Resuscitating my own dead thread to say I finally got around to it! What can I say--2020 threw a wrench in my plans. But anyway, I really appreciate all the advice, and I followed most of it.
I did the class through Eco Dive Center with Oleg and Richie, who are both cave divers, as I think someone suggested. We did all four dives on the Yukon, which I did get a chance to dive with a buddy after starting this thread (and after getting a drysuit, thankfully) but before the course. I also took the deep diver and solo courses in the meantime, so I have a pony bottle and know how to use it. While doing introductions, I found out that most of the students had somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 dives, and with more than 300 myself I wondered for a moment if I might've waited too long to get as much out of the class as I could. But in the end, I felt like this was a really good time for me to have taken it. Conditions were a little sporty that weekend, and the boat we took has the only fins-on ladder I've seen around here, so it was nice that it wasn't my first time on it. A few others had trouble with the task-loading and "made spaghetti" of their lines, and I think by the last dive everyone in a wetsuit got cold.
I wanted two things from this course, and I got both. I wanted to learn how to run a reel, and I wanted to go inside a wreck. We learned how to run reels in a local park on a weekday evening before the weekend of the dives, and we practiced again in the parking lot at the marina just before we got on the boat, which I thought was a really useful refresher. We then practiced running them on the outside of the wreck on the third dive, after using the first two dives to get oriented. We were told that the goal was to do some penetration if possible, depending on conditions and how we did overall; best case scenario at least a couple of us would get to run lines inside. That didn't end up happening, but we did get to do some quick swim-throughs.
For those not familiar, the Yukon is a 100-foot deep, 400-foot long, purpose-sunk wreck that had a little whoopsie. It was cleaned and hole-punched to make it all nice and easy to explore inside. But then it sank before it was supposed to and landed on its side, making many of the holes inaccessible and making it rather disorienting to navigate. When my buddy and I dived it, we agreed we'd just check out the outside on the first dive, and then during the surface interval discuss whether to go just a little way in on the second dive. When we surfaced, we both agreed we weren't comfortable going in. But I felt comfortable doing it with an instructor, and once inside, it was easier to see how open it is and how many exits there are.
All in all, it was a great course. I acquired a specific relevant skill I hadn't picked up in all my courses or fun dives, I gained confidence with something I was afraid to do before, and I really enjoyed myself. Thanks again to all who helped me find my way there!
