Now for something completely different...

[sskasser]

Looking forward to this "event." I am sure it's going to be fun... as for a "Girls Disaster, North Florida style" I am shifting things around in my calendar to make it happen! LOL

Shirley, did your earring arrive yet?


(Long Story)

OOooooooooooo!! Yes, make "Girls Disaster, North Florida style" happen! Oh do! Oh do! >>>CRASHBANGTHUNKTING<<< That's the sound of me clearing my calendar in anticipation of this hitting the schedule!

Nope, no earring yet...the story still brings a grin to my face though I only wish there were pictures!

 

[Doppler]

Well, only a few days to go until July 8 and the big day!

Thank you to all that have shown interest and a special thanks to all who have signed up.

I will be sending out a group eMail with details of where to meet, what to bring, what to expect, etc... probably early tomorrow am (Dennis, your message will be going to your wife's account since that's what I have from Paypal!)

Thanks again. See you at Dutch on Sunday, July 8!

 

[Helipilot86]

Thumps up for sure

 

[lowviz]

...//...your message will be going to your wife's account ...//...

No prob, I don't do Paypal.

Interesting, however, that she is so much in favor of me attending this clinic. -maybe something to do with the title???

 

[ffdiver]

Steve thank you very much for the chance to practice everything going wrong. It was enlightening and very fun.

It was great meeting everyone today!

 

[Cave Diver]

LOL... goofy bunch here to be sure!

As if you would have it any other way?

---------- Post Merged at 09:51 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:50 PM ----------

Steve thank you very much for the chance to practice everything going wrong. It was enlightening and very fun.

It was great meeting everyone today!

I'm really looking forward to trip reports from EVERYONE involved. (You can skip the naked pics tho, considering the group )

 

[Doppler]

Steve thank you very much for the chance to practice everything going wrong. It was enlightening and very fun.

It was great meeting everyone today!

You are most welcome.

Based on the post-dive feedback in the outside car-park at Dutch at closing time, this little event was pretty well received. I'll wait until the victims/participants have their say but I enjoyed meeting new folks all of whom showed terrific interest in the drills I threw at them... surprisingly relaxing day... punctuated with some genuine belly laughs... No Names, No Packdrill but one of the highlights was the boomarang swimming style of at least one of the participants!

 

[SeaHorse81]

As easily (by a considerable magnitude) the least experienced diver there, I found a lot of the discussion to involve equipment that I don't use and don't intend to use. HOWEVER, hearing about it was very useful. I used to think that there were kind of a lot of potential failure points to watch for in an average recreational single tank setup. Having seen how very many more failure points there are in more technical setups, and seeing that those are managed by mere mortals like myself , I realized that taking responsibility and being more familiar with my own gear is not that hard, and well worth the comparatively minor effort it takes.

I found the session empowering, giving me more hard info with which to deal with SHTF scenarios, which allows them to be seen as nuisances rather than disasters. That's a major step away from panic, and therefore, priceless. I really liked your idea of, "What are you most afraid might happen? Well, go out and do it on purpose in controlled conditions and practice how to deal with it." So obvious, yet I don't remember ever having formed the thought quite that clearly, myself. That is perhaps the biggest takeaway for me from the discussion: how to think differently, in a way that produces safer experiences.

The skill drills were fun and informative. I never imagined that practicing stuff that could save your life could involve so much levity.

Steve, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to help me sort out my weighting issues with the new dry suit. Even though I wasn't on a par with the other students or the bulk of the material, you still took the time to help me accomplish what I really needed to, and because of your generosity, my weekend was very productive. How you managed to work in such basic stuff with me while not taking anything away from the more advanced people in the group, I'll never know. I guess you figure out how to do such things when you've worked for a long time to know your field as well as you do, and also happen to be a natural teacher.

It was an honor to be there, and very personally helpful. Thank you.

 

[TSandM]

That is perhaps the biggest takeaway for me from the discussion: how to think differently, in a way that produces safer experiences.​

I've never had the pleasure of training with Steve, but from the very first essay of his that I read on the Deco Stop, I have felt this was one of his biggest strengths. He's certainly caused me to think . . .

 

[Jim Lapenta]

For myself the class was an eye opener in a number of ways. I will be making some changes to my gear as a result and reaffirmed my commitment to the value of skills practice on every dive. It was also good to hear what the Hogarthian philosophy was from someone who had it explained to him by the man himself didn't know how flexible it really is and I will carry that over to my own classes.. I also really enjoyed the different configurations used and will be looking at the sidemount option for next season for myself.

Another item that was a key point for me was seeing just how beneficial something like this can be for those who will never do tech dives or training. I hope to use what I learned to develop a similar workshop for single tank recreational divers. Maybe open some eyes to different things the way mine were this weekend. Imagine the worst that can go wrong, talk through possible solutions, then simulate it under controlled conditions with safety divers in the water. No diver would not benefit from it. And it may save some lives.

I was also more than happy to suggest an option for the next class using the vertical rope maze with a blacked out mask. while tethered to a buddy and using a surface tender on a line being taken up as the divers get closer. Its a nasty, I mean fun task, for those who like to go fast and outpace their team. I look forward to more training with Steve next season. I'd also really like to thank Wendy and Frank for their invaluable assistance as extra eyes, ears, hands, backs, etc for the class and all week. It was really great to meet some of my friends from the board in person for the first time and see another one again. Another big plus for me was having someone to share the experience with and talk about on the long drive there and back again. And Steve is a great instructor, although his situational awareness in parking lots after the course needs just a little work. I'll send that thing that blew out of the back of your truck as you pulled out. Thanks for all your guidance and friendship over these last couple years. Much appreciated and one of the reasons I crossed over to SDI/TDI. Along with a couple other key players you were a big inspiration to do it.

And it was also really cool seeing a HOG D-2 reg swapped underwater at least six times with no adverse effects during the course and working for everyone that did it.