PerroneFord:
IF YOU CAN DO IT WET...I THINK I MIGHT BE TOUGH ENOUGH TO BEAR IT!
BIG HUGS!
CAROLYN :sharks:
But only in Florida!
Real DIR vs Internet DIR--my personal story
- Thread starter UnderSeaBumbleBee
- Start date
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IF YOU CAN DO IT WET...I THINK I MIGHT BE TOUGH ENOUGH TO BEAR IT!
BIG HUGS!
CAROLYN :sharks:
But only in Florida!
OP
UnderSeaBumbleBee
Contributor
Yep, I am still diving wet and don't like being cold and wet! I am willing to accept a dry suit if one of you wish to purchase one for me! LOL But then you need to also purchase one for my buddy as DIR frowns upon solo diving!
We have another month or so before the water temps start dropping. Until late there won't be too many weekends that the air temps are warm enough. I will keep an eye on the weather and when the air looks like it will be warm I will do a charter at the hot hole in Keowee.
I did some dives late in the fall last year and the cold just really sucked the life out of me.
We have another month or so before the water temps start dropping. Until late there won't be too many weekends that the air temps are warm enough. I will keep an eye on the weather and when the air looks like it will be warm I will do a charter at the hot hole in Keowee.
I did some dives late in the fall last year and the cold just really sucked the life out of me.
OP
UnderSeaBumbleBee
Contributor
Sparti and Jason,
So can you give me a before and after story of where you were as a diver before and after the class with Mr Ed?
How long has it been since you took the class?
What changes happened right away?
What changes have happened in the months after the class as you have continued to dive?
Anybody else who has gone through fundies and wants to chime in as well I would love to read your answers.
So can you give me a before and after story of where you were as a diver before and after the class with Mr Ed?
How long has it been since you took the class?
What changes happened right away?
What changes have happened in the months after the class as you have continued to dive?
Anybody else who has gone through fundies and wants to chime in as well I would love to read your answers.
Leah, that's an EXCELLENT question to ask, and I think the answer is very important.
Fundies is a few days. Mine was three, most are now four, some instructors add another day to that, but it's still a tiny amount of time. You're not going to see some quantum leap in your diving skill in four days, especially when a significant amount of it is spent in the classroom. The first "practice dive" I did after Fundies, I still corked when attempting an airshare
What you come out of Fundies with is a toehold on stuff. It takes practice to ingrain the technique for the kicks, and a lot of practice (at least for me) to develop the quality of buoyancy control you've seen demonstrated to you. And as far as situational awareness goes, I'll tell you how long it takes to get good at that when I finally do . . .
But the good news is that a LOT of the practice is just . . . DIVING. Every time you go, you practice the kicks, because those have become your propulsion tools. Every time you're down there, you can work on hovering, just to look at things. Every dive, you can pay attention to your positioning in the water, and work on crisper communications. Each outing, you can do your dive plan and your head-to-toe equipment check, until they become fluid and natural. Really, the only things that takes specific, dedicated PRACTICE are ascent drills (for us shore divers, who rarely do direct ascents) and bag shoots.
To answer your questions directly: It's been almost two years (and over 300 dives) since I took Fundies.
The only changes that happened RIGHT away were changes in procedure . . . eg. instituting the pre-dive checklist and equipment and bubble checks.
Within six months, I was pretty horizontal, and could hold my buoyancy and trim under mild task-loading (eg. I could execute an air-share without changing either). My awareness had improved, and my light discipline was getting fairly good.
But that's all minutiae. What had really CHANGED was that I felt like I was in control of my dive. I could be where I wanted to be. My buddies were where I wanted and expected them to be. We communicated well. I could face a boat charter without worrying about blowing my stops. I was just more comfortable and more confident underwater. Now, some of that was just time and dives, but a good deal of it was practicing technique until it didn't require any thought.
What's even better, those changes have continued. Throwing myself at the bar over again is equally frustrating, but as with skiing, every increment in technique translates directly into more FUN and less worry. And, best of all, I have collected the greatest bunch of dive buddies in the process!
Fundies is a few days. Mine was three, most are now four, some instructors add another day to that, but it's still a tiny amount of time. You're not going to see some quantum leap in your diving skill in four days, especially when a significant amount of it is spent in the classroom. The first "practice dive" I did after Fundies, I still corked when attempting an airshare
What you come out of Fundies with is a toehold on stuff. It takes practice to ingrain the technique for the kicks, and a lot of practice (at least for me) to develop the quality of buoyancy control you've seen demonstrated to you. And as far as situational awareness goes, I'll tell you how long it takes to get good at that when I finally do . . .
But the good news is that a LOT of the practice is just . . . DIVING. Every time you go, you practice the kicks, because those have become your propulsion tools. Every time you're down there, you can work on hovering, just to look at things. Every dive, you can pay attention to your positioning in the water, and work on crisper communications. Each outing, you can do your dive plan and your head-to-toe equipment check, until they become fluid and natural. Really, the only things that takes specific, dedicated PRACTICE are ascent drills (for us shore divers, who rarely do direct ascents) and bag shoots.
To answer your questions directly: It's been almost two years (and over 300 dives) since I took Fundies.
The only changes that happened RIGHT away were changes in procedure . . . eg. instituting the pre-dive checklist and equipment and bubble checks.
Within six months, I was pretty horizontal, and could hold my buoyancy and trim under mild task-loading (eg. I could execute an air-share without changing either). My awareness had improved, and my light discipline was getting fairly good.
But that's all minutiae. What had really CHANGED was that I felt like I was in control of my dive. I could be where I wanted to be. My buddies were where I wanted and expected them to be. We communicated well. I could face a boat charter without worrying about blowing my stops. I was just more comfortable and more confident underwater. Now, some of that was just time and dives, but a good deal of it was practicing technique until it didn't require any thought.
What's even better, those changes have continued. Throwing myself at the bar over again is equally frustrating, but as with skiing, every increment in technique translates directly into more FUN and less worry. And, best of all, I have collected the greatest bunch of dive buddies in the process!
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