Arnaud
Contributor
If you dont know what goes on during a DIRf, go ahead and search the board. There are plenty of great detailed reports here. The reason for writing this post is different. I guess it all started with this response from Uncle Pug .
A few days later, Im spending Thanksgiving WE on a liveaboard. I meet some very serious tech divers. We're going to become friends. Through several trips, many emails and conversations, they will give me great support in the changes that I'll be operating.
The next logical step is diving with a B/P&W. And I do just that after trying out every other type of BC's (I was not immediately sold on the idea). This is the ultimate trigger. The second I'm hitting the water, I'm sold. And I'm thinking, if the DIR crowd were right about choosing a BC, they are probably right on the rest as well. So I change my whole rig (low-volume mask, long hose, bungeed secondary, Turtle fins). I also read JJs book and start incorporating the DIR principles in my diving. What is missing in that picture comes in the form of the ultimate SoCal dude and we become buddies (aka Underwater Nerds, Incorporated). From that point on, I look DIR, Im trying to be DIR as much as I can (I even quit smoking last October), but I know something is missing. For almost a year, I am going to be a non-GUE-trained DIR follower and that's clearly not enough. I'm craving formal instruction.
Tamara Kendel was on my short list of potential instructors. She's one of a handful of GUE instructors who can teach both Tech and Cave. And everything I had heard about her was better than good. Plus, she's here in SoCal. But tough luck! I have to drive to Phoenix to attend the course. When opportunity knocks And if anyone had a doubt, I'm happy to confirm that Lake Pleasant, while magnificent, isn't worth the drive for us SoCal divers However, the 3 days our small group spent with Tamara were definitely worth the 742 mile roundtrip. Tamara is a terrific instructor, truly dedicated to helping her students improve. She has a great attitude, always looking at the positive side of things. If you like to be humiliated and boot camps are your idea of a good weekend, dont sign up with Tamara. This is simply not her style! Also, for three days, we all took our meals together. It was a great opportunity to talk about diving and discuss her experience. She is a caver and a WKPP gas diver, not exactly your average SoCal instructor from Sport Chalet
There are so many reports on-line that I don't feel the need to get into too many details. Just know that the course was conducted according to the standards (in case anyone had a doubt). Friday night was the main classroom time and we went over most of the basics. Saturday was pretty much an all day in the pool from 8 am to 6 pm, with a short classroom session. Sunday was our open water day at Lake Pleasant. Again, we spent much of the day in the water.
Taking and passing DIRf is much more than a formality. To some, it's a great way to improve their skills. To others, it's really the entry ticket to that other world of diving. Well, the course really improved my skills and made me aware of how much room for improvement there is, even with the simplest stuff. A good example is my buoyancy. It's been pretty good for a while now, thanks in part to an extensive use of my lungs. But when we started doing the S drill, I would lose my buoyancy (slightly) AND go out of trim (slightly, too). As I focused on doing the drill, I would forget about adjusting my lungs and get that nasty feeling that I was resort diving material Task loading is the name of the game and you can't really take it a day at a time when you're underwater. So, we drilled and drilled and drilled until we got it right.
One last point. And it's probably the most important one if you have a profile similar to mine. Those 3 days gave consistency to the tons of piecemealed stuff that I had learned prior to taking the course. It's hard to explain, especially since I wasn't really aware of this flaw of mine before. But all these bits and pieces collected here and there about diving have all come together to form a whole. As a result, I feel more confident about what I know and what I still have to learn, my strengths and weaknesses, where I am and where I want to be, Coke and Pepsi, life and the pursuit of happiness, and why beer is so much more than a breakfast drink :biggrin:
Seriously, if you're at a rec diving level, no matter how much you think you know, there's definitely a lot more than meets the eye to taking the course. And if you must know, a set of doubles and Tech 1 are next on my list
A few days later, Im spending Thanksgiving WE on a liveaboard. I meet some very serious tech divers. We're going to become friends. Through several trips, many emails and conversations, they will give me great support in the changes that I'll be operating.
The next logical step is diving with a B/P&W. And I do just that after trying out every other type of BC's (I was not immediately sold on the idea). This is the ultimate trigger. The second I'm hitting the water, I'm sold. And I'm thinking, if the DIR crowd were right about choosing a BC, they are probably right on the rest as well. So I change my whole rig (low-volume mask, long hose, bungeed secondary, Turtle fins). I also read JJs book and start incorporating the DIR principles in my diving. What is missing in that picture comes in the form of the ultimate SoCal dude and we become buddies (aka Underwater Nerds, Incorporated). From that point on, I look DIR, Im trying to be DIR as much as I can (I even quit smoking last October), but I know something is missing. For almost a year, I am going to be a non-GUE-trained DIR follower and that's clearly not enough. I'm craving formal instruction.
Tamara Kendel was on my short list of potential instructors. She's one of a handful of GUE instructors who can teach both Tech and Cave. And everything I had heard about her was better than good. Plus, she's here in SoCal. But tough luck! I have to drive to Phoenix to attend the course. When opportunity knocks And if anyone had a doubt, I'm happy to confirm that Lake Pleasant, while magnificent, isn't worth the drive for us SoCal divers However, the 3 days our small group spent with Tamara were definitely worth the 742 mile roundtrip. Tamara is a terrific instructor, truly dedicated to helping her students improve. She has a great attitude, always looking at the positive side of things. If you like to be humiliated and boot camps are your idea of a good weekend, dont sign up with Tamara. This is simply not her style! Also, for three days, we all took our meals together. It was a great opportunity to talk about diving and discuss her experience. She is a caver and a WKPP gas diver, not exactly your average SoCal instructor from Sport Chalet
There are so many reports on-line that I don't feel the need to get into too many details. Just know that the course was conducted according to the standards (in case anyone had a doubt). Friday night was the main classroom time and we went over most of the basics. Saturday was pretty much an all day in the pool from 8 am to 6 pm, with a short classroom session. Sunday was our open water day at Lake Pleasant. Again, we spent much of the day in the water.
Taking and passing DIRf is much more than a formality. To some, it's a great way to improve their skills. To others, it's really the entry ticket to that other world of diving. Well, the course really improved my skills and made me aware of how much room for improvement there is, even with the simplest stuff. A good example is my buoyancy. It's been pretty good for a while now, thanks in part to an extensive use of my lungs. But when we started doing the S drill, I would lose my buoyancy (slightly) AND go out of trim (slightly, too). As I focused on doing the drill, I would forget about adjusting my lungs and get that nasty feeling that I was resort diving material Task loading is the name of the game and you can't really take it a day at a time when you're underwater. So, we drilled and drilled and drilled until we got it right.
One last point. And it's probably the most important one if you have a profile similar to mine. Those 3 days gave consistency to the tons of piecemealed stuff that I had learned prior to taking the course. It's hard to explain, especially since I wasn't really aware of this flaw of mine before. But all these bits and pieces collected here and there about diving have all come together to form a whole. As a result, I feel more confident about what I know and what I still have to learn, my strengths and weaknesses, where I am and where I want to be, Coke and Pepsi, life and the pursuit of happiness, and why beer is so much more than a breakfast drink :biggrin:
Seriously, if you're at a rec diving level, no matter how much you think you know, there's definitely a lot more than meets the eye to taking the course. And if you must know, a set of doubles and Tech 1 are next on my list
