So Saturday April 2nd I did a private training day with Guy Shockey outside of Victoria BC. I had a great time and learned more than I thought I would. I thought I would post a bit of a report in case someone else is considering traveling to seek training like I did.
To start off with some background on me, I have about 50 (estimate) dives. I have to admit that after diving in the same mud hole for so long I dont log all my dives. I have never dived warm water. I currently live in Boise, Idaho. I have done up through AOW and also hold nitrox and drysuit specialties with PADI. Im a student at Boise State University and I work fulltime at HP doing sales. I spent 5 years as an infantry soldier and was very curious about GUE and DIR. The standardization really appealed to me. I can tell you from experience of leading a team in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 that standardization of gear and SOPs (standard operating procedures) saves lives. So the GUE thing seemed to be my cup of tea so to speak.
To start off with I wanted to do a Primer with Guy. I was traveling up to Olympia, Seattle and Port Angeles, WA to visit friends in each place over spring break. I also took the full week off work. Its rare that I get time off from both at the same time. I looked at Guy's schedule and noticed that he had a Primer course scheduled for the 1st of April. I knew this was typically a 2 day course and thought that would be great. I do the Primer the 1st and 2nd and have enough time to be back at work today; Turns out that the primer runs through Sunday but starts Friday evening. That didnt work so I asked to move the class one day earlier. This didnt end up happening. At this point I ready to toss in the towel and asked about a private training day. We started to work out the specifics and after quite a few emails and looking at the logistics of getting over to Victoria, renting some of the gear I would need, finding a place to stay and so forth the cost had gone up considerably. Im a student and also have a wife and two kids to support so cost is always a major factor. I had some buyers remorse the night before meeting Guy but its a sunk cost at that point. (Im happy eating ramen, my 2-year old not so much
). I decided to pursue it so Guy and I agreed to meet at 9 am on Saturday at Henderson Point.
I showed up early because I couldnt sleep and didnt want to be late. Guy showed up and we got started. We spent quite a bit of time going over what experience I had and him allowing me to ask questions. We went over the basics for buoyancy and trim and propulsion. This is really what we focused on for the day. The thing that really impressed me was the amount of detail he could give on something that seemed simple. He could justify why everything was done a specific way. Some examples are why GUE doesnt believe in computer diving, why the long hose, why the BP/W, etc. I also liked that he would lead me to an answer to my own question and then let me figure out the answer. I currently have a BP/W by Apeks; Guy pointed out some of the things that would make it more in line with GUE standards. We got in the water and we spent the dive working on controlling myself in the water column. After the dive he mentioned that I had really good trim and to maintain that and to work on my buoyancy. We went to lunch together and also stopped by Beyond Deep Diving to drop off some tanks. We spent the whole day discussing the differences and reasoning behind why GUE has the SOPs they do. We then went back to the dive site and did two more dives. By the end of the day I was cold and tired and feeling a little swamped with the amount of info I had received.
In hindsight it was worth all the time, money and effort. Not to bash PADI but I wish I could say the same for all my training with them. I will be pursuing more GUE training in the future. I guess I drank the Kool-Aid.
If anyone else out there is considering doing something similar and wants to chat feel free to PM me. I wish I had a GUE instructor in my area but I dont. I did find out that Guy will travel to Seattle to do training which for me is easier and cheaper. I want to say thank you to Guy Shockey for the great raining and day diving. I cant think of a better way to spend a Saturday.
Alastair Duncan
To start off with some background on me, I have about 50 (estimate) dives. I have to admit that after diving in the same mud hole for so long I dont log all my dives. I have never dived warm water. I currently live in Boise, Idaho. I have done up through AOW and also hold nitrox and drysuit specialties with PADI. Im a student at Boise State University and I work fulltime at HP doing sales. I spent 5 years as an infantry soldier and was very curious about GUE and DIR. The standardization really appealed to me. I can tell you from experience of leading a team in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 that standardization of gear and SOPs (standard operating procedures) saves lives. So the GUE thing seemed to be my cup of tea so to speak.
To start off with I wanted to do a Primer with Guy. I was traveling up to Olympia, Seattle and Port Angeles, WA to visit friends in each place over spring break. I also took the full week off work. Its rare that I get time off from both at the same time. I looked at Guy's schedule and noticed that he had a Primer course scheduled for the 1st of April. I knew this was typically a 2 day course and thought that would be great. I do the Primer the 1st and 2nd and have enough time to be back at work today; Turns out that the primer runs through Sunday but starts Friday evening. That didnt work so I asked to move the class one day earlier. This didnt end up happening. At this point I ready to toss in the towel and asked about a private training day. We started to work out the specifics and after quite a few emails and looking at the logistics of getting over to Victoria, renting some of the gear I would need, finding a place to stay and so forth the cost had gone up considerably. Im a student and also have a wife and two kids to support so cost is always a major factor. I had some buyers remorse the night before meeting Guy but its a sunk cost at that point. (Im happy eating ramen, my 2-year old not so much
). I decided to pursue it so Guy and I agreed to meet at 9 am on Saturday at Henderson Point. I showed up early because I couldnt sleep and didnt want to be late. Guy showed up and we got started. We spent quite a bit of time going over what experience I had and him allowing me to ask questions. We went over the basics for buoyancy and trim and propulsion. This is really what we focused on for the day. The thing that really impressed me was the amount of detail he could give on something that seemed simple. He could justify why everything was done a specific way. Some examples are why GUE doesnt believe in computer diving, why the long hose, why the BP/W, etc. I also liked that he would lead me to an answer to my own question and then let me figure out the answer. I currently have a BP/W by Apeks; Guy pointed out some of the things that would make it more in line with GUE standards. We got in the water and we spent the dive working on controlling myself in the water column. After the dive he mentioned that I had really good trim and to maintain that and to work on my buoyancy. We went to lunch together and also stopped by Beyond Deep Diving to drop off some tanks. We spent the whole day discussing the differences and reasoning behind why GUE has the SOPs they do. We then went back to the dive site and did two more dives. By the end of the day I was cold and tired and feeling a little swamped with the amount of info I had received.
In hindsight it was worth all the time, money and effort. Not to bash PADI but I wish I could say the same for all my training with them. I will be pursuing more GUE training in the future. I guess I drank the Kool-Aid.
If anyone else out there is considering doing something similar and wants to chat feel free to PM me. I wish I had a GUE instructor in my area but I dont. I did find out that Guy will travel to Seattle to do training which for me is easier and cheaper. I want to say thank you to Guy Shockey for the great raining and day diving. I cant think of a better way to spend a Saturday.Alastair Duncan
