OW Class
When our local shop asked if I could lend a hand with classes this spring, I had no idea what I was in for.
Lately, I’ve only been teaching technical and CCR classes. These students usually have many dives under their belt, and are looking to take the next step beyond recreational diving by honing their skills, learning new ones and expanding their dive planning and preparation.
It was fun working with newer students that were just learning their dive skills. Since I was assisting where needed, I had the opportunity to work with a number of classes; Open Water, Advanced, Specialties, Rescue… Then, to top it all off, the shop had nine Diver Master Candidates this spring.
I must admit, to having a lot more fun than expected. There are always some new students that struggle with simple skills like mask clearing and U/W gear donning. However, they’ve never done it. We all struggled with those skills. Once we learned how it’s done, and had some time to practice, our fear faded. That’s when we can relax and enjoy the adventure of diving. This is exciting to see and be around.
Technical diving involves more complicated skills that are much more demanding. Some of my Tech students joke that I enjoy torturing them. Not so. The skills are required by the standards. Once learned and practiced they become second nature, and can get you out of a bad situation. Again, that’s when we can really enjoy the adventure.
To all those students that kept me in the pool and up at Dutch, dive safe, practice your skills, and look me up when you need a dive buddy! Now I’m off to go diving!