I'll write something up properly, with photos, in the next couple of days.... but currently relaxing at home with a glass of Central Otago Pinot Noir, having just finished Tech 1. :cool2:
This was the first GUE Tech 1 to run in NZ, and we overcame the logistical nightmare of finding a way to get consistent diving, with nitrox on tap and the ability to whistle up some trimix with a bit of song and a prayer, some duct tape and some no. 8 wire. Liam flew over from Sydney and arrived last Tuesday, and is heading home soon.
Our Tech 1 course seems to have fitted the "Tech 1 formula", first day was in our local lake with four 10m dives. Dives 1 and 3 were skill shakedown dives, with everyone on edge and feeling like that they needed to go back and do Fundies again... the excuses were thick and fast, overweighting because it was fresh water, lack of sleep, yada yada.... basically we were stressed and nervous. Valve drills were quick, but with big changes in buoyancy and rubbish positioning and zero team awareness. Dives 2 and 4 were scenario dives, with various manifold failures, lost masks and OOG situations all in one. Liam's take home message - slow it down, think it through.
Day two, another four dives in the lake with the same pattern - two skills dives, and two scenario dives. The new skill for the days was gas switching. It's amazing how just relaxing a bit makes such a different - we all felt like we'd actually pass Fundies at this point, and the video never lies. Running the line around the lake, Liam still managed to tie us in knots because we never checked whether manifold failures were fixable - so with failed right posts we had to work out how to deal with an OOG situation on the bottom and get it up to our gas switch at 6m. Again, Liam hoit it home - slow it down, think it through. Finishing it early, we headed north for the next three days in the ocean courtesy of Shane and Julia at Northland Dive (if you ever come to NZ, highly recommended to stay and dive with these guys - you'll love it, Liam didn't want to leave!).
Day three, the wind is up and there's a bit of chop on the ocean which limits our dive site selection but we tuck behind one of the islands on the eastern side of Cape Brett. First dive is to 6m, valve drill, S-drill, gas switch then switch back to back gas at 3m and ascend. Thankfully, we'd practiced wing-on-wing the day before in the lake as the current was whipping through (well, it seemed like it to us). With some modicum of control we finished the dive and dropped down for the second dive to 23m. Reeling out, funnily enough it wasn't long before someone suffered a fixable failure... keeping it under control, keeping to close to the line seemed so much easier today. On we went, dealing with a couple of fixable failures before my manifold exploded into nothingness and it was time to turn the dive. Whilst we'd seemed to be making progress, we rushed into getting out and got into a right pickle on the ascent leading to another good talking to from Liam before heading back down to repeat the dive again, this time fixing the issues we'd had - which of course gave Liam the chance to throw us some curve ball problems that we hadn't seen before.
Fourth day, the weather was coming good - no wind, blue skies, no swell. Diving in the north of New Zealand truely is paradise on days like this, so we headed to the wreck of HMNZS Canterbury, a retired Navy frigate. The helicopter landing pad is at 29m, perfect for us to try and nail the ascents. Our first dive was to 6m again, with blue water skills which at last we were pulling together as a team and looking good at. On our two dives this day, we managed to not kill anyone by switching to regs that were connected to empty tanks.... though the dives were hardly uneventful, with lost deco tanks, primary light failures, lost backup lights fixable manifold failures, and anything else Liam could think of. Each and every one was dealt with in a cool, calm and collected manner. On the second dive, we managed to extend our line to where we were just about to disappear into the helicopter hanger when Liam started throwing problems at us again, forcing a return to the upline where we shared deco gas from 21m to the surface. A team working as a team, this was feeling like it should.
Final day, our third team member (already Tech 1 qualified) bailed on us to do their own dives, leaving James, myself and Liam to do a 48m dive on 18/45, then a 42m dive on 21/35.... finishing deco at 6m, Liam pulled out his wet notes at scrawled:
"Welcome to the GUE Tech 1 team"
Which only left today, scavenging the leftover trimix to come up with ten twinsets of 30/30 for a couple of dives on the Canterbury with an average depth of 30m, funny how those dark narrow holes suddenly seemed light any airy.
Overall, a great course... Liam is a great instructor, definitely deserving of GUE instructor of the year. Looking forward to having him back over when I can see him rather than have him floating maliciously above my manifold with that damn airgun.
This was the first GUE Tech 1 to run in NZ, and we overcame the logistical nightmare of finding a way to get consistent diving, with nitrox on tap and the ability to whistle up some trimix with a bit of song and a prayer, some duct tape and some no. 8 wire. Liam flew over from Sydney and arrived last Tuesday, and is heading home soon.
Our Tech 1 course seems to have fitted the "Tech 1 formula", first day was in our local lake with four 10m dives. Dives 1 and 3 were skill shakedown dives, with everyone on edge and feeling like that they needed to go back and do Fundies again... the excuses were thick and fast, overweighting because it was fresh water, lack of sleep, yada yada.... basically we were stressed and nervous. Valve drills were quick, but with big changes in buoyancy and rubbish positioning and zero team awareness. Dives 2 and 4 were scenario dives, with various manifold failures, lost masks and OOG situations all in one. Liam's take home message - slow it down, think it through.
Day two, another four dives in the lake with the same pattern - two skills dives, and two scenario dives. The new skill for the days was gas switching. It's amazing how just relaxing a bit makes such a different - we all felt like we'd actually pass Fundies at this point, and the video never lies. Running the line around the lake, Liam still managed to tie us in knots because we never checked whether manifold failures were fixable - so with failed right posts we had to work out how to deal with an OOG situation on the bottom and get it up to our gas switch at 6m. Again, Liam hoit it home - slow it down, think it through. Finishing it early, we headed north for the next three days in the ocean courtesy of Shane and Julia at Northland Dive (if you ever come to NZ, highly recommended to stay and dive with these guys - you'll love it, Liam didn't want to leave!).
Day three, the wind is up and there's a bit of chop on the ocean which limits our dive site selection but we tuck behind one of the islands on the eastern side of Cape Brett. First dive is to 6m, valve drill, S-drill, gas switch then switch back to back gas at 3m and ascend. Thankfully, we'd practiced wing-on-wing the day before in the lake as the current was whipping through (well, it seemed like it to us). With some modicum of control we finished the dive and dropped down for the second dive to 23m. Reeling out, funnily enough it wasn't long before someone suffered a fixable failure... keeping it under control, keeping to close to the line seemed so much easier today. On we went, dealing with a couple of fixable failures before my manifold exploded into nothingness and it was time to turn the dive. Whilst we'd seemed to be making progress, we rushed into getting out and got into a right pickle on the ascent leading to another good talking to from Liam before heading back down to repeat the dive again, this time fixing the issues we'd had - which of course gave Liam the chance to throw us some curve ball problems that we hadn't seen before.
Fourth day, the weather was coming good - no wind, blue skies, no swell. Diving in the north of New Zealand truely is paradise on days like this, so we headed to the wreck of HMNZS Canterbury, a retired Navy frigate. The helicopter landing pad is at 29m, perfect for us to try and nail the ascents. Our first dive was to 6m again, with blue water skills which at last we were pulling together as a team and looking good at. On our two dives this day, we managed to not kill anyone by switching to regs that were connected to empty tanks.... though the dives were hardly uneventful, with lost deco tanks, primary light failures, lost backup lights fixable manifold failures, and anything else Liam could think of. Each and every one was dealt with in a cool, calm and collected manner. On the second dive, we managed to extend our line to where we were just about to disappear into the helicopter hanger when Liam started throwing problems at us again, forcing a return to the upline where we shared deco gas from 21m to the surface. A team working as a team, this was feeling like it should.
Final day, our third team member (already Tech 1 qualified) bailed on us to do their own dives, leaving James, myself and Liam to do a 48m dive on 18/45, then a 42m dive on 21/35.... finishing deco at 6m, Liam pulled out his wet notes at scrawled:
"Welcome to the GUE Tech 1 team"
Which only left today, scavenging the leftover trimix to come up with ten twinsets of 30/30 for a couple of dives on the Canterbury with an average depth of 30m, funny how those dark narrow holes suddenly seemed light any airy.
Overall, a great course... Liam is a great instructor, definitely deserving of GUE instructor of the year. Looking forward to having him back over when I can see him rather than have him floating maliciously above my manifold with that damn airgun.
