Today was supposed to be a rest day and the only thing Si had to do was pop down to Crystal to complete his Rescue divers paperwork and then come home which I was pleased about as I felt pretty lousy. So while he was out I showered, dropped off our laundry and walked into Sairee to get a couple of essentials, tissues included as my nose is like a tap at the moment.
On my way back, Si called to say he was on his way. Then 2 mins later he called again saying that he had to lead fun divers on the afternoon boat and wasn’t too happy. If only he’d left 2mins earlier. So much for a rest. We were supposed to go night diving but as I was congested, thought it best not to dive and I could have assisted on the advanced course but I dont think that would have been wise.
So I spent the afternoon resting and to be honest I was pretty bored. Si returned at 6 … we both jumped in the shower and headed back to Crystal to watch Simons ‘Rescue’ video. On arrival at Crystal there was a buzz of excitement as all 7 students were there and it’s the first time in years that a ‘Rescue’ course had been filmed. As we sat and watched I was really impressed, they’d done a good job and as for a first Team Teach, Simon was brilliant! So very proud.
As it’s St Paddy’s day, we headed to Dirty Nelly’s for a couple of beers whilst the Rescue students were getting absolutely hammered. I don’t blame them as the Rescue course is full on, such a sense of acheivement at the end of it.
We ducked out pretty early, and they carried on till the wee hours…
Simon had to be at Crystal at 6.45am for his Rescue course so that meant, I had to be up too. Not too keen on all these early mornings!!
Even though I didnt have to be there until 9am, the previous night Iain informed me that I had to take the students throught the exam on my own and if possible do there swim test with them as he was urgently needed to lead fun divers. So this gave me a couple of hours to go through the exam. The last thing I wanted, was to mark their exams and not be able to explain in detail any incorrect answers.
9am sharp the students gathered and I handed out the exam and left them to it. I need not have worried as there were only a couple of incorrect questions which took little explanation and everyone passed 🙂
As it was still early, I gave them a 15mins break and told them to come back ready for their 200 meter swim test & their 10 minute float. When they returned, I gave them the choice to do a 300m snorkel off the beach instead and that went down very well.
They went to grab lunch and return, by that time I’d packed their bags (BDC, Fins, Westsuit) ready for Open Water Dives 1 & 2, Iain was back from leading fun divers and we were ready to go.
Mango Bay – Dive 1 On the way, Ian briefed the students for the dive and I took notes. Once in the water we snorkelled toward the beach, stopped, did a few surface skills (Weight/BDC & Cramp removal) then did a shallow 5 point acsent. Maybe 5m down, we lined them up and did a few more skills and then ventured off into the blue …Mango Bay is pretty shallow, you’d be hard pushed to exceed the 12m max depth for dive 1 & 2.
As briefed on the boat, half the students followed Iain and then I followed on with the rest. It felt really good being responsible for them, seeing them try to get their buoyancy, adding, releasing air and expecting a instant response ..then, when they saw a huge shcool of fuseliers ..it was magical Its an incredible feeling to share the wonders of diving and to hear “Wow! that was one of the best moments in my life” when you surface.
Twins – Dive 2 Tanks changed and sat up on deck we gathered for Iains briefing. I took more notes. Once kitted up, buddy checked we were back in the water. We ascended down the buoy line and headed to a sandy area to do more skills (mask clearing, partial/full – Alternate air source to name but a few) then we were off fun diving ..even from dive 1 you can see slight improvements in their buoyancy
Day 42
Chumpon – Dive 3 7 am start and after the briefing we headed downstairs to kit up. Today the videographer is on board to film our students and the video will be played at Crystal bar at 7pm. This will be my first video YAY! The water temp was 31 degrees and visibility was stunning that you can see the seabed from the surface. As this dive site exceeds 30 meters we stayed around 16/17 meters.
Twins – Dive 4 Our last dive before the students qualify and I was leading. After Ian had briefed them we did a free ascent to the bottom …then headed for a sandy area where I gathered the students to do there last few skills (Mask flood/removal, Pivot & Hover) They all completed the skills whilst being filmed with ease and then I signalled and they all followed me for a fun dive. I spotted a blue spotted ray which they were all very excited about and then bumped into a trigger ..which was just chilling …then further on we went to see Nemo, a family of clown fish who’s home is circled with stones primarily to stop students getting to close and destroying Nemo’s home. On our safety stop Iain pointed out a Scorpion fish which was cunningly disguised on the pinnacle, I wouldn’t have spotted it in a million years.
Back on land after washing and handing back in our kit we took the newly qualified students to retail to have their photo’s taken for the PADI cards and then gathered back in the bar area where Iain & I double checked their student files, ensuring all the necessary documents were signed, dated, quizes, knowledge reviews enclosed.
After congratulating them, Ian spoke to them about ConEd where 4 out of the 6 decided to do their Advanced Open Water, which is just brilliant.
Later on Iain showed me the sections that I had to complete on each student file and then I probably spent the next hour or so just signing off all the portions ..Argh!! It’s pretty repetitive but I now have 6 certs to my name 🙂
That evening, our video was playing, so we met at the bar and chatted about their whole experience. 7.30 came and it was their turn to be in the spot light, so we all gathered on the beanbags ..Dan, videographer has done a super job, great music, footage and I felt really proud. My first Open Water Students!!
The last 4 days have been very early starts and late finishes. Was it worthwhile? I’ll let you be judge…..
Day 38 – I took Jen in to Crystal to start her 1st ever Open Water course, and while I was there I checked the board to see if I was down for anything… I wasn’t 🙁
Then Kiwi (New Zealand instructor) came around the corner. He suggested that I Team Teach his Rescue Course with 7 students!! Very daunting….
Of course, I said “Yes”.. and had a couple of hours free before the students arrived, So I hooked remotely into work and finished a DVD for a client. Upon finishing, I had 10 minutes to grab an Egg sarnie, and shoot into the classroom.
Feeling quite shy at this point, I sat in the corner making mental notes of how Kiwi teaches in class. They spent the morning completing the first 3 chapters of their Rescue Diver manual., before breaking for lunch.
After lunch, it was time to go the pool for Rescue Scenarios. This is where they learn techniques and procedures for rescuing, but in a safe environment.
We spent 6 hours in the pool teaching stuff like “Surfacing the Unresponsive Diver” and “Quick Reverse” etc… before packing up… Then just as the students were about to chill out, we dragged them down to the beach to work on “Beach Exits”. Tired and aching, they were glad Day 1 was out of the way.
For Jen and I, the day was not over, and we went to Rocky Horror rehearsals for a couple of hours, before grabbing takeaway food, and sleep.
DAY 39
Up early, and met the students… they were all very excited about spending another few hours in class. Instead of being in the back like yesterday, it was my turn to Teach. So the next few hours was spent with me saying words like Emphysema, Pneumothorax, Mediastinal, Sub Cutaneous… it was a mouthful…! Then I sat them through their final exams. They all passed. That was the theory out of the way.
Students sitting their exams
We broke for lunch, and then went on to the boat with 2 DMT’s (Divemaster Trainees). After arriving at Japanese Gardens, where mayhem started.. The DMT’s and instructors all get in the water (secretly) and do various scenarios for example, A panicking diver on the surface, or Unconscious diver on the surface.
These scenarios certainly put them through the mill and they were extremely disorganised at first. Very typical. They nearly 4 minutes to kit up and get in the water to “save” someone. Once they arrived at the various “victims”… they would usually approach incorrectly, in which case they would get dunked underwater, whether they were wearing equipment or not!.
With me keeping them busy, Kiwi disappeared to place a safety sausage as a “missing diver”.. Once he had resurfaced it was time for all of them to find the “missing diver”.. The correct procedure is to ask the buddy (Kiwi) for relevant information… These guys just dropped down in to the water… fiddled with compasses for about 10 minutes, having no clue where to go… eventually I used my tank rattle and got them to get a move on… They went in a random search pattern, and the lucky gits, came across the safety sausage. Then the DMTs, Kiwi, and I became the “missing divers” and the students had to safely bring us up to the surface. This is a dangerous procedure, similar to an Emergency Ascent, but because we are “unresponsive”, the students have to inflate our BCD to bring us up… On the way up, I had my hand on my dump valve, in case I needed to drop my air as quick as possible. We went from 16m to the surface, in about a minute, with my computer screaming at me…. Once on the surface, the students had to carry on with rescue breaths etc, and drag me back to the boat…. Then we stopped the exercise, and all jumped back on board to head to the next dive site.
At “Twins” , we moored up and spent more time practicing surface scenarios like the previous dive site. Once we were satisfied with there performance, we took them for a fun dive. Along the way we would introduce problems like spitting the regulator out, or ripping our masks off, simulating out of air problems, to get them to deal with potential underwater situations.
At the end of this, it was time for “missing diver” again… So after another quick ascent, with my computer going bonkers again… it was time to get the “victims” up the ladder of the boat.. This is a single person exercise, and can be VERY DIFFICULT.. We spent about an hour encouraging the students through this painful task to carry another person up a ladder. There were nearly tears, and pained looks… but once they had done it… they were very proud of themselves..
That was the end of the day for them, and they all retired to bed.. Me, I did more work, and almost fell asleep into my dinner!
DAY 40 In at 6.30am to pack the students bag…. I was super sleepy… The students arrived exhausted and due to the tiring day previously, we decided to go on a fun dive.. I led the 1st dive at Southwest Pinnacle with a total of 11 people in our group (standard group is 4-6).. I have never led such a big group, and in poor visibility… I was constantly alert..
The next dive was Shark Island, and Kiwi led this time… at the end of the dive, we split up and I surfaced nearer the boat than he did!! YAY!
Day 41
The final day for the Rescue Divers, and it was very tough on them.. same scenarios as the previous dives but with more pressure, and sneaky tricks… we pushed them, and pushed them. They were stellar, and at the end of the day, bruised and battered, they were very proud to be Rescue Divers, and I was very proud to teach them. 7 students certifed! SWEET!
After filling out paperwork, Jen and I went to the bar, to watch her first Open Water Course.. I was amazed at how professional, and efficient she looked. Totally blown away…. it looked like she had been doing it for years.. I was quite choked… 🙂
We then went for dinner at Dirty Nellys, and chatted with Jens students, before trying to leave early… when I got collared by John from Deep Down Productions… who was very merry… and bought several beers and Sambuca for Jen and I… we arrived in bed at 1.30am…
