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Advice
Well, tomorrow I do yet another thing I swore I was NEVER going to do in the world of diving: I start a tech class. And as I thought about it this morning, I wondered . . . What ONE piece of advice do you wish someone had given you, before you started your class? (Or maybe they did, and you found it useful; either way, pass it along!)
"What other sport is there where a cute woman has trouble getting rid of her underwear?" Doppler
Did Peter and his T1 class have anything to do with your decision?
Curious...
(good on you, Lynne!)
---
Ken
You've got some new momentum - you better keep on going
Tomorrow soon will be your yesterday
You've got some new momentum - you better keep on going
You've got to move to make it all the way... - NM
I think Canadian sponges were the motivation.
My advice, having just completed my course (which I thoroughly appreciate your assistance with), is to relax and enjoy it. It's a learning time.
All hell is going to break loose, you're going to screw up, and you're going to learn. Take it all in stride, don't allow yourself to get upset at all - this IS supposed to be fun. There were frustrating times for me, but I adopted the attitude of "let's go at it again." I was extra embarassed when I had to call a drill (bubbles everywhere, buoyancy out of control, currnet pushing us toward Salty's... and video rolling of course). On the surface, I remembered that it could be a frustration or it could be a learning experience, and I chose the latter. Things got better and better as the class went on, and at the end of it I actually felt like maybe I shouldn't sell all my dive gear after all.
My other piece of advice - don't walk up rocky hills with logs on them, while wearing/carrying more weight in gear than you weigh yourself, without a little help. Remember, this is a team sport.
I think the real reason Peter was fired because he was sleeping with his DM. - Ben V.
Someone from Team 1 pinballed off one of the 2,700 pilings we were playing around. They stopped, I didn't, and the rest is proctology. - Mo2, my brother.
A little too late, but the one advice I consistently got was: "do blue water ascents."
Have a great time!
Don
Don't switch to O2 at 70 feet?
I'd just go into it and have fun--the one thing you probably know about yourself is you work yourself up for classes, take this opportunity to just go into the class and have a learning experience. You've got a ton more experience than most people that take this class, so have some confidence in that experience rather than trepidation about the class.
Have "FUN"Originally Posted by LCF
That's why we do what we do, so relax and enjoy
Scott
"The "Why" was a huge part of DIR. I would go so far as to say that if you are not getting a good "why" answer, then the DIR person you are asking may not really be DIR.... "-Dan Volker
For you in particular, I would suggest to make a point to ask for help with heavy things. Learning the material and lifting doubles with one arm have nothing to do with each other. Spend the class time focusing on the class, then practice lift your doubles with one arm on your own time.
I was just thinking this very morning that it's almost barbaric to jump into the water wearing doubles and stage bottles. I understand that some dive sites require this, but I think the civilized way is to have the deck hands hand down the bottles once the diver is in the water.
... lingering on the chilling embrace of freshwater...
I agree with the barbaric statement. That's one of many reasons I bought a CCR.
About 3 weeks ago I went to FL to dive and used 130's, a bottom stage and had three deco cylinders. Came back with a very messed up back; spent all of last week laying flat on my back and had to take a few drugs through Tuesday night for the pain etc.
That will be last OC deep diving EVER.
Now I'll just spend the time necessary to get squared away on the HH and go wherever I need to to put in the time on it.
CCR is just so much better and so much easier in so many ways.
If it were me and I was just starting out today ( tech ) I would go CCR from the start.
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I can appreciate the benefits you outlined. Sounds like from a physical stand-point, the CCR was the right move for you.
I also agree that while jumping in the water with 1 slung bottle is do-able, any more and I'd prefer to have them handed down to me... course, then you risk dropping them!
I think the real reason Peter was fired because he was sleeping with his DM. - Ben V.
Someone from Team 1 pinballed off one of the 2,700 pilings we were playing around. They stopped, I didn't, and the rest is proctology. - Mo2, my brother.
Hey Lynne,
Glad you are going for it - You have spent years building a solid foundational and advanced set of skills, so I won't offer any advice, but I will wish you all the best in having fun as others have recommended. So enjoy the class and take as much from it as possible. I look forward to reading your class report
Can I ask who you decided to take your class with? UTD, GUE or another local instructor? And I am also curious what nudged you in this direction? (I figured it was only a matter of time after you finished all those cave classes - lol)
Best wishes to you
Aloha, Tim
I've always had cylinders handed to me. Unless it's just a single 40 even then sometimes I had that handed to me.
So far I've never dropped anything. I guess I've been lucky; I started diving in 1974 and sine then I've lost 1 mask and 3 fins to the ocean.
Funny story. Two of the fins were lost on the Yukon, both were found.
One about 6 months after I dropped it off the boat. It was found inside the Yukon by one of my students while I was teaching a Adv Nitrox/Deco class.
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For you...
Resist the temptation to post long, blow by blow class reports on the internets. Re-living every dive in debrief, and again at home with Peter, and again online is counterproductive. Keep it to 1 short paragraph.
Coffee for your instructor always helps
I will second the "relax and enjoy". I was basically constantly stressed out about T1 in the months leading up to it, and practically catatonic with fear by the time the first morning of class rolled around. I'm sure it took a few years off of my life, but for what purpose? The class ended up being more fun than torture. I swore that I wouldn't be like that before T2, and I think I'm doing pretty well... I'm only now (a week before class starts) starting to get neurotically nervous, and it's not the same 24x7 dread.
Have fun!
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