I think, honestly, that Scubaboard started my pell-mell gallop to the dark side. At least, the only thing I'd ever heard about DIR before Scubaboard was when I told my OW instructor that I'd been out diving with a woman who had spring straps, and I thought they were very cool. And he said, "Oh, she's been influenced by those DIR guys. Why people think that a bunch of ideas that came out of ONE cave diving project in Florida are worth paying attention to is beyond me."
So the same woman told me about Scubaboard, and I came here and saw people mentioning this same acronym, and I started reading. At just about the same time, I met NWGratefulDiver, who took me under his wing and began to teach me ideas like horizontal trim and a modified flutter kick, and showed me the long hose setup and showed me why he liked it. I dove with him quite a bit, and eventually, he said, "You're coming along, and I think you should go learn some more of this stuff where I learned it." And he lent me a BP/W/long hose setup and sent me off to take Fundies.
I was already REALLY pleased with what I was learning, which was control. After OW, I never really felt in control of my diving. Things happened to me more than I happened to them, and I have never in my life been fond of that feeling. Here, I was beginning to bring the experience of diving under a modicum of control, and it was making diving more fun, and I felt safer.
I took Fundies, and was powerfully struck with the complete reasonableness of the instructor and of everything he said. In some cases, it seemed clear to me that what GUE had chosen to do was just plain better, and in other cases, there were equally good alternatives with different advantages and disadvantages, and they had chosen one but were willing to discuss why. And in the class, I got the first glimpse of what team diving was, and I was hooked.
Over the last sixteen months, it has been that facet of DIR which has become more and more irresistable to me. Diving as a team -- working as a team -- taking care of each other as a team. That's a great joy to me, even when I fail to do it to my own or others' standards. I keep working on it. I polish my skills so I can be a better team member. I make time for debriefs and listen to what's said so I can be a better and safer companion underwater.
I just spent three very intense and exhausting and very stressful days of instruction. But even through it all, I had the delight in being part of a team. We went through the same safety protocols, checked equipment, went through a dive plan where everybody knew what should be in it, and helped one another with the little things. There's joy in doing a descent where the three of you are together, keeping position, keeping in step on the way down, arriving in good order and ready to go diving. There's an intense pleasure in leading such a dive, and just needing the smallest glance to each side to see your tidy, steady, attentive teammates where you expect them to be. And there's a lot of comfort in seeing those same teammates responding to issues (even if they're artificial) in a calm, methodical and competent way.
The system closes some doors, but most of them are doors I don't want to go through, anyway (CCRs, for example). But it opens the door to some wonderful experiences . . . Jumping in the water with kidspot in Maui and feeling like he was an old, familiar dive buddy. Setting out to the Three Sisters at Point Lobos with two divers I'd never been in the water with before, and feeling like we were long-term partners. Doing skills dives in the dark in Cove 2 with other people who enjoy the same kind of work, and ending up having warm drinks and broad smiles afterwards.
This is my kind of diving. I've found a home, and I'm happy in it.
So the same woman told me about Scubaboard, and I came here and saw people mentioning this same acronym, and I started reading. At just about the same time, I met NWGratefulDiver, who took me under his wing and began to teach me ideas like horizontal trim and a modified flutter kick, and showed me the long hose setup and showed me why he liked it. I dove with him quite a bit, and eventually, he said, "You're coming along, and I think you should go learn some more of this stuff where I learned it." And he lent me a BP/W/long hose setup and sent me off to take Fundies.
I was already REALLY pleased with what I was learning, which was control. After OW, I never really felt in control of my diving. Things happened to me more than I happened to them, and I have never in my life been fond of that feeling. Here, I was beginning to bring the experience of diving under a modicum of control, and it was making diving more fun, and I felt safer.
I took Fundies, and was powerfully struck with the complete reasonableness of the instructor and of everything he said. In some cases, it seemed clear to me that what GUE had chosen to do was just plain better, and in other cases, there were equally good alternatives with different advantages and disadvantages, and they had chosen one but were willing to discuss why. And in the class, I got the first glimpse of what team diving was, and I was hooked.
Over the last sixteen months, it has been that facet of DIR which has become more and more irresistable to me. Diving as a team -- working as a team -- taking care of each other as a team. That's a great joy to me, even when I fail to do it to my own or others' standards. I keep working on it. I polish my skills so I can be a better team member. I make time for debriefs and listen to what's said so I can be a better and safer companion underwater.
I just spent three very intense and exhausting and very stressful days of instruction. But even through it all, I had the delight in being part of a team. We went through the same safety protocols, checked equipment, went through a dive plan where everybody knew what should be in it, and helped one another with the little things. There's joy in doing a descent where the three of you are together, keeping position, keeping in step on the way down, arriving in good order and ready to go diving. There's an intense pleasure in leading such a dive, and just needing the smallest glance to each side to see your tidy, steady, attentive teammates where you expect them to be. And there's a lot of comfort in seeing those same teammates responding to issues (even if they're artificial) in a calm, methodical and competent way.
The system closes some doors, but most of them are doors I don't want to go through, anyway (CCRs, for example). But it opens the door to some wonderful experiences . . . Jumping in the water with kidspot in Maui and feeling like he was an old, familiar dive buddy. Setting out to the Three Sisters at Point Lobos with two divers I'd never been in the water with before, and feeling like we were long-term partners. Doing skills dives in the dark in Cove 2 with other people who enjoy the same kind of work, and ending up having warm drinks and broad smiles afterwards.
This is my kind of diving. I've found a home, and I'm happy in it.
Ummm yknow containing laughter is really hard. But it is feasible.
