So, I finally get the opportunity to do a DIR-F course after all this time. Since I have plans to extend my diving experiences into the technical path, I have decided to take the “tech” level (don’t know how else to name it) of the DIR-F in my doubles and a canister light (kindly lend to me by Yuth and Jon). There were six candidates for this class with three of us were for “tech” level and three for the “recreational” DIR-F. The days finally came.
Day 1 (27/7/06)
It wasn’t until around 10:30 we had everyone ready for the class. Gideon Liew (our GUE instructor) formally welcomes us and the class was officially kicked-off. The morning session is dedicated to classroom lectures. The afternoon session begins with the equipment workshops. Gideon took us through the various pieces of the gear configuration and the philosophies behind them. It started to get pretty interesting when he took us through the drills. The first day ends at around 18:00. I was looking forward for the pool session on the following day.
Day 2 (28/7/06)
The class gathered at the pool at the sport complex of Thammasat University. It is a 30 by 25 meters pool with depth of around +/- 4 meters. It is a really good pool for such class. But we have to waited till around 11:00 to get the chance to jump into the pool for our swim tests. Everyone passed as expected.
Gideon then briefed and took us through some dry run of the various propulsion techniques. Once we get into the water, he let us swim around letting us practice our trim, buoyancy, and various propulsion techniques. I paired up with Zan, a PADI course director, who is on doubles with canister as well. We were each called in by Gideon to show him our various fin kicks and “basic-fives”. We then ascent and Gideon give us another short brief on the surface regarding leading us through deco stops. We then went descend again to try to run the deco stops as plan. But Gideon was running the deco so what we were doing was mainly on controlling our buoyancy. This ascend was the end of the session.
Afterward, we headed back to Tour’s house at around 16:00 to review our skills on the video tape. I tend to over-compensate my trim by positioning my legs a bit too high and was looking down into the bottom of pool too much so my trim tends to be a bit head heavy. As for my fin kicks, the backward kick needs some practices as I am not stretching my legs far enough when loading for the kicks. As for the rest of the group, I have to say that they all did pretty well considering it was their first official attempt with the skills.
Day 3 (29/7/06)
We all met at Marine pier at Pattaya at around 9:00. Upon everyone’s arrival and preparations done, the boat head off for Koh Rin, a far island off Pattaya. The boat ride was pretty interesting considering with some pretty strong wind and high waves. Along the way, Gideon brief us through the pre-dive planning, equipment check up, and SADDDDD. After gearing up, we run the equipment checks and into the water we do. Zan is my buddy for the dive. As we descend, we were first instructed to swim along the lines that were laid by the assisting crew practicing various fin propulsions. Gideon then signals us over to work our valve drills and S-drill. It went ok but what happened was that we tend to lose our trim and buoyancy while task loading. Luckily, not to a degree we look hopeless. As we need to be doing the drills with a canister, the light cord actually complicate things up a bit. Hmmmmmm…, another expensive investment on my list……anyway, we then call the dive and board the boat for a short lunch break.
After finishing lunch, we get another brief from Gideon regarding our second dive. This time, we were assigned a third diver, Mike, who was also on doubles and canister . We went through the pre-dive checks and SADDDDD as usual and jumps down into the water and descend as planned. Upon descend to the bottom, Gideon had us run our S-drills. The first attempt was between Zan and Mike so I am the 3rd diver here watching over the pair. It went pretty well. Then it is my turn to run out of air where Mike is suppose to deploy his long hose for me. The deploying of the long hose was good but.…he found his backup up-side-down. This is because his backup regulator hose was running from his left-hand-side. The situation went pretty bad where Mike looks panic…at least that’s what looks like to me. They managed to sort it out as I passed him back his long hose. Then Zan ran out of gas on his long hose. Yes, he left his isolator valve closed. (He closed the isolator valve while doing his valve drill in the first dive.) Gideon calls the dive immediately and we surface. I didn’t really know what’s was wrong until the reached the surface.
Gideon wasn’t happy. He shouldn’t be after what we pulled off. We didn’t do the equipment checks properly which we all deserves the blame. I was “feeling like ****”. :shakehead. We screwed up pretty bad!!! Gideon made us run through the equipment check once more and SADDDDD before we descend to practice our deco ascend. Mike was assigned by Gideon to run and deco. Probably due to some minor underwater current, Mike lost control of running the deco. Zan was assigned to run the deco on this second attempt. This time, it went well. Upon surface, the three of us gather around as the boat headed back to Pattaya. We talked and planned how we will be doing our pre-dive checks for the dives tomorrow.
Gideon completes the day with lectures on pre-dive planning and gas management.
Day 4 (30/7/06)
After what happened on our 2nd openwater dive from the previous day, we were determined to pass this day by performing as good as we can.
As everyone arrives, we onboard the boat the head out for a near by island. The waves were much stronger than the previous day so I felt lucky we weren’t travelling far. As we were heading off for the destination, Gideon brief us on the dive. We were expected to deploy a SMB and focus on our team positioning. We ran the pre-dive check very carefully this time and into the water.
Upon our descend, Mike, Zan, and myself positioned ourselves pretty okay. Gideon was spending most of the time with the other team so the three of us were more or less swimming along the line and practice our S-drills. After around 30 minutes, Gideon found us and have us deploy a SMB one-by-one. I deployed mine OK but I did forgot to reel up with spool with the double-ender.
As we were gathering to do our deco ascend, Gideon signals me to “run-out-of-gas” at Mike. He deploys the long hose pretty okay. I forgot to clip off my long hose and it was floating around. Gideon handed it back to me and I clip it off saying to myself…………..I blew it again. Gideon wanted this to be a air-sharing ascend so we ascend as Zan was running the deco.
Gideon debriefed us on the dive over lunch and afterward briefed us on how we wanted us to control our descend and ascend with one of us running deco. Then he wanted us to descend again to perform an S-drill and a air-sharing ascend. We will descend again to do a fun dive where we will be finding our SAC rate. Mike wanted to run the descending and ascending deco but we weren’t able to execute the plan with his reference due to some minor current and buoyancy issues. Gideon wanted us to change role and me running the deco instead. This time the descending and ascending is pretty much as planned except I wasn’t able to stay close to the line due to our team positioning problem. As we proceed, we weren’t that impressive with our team positioning until a few minute later. So-far-so-good. We went and come back as we planned via our 5-Ds. But as Mike’s air runs to 40bar, we were about to call the dive. I the thought about requested Gideon to let us do a valve drill prior to our ascend. He lets me proceed though he knows that Mike will risk running out of air as we proceed and he is in control if it happens. As Zan was shooting the SMB, Mike came to me for gas. I deployed the long hose immediate and trying to stay in control. We managed to get to the surface slowly. Mike should have took control and call the dive. In the end, its our responsibility, not the instructor's. This is what he wants us to understand and learn.
As you can see, we screwed up again. Zan and me were pretty sure we will not be passing the course. :shakehead After we packed our stuffs, Gideon give us a debrief. He explains to us on the basis of evaluation he is also assessing us from the Tech 1 readiness aspect on top of the Fundamental level. He also pointed to us on various points he sees we needing to work on and ends the conversation with “see you in next class”. Zan and myself both understood that we will be re-evaluated in the next DIR-F class.
We unload our gears from the boat and prepares for the final video review and final talks with Gideon. Since I need to head for Bangkok immediately, I talked to him at the pier about what he has to say. Out of our expectation, he said I got a PASSED. :huh: :lol: He gave me some points on which I should work on to improve my skills, which will only benefit me more by the time I enroll for a Tech 1 class. I couldn’t agree more.
Well, I have to say that I am glad I finally get to do the course after waiting for so long for such opportunities. I am delighted knowing I actually passed it so did Zan, my buddy. :lol: This course gives a good reflection and assessment on my diving competencies. I have decided to put aside all my technical diving plans for now and focus to work on my skills for now. I would recommend this course to anyone who is thinking about it.
Special thanks to Gideon, Vie, Tour, Garn, Yuth, and Jon. This DIR-F wouldn’t be possible without you guys. I would forward such gratefulness for future class. I am more than happy to join you guys in building up the DIR community here in Thailand.
Day 1 (27/7/06)
It wasn’t until around 10:30 we had everyone ready for the class. Gideon Liew (our GUE instructor) formally welcomes us and the class was officially kicked-off. The morning session is dedicated to classroom lectures. The afternoon session begins with the equipment workshops. Gideon took us through the various pieces of the gear configuration and the philosophies behind them. It started to get pretty interesting when he took us through the drills. The first day ends at around 18:00. I was looking forward for the pool session on the following day.
Day 2 (28/7/06)
The class gathered at the pool at the sport complex of Thammasat University. It is a 30 by 25 meters pool with depth of around +/- 4 meters. It is a really good pool for such class. But we have to waited till around 11:00 to get the chance to jump into the pool for our swim tests. Everyone passed as expected.
Gideon then briefed and took us through some dry run of the various propulsion techniques. Once we get into the water, he let us swim around letting us practice our trim, buoyancy, and various propulsion techniques. I paired up with Zan, a PADI course director, who is on doubles with canister as well. We were each called in by Gideon to show him our various fin kicks and “basic-fives”. We then ascent and Gideon give us another short brief on the surface regarding leading us through deco stops. We then went descend again to try to run the deco stops as plan. But Gideon was running the deco so what we were doing was mainly on controlling our buoyancy. This ascend was the end of the session.
Afterward, we headed back to Tour’s house at around 16:00 to review our skills on the video tape. I tend to over-compensate my trim by positioning my legs a bit too high and was looking down into the bottom of pool too much so my trim tends to be a bit head heavy. As for my fin kicks, the backward kick needs some practices as I am not stretching my legs far enough when loading for the kicks. As for the rest of the group, I have to say that they all did pretty well considering it was their first official attempt with the skills.
Day 3 (29/7/06)
We all met at Marine pier at Pattaya at around 9:00. Upon everyone’s arrival and preparations done, the boat head off for Koh Rin, a far island off Pattaya. The boat ride was pretty interesting considering with some pretty strong wind and high waves. Along the way, Gideon brief us through the pre-dive planning, equipment check up, and SADDDDD. After gearing up, we run the equipment checks and into the water we do. Zan is my buddy for the dive. As we descend, we were first instructed to swim along the lines that were laid by the assisting crew practicing various fin propulsions. Gideon then signals us over to work our valve drills and S-drill. It went ok but what happened was that we tend to lose our trim and buoyancy while task loading. Luckily, not to a degree we look hopeless. As we need to be doing the drills with a canister, the light cord actually complicate things up a bit. Hmmmmmm…, another expensive investment on my list……anyway, we then call the dive and board the boat for a short lunch break.
After finishing lunch, we get another brief from Gideon regarding our second dive. This time, we were assigned a third diver, Mike, who was also on doubles and canister . We went through the pre-dive checks and SADDDDD as usual and jumps down into the water and descend as planned. Upon descend to the bottom, Gideon had us run our S-drills. The first attempt was between Zan and Mike so I am the 3rd diver here watching over the pair. It went pretty well. Then it is my turn to run out of air where Mike is suppose to deploy his long hose for me. The deploying of the long hose was good but.…he found his backup up-side-down. This is because his backup regulator hose was running from his left-hand-side. The situation went pretty bad where Mike looks panic…at least that’s what looks like to me. They managed to sort it out as I passed him back his long hose. Then Zan ran out of gas on his long hose. Yes, he left his isolator valve closed. (He closed the isolator valve while doing his valve drill in the first dive.) Gideon calls the dive immediately and we surface. I didn’t really know what’s was wrong until the reached the surface.
Gideon wasn’t happy. He shouldn’t be after what we pulled off. We didn’t do the equipment checks properly which we all deserves the blame. I was “feeling like ****”. :shakehead. We screwed up pretty bad!!! Gideon made us run through the equipment check once more and SADDDDD before we descend to practice our deco ascend. Mike was assigned by Gideon to run and deco. Probably due to some minor underwater current, Mike lost control of running the deco. Zan was assigned to run the deco on this second attempt. This time, it went well. Upon surface, the three of us gather around as the boat headed back to Pattaya. We talked and planned how we will be doing our pre-dive checks for the dives tomorrow.
Gideon completes the day with lectures on pre-dive planning and gas management.
Day 4 (30/7/06)
After what happened on our 2nd openwater dive from the previous day, we were determined to pass this day by performing as good as we can.
As everyone arrives, we onboard the boat the head out for a near by island. The waves were much stronger than the previous day so I felt lucky we weren’t travelling far. As we were heading off for the destination, Gideon brief us on the dive. We were expected to deploy a SMB and focus on our team positioning. We ran the pre-dive check very carefully this time and into the water.Upon our descend, Mike, Zan, and myself positioned ourselves pretty okay. Gideon was spending most of the time with the other team so the three of us were more or less swimming along the line and practice our S-drills. After around 30 minutes, Gideon found us and have us deploy a SMB one-by-one. I deployed mine OK but I did forgot to reel up with spool with the double-ender.
As we were gathering to do our deco ascend, Gideon signals me to “run-out-of-gas” at Mike. He deploys the long hose pretty okay. I forgot to clip off my long hose and it was floating around. Gideon handed it back to me and I clip it off saying to myself…………..I blew it again. Gideon wanted this to be a air-sharing ascend so we ascend as Zan was running the deco. Gideon debriefed us on the dive over lunch and afterward briefed us on how we wanted us to control our descend and ascend with one of us running deco. Then he wanted us to descend again to perform an S-drill and a air-sharing ascend. We will descend again to do a fun dive where we will be finding our SAC rate. Mike wanted to run the descending and ascending deco but we weren’t able to execute the plan with his reference due to some minor current and buoyancy issues.
Gideon wanted us to change role and me running the deco instead. This time the descending and ascending is pretty much as planned except I wasn’t able to stay close to the line due to our team positioning problem. As we proceed, we weren’t that impressive with our team positioning until a few minute later. So-far-so-good. We went and come back as we planned via our 5-Ds. But as Mike’s air runs to 40bar, we were about to call the dive. I the thought about requested Gideon to let us do a valve drill prior to our ascend. He lets me proceed though he knows that Mike will risk running out of air as we proceed and he is in control if it happens. As Zan was shooting the SMB, Mike came to me for gas. I deployed the long hose immediate and trying to stay in control. We managed to get to the surface slowly. Mike should have took control and call the dive. In the end, its our responsibility, not the instructor's. This is what he wants us to understand and learn.As you can see, we screwed up again. Zan and me were pretty sure we will not be passing the course. :shakehead After we packed our stuffs, Gideon give us a debrief. He explains to us on the basis of evaluation he is also assessing us from the Tech 1 readiness aspect on top of the Fundamental level. He also pointed to us on various points he sees we needing to work on and ends the conversation with “see you in next class”.
Zan and myself both understood that we will be re-evaluated in the next DIR-F class. We unload our gears from the boat and prepares for the final video review and final talks with Gideon. Since I need to head for Bangkok immediately, I talked to him at the pier about what he has to say. Out of our expectation, he said I got a PASSED. :huh: :lol: He gave me some points on which I should work on to improve my skills, which will only benefit me more by the time I enroll for a Tech 1 class. I couldn’t agree more.
Well, I have to say that I am glad I finally get to do the course after waiting for so long for such opportunities.
I am delighted knowing I actually passed it so did Zan, my buddy. :lol: This course gives a good reflection and assessment on my diving competencies. I have decided to put aside all my technical diving plans for now and focus to work on my skills for now. I would recommend this course to anyone who is thinking about it. Special thanks to Gideon, Vie, Tour, Garn, Yuth, and Jon. This DIR-F wouldn’t be possible without you guys. I would forward such gratefulness for future class. I am more than happy to join you guys in building up the DIR community here in Thailand.
