have that much perseverance. I just met all of the requirements and earned an honest pass.

Back to the problem. I watched open-circuit divers hanging in the caves in perfect trim looking like they were born there. Not moving. That image left a huge impression on me as I don't have those skills and they really looked like they were enjoying the experience. I love caves, I want to be a real cave diver too.

How do I transition to this level of perfection in buoyancy and trim? I knew that I had lots of ground to cover. OK, it’s much more than lots of ground to cover, I’m coming from another galaxy. Took realistic stock of what I am capable of doing next. Taking fundies with my present skills and rig would be nothing short of suicidal. I needed a sensible plan.

The plan:
Get a solo card so I can practice on my own in my local quarry. After much searching, I found Doppler's solo course and signed up. But first I needed dive rescue, no problem, found and took an excellent rescue course taught by Jim Lapenta.

Reality:
Surprise! The solo course required competence in the very skills that I ultimately desired.

Oh well, I signed, so I went for it anyway. -knew it would get ugly.

Day one:
Disaster. I’m diving dual HP 100’s and enough wreck diving crap on my waist to counterbalance the short tanks. Steve removes the junk and now I’m head-heavy with a hard roll to the left. Add to that my large wings (way too much lift) and I’ve become a perfect out of control diver. Steve tends to stay nonjudgmental about other’s rigs, but the ultimate idea is to get me into a standard North Florida configuration. So I tell him that I might just as well start now, and told Steve to have at it. My solo class degenerates into re-rigging me. You know the movie where the general strips the guy down to buck private. It was a lot like that…

Took time off from my grunt work to watch my classmates perform a 3-party, long hose, air sharing, buoyancy control drill in a perfect delta configuration around a shot line. Thing of beauty! I want to be able to do that! But I’m all over the place, can’t stop moving or I turtle. Steve measures me and determines that the HP 100’s are too short for me and the wing has got to go. Course over? Really should have been, but hell no, I head home to get my dual LP 72’s and a more appropriate wing.

Day two:
Much better with the 72’s and smaller wing, no longer head heavy, but still the annoying roll. Getting closer, but still nowhere good enough. However, I can now participate and came close to passing one or two of the required skills. The roll to the left is killing me, keeps me in constant motion. It turns out that removing all the extraneous gear lengthened one of the shoulder straps. Steve saw this and got me to re-do my harness again. Even more crap to lose…

Day three:
Getting even closer, but still can’t hang perfectly motionless in the water column. I now see that I always required a bit of motion or current to maintain trim. However, I am also starting to see that buoyancy and trim are moving closer, almost within my grasp. Making serious progress!

Toxed diver drill. My victim “accidently” (yeah, right, Frank) fell backwards off of the 25 ft student platform (where everybody else’s victim landed) and did a beautifully slow, face-up death spiral complete with shaking arms and legs down through a thermocline and came to rest toxing in the silt at 59 feet. Finally something I can do! My victim endured a tremendous suit squeeze while doing this, -added just for added realism. He felt like he was made of cement when I got to him. He was in intermittent seizures, it just couldn’t get more real than this. (He gets my vote for this year’s Academy Award.) Thanks to my recent rescue course with Jim Lapenta, I was confident with this rescue. However, there was still one surprise left waiting for me. The surprise was a sharp (10 deg. F) thermocline at about 30 feet. Very hard to control the quick buoyancy boost that the warm water layer gave me. My victim dropped the seizures at about 25 feet, I figured he would then do a panicked diver routine and go for my mask, but no, just went limp. I yo-yo’ed through the thermocline several times, another valuable real-world lesson. (Dumping air on rapid ascent put us back into the cold water layer and we would then drop like a rock.) However, I remained in control on this one, so I actually got a pass on this skill. Won one battle, but still lost the war.

No solo cert for me. This is a standards-based course with no guarantee of passing. I didn't pass because I didn't meet the standards. Period. Steve introduced me to an instructor who will help get my skills to where they need to be to meet Steve’s high standards (I will most likely go back and earn the solo cert someday just for fun). In addition, a wonderful student in my class introduced me to a local PSAI instructor who said that he would be willing to conduct "as needed" workshops to finish squaring me away with respect to my rig. We also discussed his basic approach to training trim and buoyancy, -this could really work for me.

Bottom line:
Solo was only supposed to be a cert that allowed me to practice proper buoyancy and trim on my own in a local quarry. This solo course turned out to be much bigger than expected. My rig is nearly squared away and I am already on a reasonable path to acquiring proper buoyancy skills. Much value for the dollars spent!

Steve Lewis is an amazing instructor (and quite a character). I would encourage any solo diver that isn’t solo certified to take Steve’s course.

Best,
lowviz

 

[Jax]

Super trip / class report, lowviz!

 

[waterpirate]

Congrats on your experiance and cudos to you for the heavy dose of honesty, a rare thing these days. It is refreshing that others are finding the quality squared away dive instructors that are not dir/utd based. They are out there just harder to find as they quietly go about the business of teaching people who want to learn. Any time you come into contact with a diver of Dopplers skill level there are things to learn, even at happpy hour!
Last year in Pompano beach on the wreck of the guy harvey I watched my mentor insert himself effortlessly into a crack between the sand and a steel plate that was about 3 feet tall in a smoking current. He then proceeded to move around in there and circle about going about his business. Anyone who would witnesss that and not be inspired should just stop diving.
Eric
again congrats

 

[w ripley]

Lowviz

Nice write up.

Had a similar experience, being an overly weighted, off shore wreck diver. Took the cave course - I thought - only to learn how to run a reel, as was going to the Doria. Got to FL and worked my butt off just trying to get control of the same issues you were having. And, it's made me a better diver.

My observation, since getting my cave card 10 years ago, is that instructors who cave dive stress the skills you describe, and instructors who don't cave dive usually don't. You can't teach something you don't know, at least not very well.

I believe most cave divers simply can't comprehend why these basic diving skills aren't taught from day one in the "C" course. Like you, I am glad that your instructor emphasized them in your solo course.

The world is changing.

Thanks for the post.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Thanks for the report Dennis. And yes the honesty. Lowviz is a guy that may not have passed his solo class but I'd dive with him anywhere. His dedication to training and skills development is a real breath of fresh air.

I just did a traverse last night with the instructor my GF and I are doing the solo course with in two weeks. Originally I had planned to get it from Steve but could never work out schedule issues. The instructor I'm taking the class with did many of the photos for the SDI solo course book and his wife is on the cover. He also did a number of photos for the six skills.

Watching his approach to the dive last night, as well as the phone calls we've had convinced me he's the next best thing to doing the course with Steve. I learned one very important solo piece of gear that I had never thought of and that is not on the gear list in the book in a phone coversation. And when he said it, it made perfect sense.

Last night's dive was an exploration of a passage that to the best we can determine, no one has done before. It was an eye opener for me. But seeing his prep and configuration - clean, no unnecessary items, everything in a place that made sense, and to see that I had to make only one very minor change was an affirmation of what I've been working towards.

We did not have time during the rescue course to go into your rig as much as I'd have liked with you. I know I questioned some of the stuff but your explanation as to why you had it the way you did for the dives you were doing made sense and appeared to work for you. Although getting out of the rig for a rescue I think kinda opened your eyes a little and you saw that. But again time was not on our side to reconfigure your kit.

I hope you get back this way some time and I only wish I could make it out your way. But with funds and time limits that isn't going to happen this year. Still I'd trust you with my life and dive anywhere with you. Good luck on your next attempt.

 

[SeaHorse81]

Dennis, I love your write-ups. Very informative and highly relatable for me, speaking as someone who encounters roll problems unless all possible weights are placed center-front. I too, look at people seemingly anchored effortlessly in place in the water column and think how much I want to do that.

Steve's course sounds like a no-lose proposition. You didn't emerge with a card, but lots of new, valuable information and practice. Your thoughts here help me go into my next course with the attitude of just focusing on the learning to the best of my ability. If I come out with a card, that's gravy. If not, I'll still be happy for the opportunity to grow and learn, and get some smidge closer to being like those divers who make it look so easy.

With many, many smidges to go, of course.

 

[waterpirate]

Jim,
I think the statement "what works - works" sums it up, except when you change enviroments or missions. The a-typical northeast wreck diver has a lot of stuff that makes sense to them untill:
A- we get shown a better way
B- we change enviroments
C- we have a "come to jesus" moment
Untill one of the above happens we do "what works". Continued development beyond our comfort zone is what is missing for a lot of people, myself included. I wanted to go deeper so I got out of my single tank solo comfort zone and bit off more than I could chew/ handle and was shown a better way. It has also changed my diving philosophy from "mission driven" to "I am enjoying the ride". So often the higher certs are sought out and when a "no pass" occurs the students are devastated. Again cudos to Dennis for "enjoying the ride".
Eric
P.S.
I just got Steves book.

 

[Doppler]

Dennis: thanks for the write up and THANK you for being a stand-up guy. You came into the class with a great attitude... wanting to learn and willing to work... and work you did. Excellent stuff, mate. I look forward to diving with you again.

@Jim: Your solo instructor is a good friend and an excellent choice. He will make your course fun and entertaining... and you will learn a bunch of "good stuff!"

@Eric: enjoy the book and "Doing what works" is the mantra!

 

[lowviz]

Jax, Thanks as always. I’m glad you enjoyed it. (aren't you doing caves? )

Eric,

"Until one of the above happens we do "what works". Continued development beyond our comfort zone is what is missing for a lot of people, myself included. I wanted to go deeper so I got out of my single tank solo comfort zone and bit off more than I could chew/ handle and was shown a better way. It has also changed my diving philosophy from "mission driven" to "I am enjoying the ride".

You obviously “get it”. Mission driven. Wow. This is the part the most DIR practitioners just can’t ever understand or want to appreciate about us. It does take a fair measure of skills and a healthy dose of intestinal fortitude to dive our stretch of the Atlantic Ocean. Mission driven. There is something down there that we want! Fish, lobsters, artifacts, glory, it isn’t as much about the dive as the end result. I can share that feeling, but I have progressed to just enjoying diving in my sweet green ocean.

We learned from our predecessors “what works” and that becomes our metric for competence. However, we also have to be careful of not understanding others in different environments. I paid way too much for an original printing of “Blueprint for survival” by Sheck Exley. I always keep it close. (I bought it to remind me that this is the same thinking applied to a radically different environment.)

On the second day of Doppler’s solo course I took a break to sit with a good DIR friend of mine who dives the same boats as me. We go back to when I first started diving the ocean. (I know that few people really believe that I’m DIR neutral, oh well. I have good friends that know otherwise.)

Doppler was my Rosetta Stone. A translation from one world to another. DIR requires specific gear, buoyancy and trim or you don’t get to first base. I'm starting with much too little of all the above. Most other agencies don’t take this stand as they have a totally different agenda. Steve Lewis' course was at the midpoint, so I went for it.

Caves blew me away. You can’t do caves without buoyancy and trim as primary skills. So I choose to acquire these. DIR has nothing to do with it. Many instructors teach these skills. Many don’t. You, as the diver need to make intelligent choices for the type of diving that you do. Great instructors are not necessarily “name” instructors. New instructors can be spectacular. They aren’t jaded, they want to make a name for themselves, and they care about their students. Doppler gave me a reference for an instructor that seems to fall into this category. I urge all divers to learn how to seek instruction.

Doppler will pass you in solo in a non-DIR rig if you can meet his standards. Perfect.

Attempting DIR would have overloaded me to the point of absolute frustration. That is the only reason I have been avoiding fundies. I am a realist.


Jim, you’re the best. Don’t stop pushing your students. You understand people, reality, and balance. –loved your rescue course.

Bill, you nicely summarized the problems we face. My goal is to add the skills needed to effortlessly dive northern Florida caves without leaving a trace. No small task.

Elizabeth, Hello again! (We are two divers forever separated by temperature. ) You would enjoy both Steve and his course!

Steve, World-class course! It will take me months to process and assimilate what I have been exposed to. Following your suggestions to the letter...

Thanks all for the kind posts.
I’m in no rush, I’ll get there.

Best,
Lowviz.

 

[TSandM]

Well, I enjoyed the report, and I'm not surprised to find that Steve is as good an instructor as everything of his that I have read would have suggested.

I'm still confused. You took the class because you didn't want to change your gear to do a DIR course . . . and the first thing Steve did was change your gear to "standard Florida cave diving rig". Of course, I'm fine with that, because that gear is popular because it works, but I'm still confused as to why you think a DIR class would have been a disaster, when this one was fine. I'm really not being oppositional -- I'm curious and confused.

I know the feeling of seeing the polished skills and wanting that. That's how I ended up in Fundies. It repeatedly flummoxes me that there are people doing dives I wouldn't attempt who don't have those skills. If you have them, you can choose not to use them; but if you don't have them, you don't have the option