A big thanks to Greg Such for putting up with me for a whole week, and being very patient with me as I completed my TDI Adv. Nitrox, Deco Procedure, Trimix, Gas Blender, and Advanced Gas Blender courses over six days in Knoxville, TN. Also a big thanks to Alan Williams for being a helping hand during the course, for use of his shop, and for educating me on Tennessee vernacular 
I've been diving steadily for the last five years, and off and on for 11 years before that. I made my first Lake Michigan dive in 2006, and I've been really hooked on Great Lakes wrecks ever since...so much so that during two weeks in Bonaire this past November, I found myself missing the cold sting of lakewater hitting my face as I jumped in the water. Anyway, I've spent the last three years diving most of the decent wrecks on the Southern side of Lake Michigan, and the allure of the wrecks just a little deeper finally convinced me that tech training just might be for me.
In that same time period, I've been becoming more and more interested in Hogarthian/DIR diving. Last year, I took a fundamentals class with Ed Gabe, and my diving in general has slowly been moving towards that direction. Most of the serious Lake divers I've met so far have adopted a system very closely resembling DIR, although it seems a choice based more on utility than of Dogma.
I first dove with Greg on his charter about a year ago, and he was just such a patient, and knowledgeable guy that I decided he would be who I'd go through if I ever got a Tech cert. He was one of the first Tech instructors in the area, and he is one of the reasons DIR principles are so popular in the area. He is a former member of the Ozarks Cave Diving Alliance, and actually completed a GUE instructor internship, but got sidetracked by a divorce. On the other hand, he is a Ouroboros CCR instructor. One of my lasting lines from the class was that all forms of diving are simply tools, and it's up to us as divers to choose which ones we think are best and safest for the job at hand. Ironically, this is also a sentiment my fundies instructor, Ed Gabe expressed in a way.
Long story short, I chose Greg because:
1. I knew him, and his philosophy of diving jives with my own
2. He is a cool, laid back guy
3. He has lots of experience
4. I dive on his boat, and he would be a continued resource.
Anyway, on to the class...
I was the only student enrolled in the Adv/Deco portion of the course. Originally three other students had planned on taking the Trimix portion with me, but two cancelled for monetary reasons, and one for health reasons. This meant I would get a lot of 1-on-1 time with Greg, and plenty of time to hone my skills, but it also meant that I wouldn't have a teammate to work through problems with independently. All-in-all it worked out well, but I believe there might have been some benefit in having an extra person in the class.
I drove down to Knoxville on Wednesday, and stayed at the Luxbury Inn, which was only five minutes from Alan's shop, and a nice little motel. It was a decent drive for me, so I said hi to the guys at the shop, grabbed food, and settled in.
The next day, I showed up at the shop at 8am for lecture day. If I had one misgiving about the class, it was the quality of the TDI manuals..."Nitrogen isn't inert, in fact, it can 'ert' you quite a bit." Luckily, Greg and Alan had made up their own lecture material. The classroom portion was pretty fast moving, and informative. I came in with a lot of previous knowledge, and Greg did a good job of pacing the subjects to fit my previous understandings. Conservatism was stressed, and I learned quite a bit. We went out to TGIFridays for lunch after a quick intro to Alan's fill station.
Dive Day #1
The dive schedule was actually pretty aggressive. The first day would be shallow water review, but would pick up rapidly from there. We met at the shop packed up our gear, and headed to Loch Low Minn quarry for some diving. The first dive we did several valve drills, gas shares, no mask swims, and deploying of every piece of equipment I was carrying. The no mask swim was particularly memorable as we had a balmy 48* water to do it in. The dive was basically every skill from fundies, only this time with a AL40 stage bottle attached. We finished it off with me shooting a SMB and simulated deco along the line (1 min stops from 40'). I was happy for the review. I felt incredibly clunky in my 400g thinsulate and heavy glove liners. I was also thankful I was the only student as it let me get a lot of practice in a single dive.
After a generous SI, we were back in the water for dive #2. This was more of the same, with the only difference being a 30 minute timed swim at 33' to calculate SAC. I was pretty impressed with the results, and I guess I was a lot calmer than I felt, as it worked out to around .45. I normally measure myself at .5-.6 with doubles and drysuit. Back to the shop, and I mixed up my first batch of 30/30 for Day#3. I had an extra set of doubles, which helped to let me stay a day ahead of the fills. It was a late night at the shop, as apparently Fridays are "Friday Night Fills", which is little more than an excuse to party and drink beer. That night was particularly special, as it was Brad's birthday (Alan's service Tech). I stayed up way to late and woke up slowly the next morning.
-To Be continued-
I've been diving steadily for the last five years, and off and on for 11 years before that. I made my first Lake Michigan dive in 2006, and I've been really hooked on Great Lakes wrecks ever since...so much so that during two weeks in Bonaire this past November, I found myself missing the cold sting of lakewater hitting my face as I jumped in the water. Anyway, I've spent the last three years diving most of the decent wrecks on the Southern side of Lake Michigan, and the allure of the wrecks just a little deeper finally convinced me that tech training just might be for me.
In that same time period, I've been becoming more and more interested in Hogarthian/DIR diving. Last year, I took a fundamentals class with Ed Gabe, and my diving in general has slowly been moving towards that direction. Most of the serious Lake divers I've met so far have adopted a system very closely resembling DIR, although it seems a choice based more on utility than of Dogma.
I first dove with Greg on his charter about a year ago, and he was just such a patient, and knowledgeable guy that I decided he would be who I'd go through if I ever got a Tech cert. He was one of the first Tech instructors in the area, and he is one of the reasons DIR principles are so popular in the area. He is a former member of the Ozarks Cave Diving Alliance, and actually completed a GUE instructor internship, but got sidetracked by a divorce. On the other hand, he is a Ouroboros CCR instructor. One of my lasting lines from the class was that all forms of diving are simply tools, and it's up to us as divers to choose which ones we think are best and safest for the job at hand. Ironically, this is also a sentiment my fundies instructor, Ed Gabe expressed in a way.
Long story short, I chose Greg because:
1. I knew him, and his philosophy of diving jives with my own
2. He is a cool, laid back guy
3. He has lots of experience
4. I dive on his boat, and he would be a continued resource.
Anyway, on to the class...
I was the only student enrolled in the Adv/Deco portion of the course. Originally three other students had planned on taking the Trimix portion with me, but two cancelled for monetary reasons, and one for health reasons. This meant I would get a lot of 1-on-1 time with Greg, and plenty of time to hone my skills, but it also meant that I wouldn't have a teammate to work through problems with independently. All-in-all it worked out well, but I believe there might have been some benefit in having an extra person in the class.
I drove down to Knoxville on Wednesday, and stayed at the Luxbury Inn, which was only five minutes from Alan's shop, and a nice little motel. It was a decent drive for me, so I said hi to the guys at the shop, grabbed food, and settled in.
The next day, I showed up at the shop at 8am for lecture day. If I had one misgiving about the class, it was the quality of the TDI manuals..."Nitrogen isn't inert, in fact, it can 'ert' you quite a bit." Luckily, Greg and Alan had made up their own lecture material. The classroom portion was pretty fast moving, and informative. I came in with a lot of previous knowledge, and Greg did a good job of pacing the subjects to fit my previous understandings. Conservatism was stressed, and I learned quite a bit. We went out to TGIFridays for lunch after a quick intro to Alan's fill station.
Dive Day #1
The dive schedule was actually pretty aggressive. The first day would be shallow water review, but would pick up rapidly from there. We met at the shop packed up our gear, and headed to Loch Low Minn quarry for some diving. The first dive we did several valve drills, gas shares, no mask swims, and deploying of every piece of equipment I was carrying. The no mask swim was particularly memorable as we had a balmy 48* water to do it in. The dive was basically every skill from fundies, only this time with a AL40 stage bottle attached. We finished it off with me shooting a SMB and simulated deco along the line (1 min stops from 40'). I was happy for the review. I felt incredibly clunky in my 400g thinsulate and heavy glove liners. I was also thankful I was the only student as it let me get a lot of practice in a single dive.
After a generous SI, we were back in the water for dive #2. This was more of the same, with the only difference being a 30 minute timed swim at 33' to calculate SAC. I was pretty impressed with the results, and I guess I was a lot calmer than I felt, as it worked out to around .45. I normally measure myself at .5-.6 with doubles and drysuit. Back to the shop, and I mixed up my first batch of 30/30 for Day#3. I had an extra set of doubles, which helped to let me stay a day ahead of the fills. It was a late night at the shop, as apparently Fridays are "Friday Night Fills", which is little more than an excuse to party and drink beer. That night was particularly special, as it was Brad's birthday (Alan's service Tech). I stayed up way to late and woke up slowly the next morning.
-To Be continued-
