First steps on the road . . .

[TSandM]

For those of you who have followed the long story from my first questions ("What can you actually SEE in a cave?"), Peter and I completed TDI Cavern and Intro in Mexico this week. We dove with German Yanez, who is a wonderful man and worked hard with us. I was thrilled to get to see a little of what lies behind the "Peligro" sign, and came away with an enormous desire to see more, and a profound respect for what I am doing -- Which is probably the biggest thing a cave instructor can impart to a student.

A few thoughts from the trip:

1. If you follow the basic rules, what's most likely to kill you in a cave is getting lost. Losing six (or nine) lights is highly unlikely, and catastrophic gas failures are unlikely, but it would frighteningly easy to get lost. German said the two worst cave dives he has done were two where he was temporarily confused about the way out, and that that was very frightening.

2. My strategy of trying to build all the basic skills before going down there worked beautifully. German had almost nothing to criticize about our buoyancy, trim, or kicks, and we basically did very well with the reel as well. These were all things we had learned at home in open water, and it meant we could spend more time on things related to being in a cave, like dealing with my disorientation issues in the dark. GUE Fundamentals served me very, very well.

3. When you review the list of required equipment for a Mexican cave class, they will have left out one of the most important things: Mosquito repellent.

4. Leading your first cave dive is an amazing thrill. Being the first swimmer into the darkness gives you goosebumps. (German says that never goes away, and neither does the little frisson of apprehension -- and it shouldn't. The day you don't feel that, you're asking for trouble.)

5. One of the great things about cave diving is that it's almost weather-independent. We had strong winds and thunderstorms throughout our stay, and had we planned open ocean diving, we would have been very unhappy. (In fact, we DID plan one day at the beginning of the trip, and got blown out.) But it didn't make any difference in the caves!

Peter got some pictures on land as the classes were going, and some underwater pictures of the last day, and they're on our website HERE. And for those who want the blow-by-blow, the threads are here, here and here. We didn't have any internet access in the hotel except to pay by the minute for the use of one of their computers (with a Spanish language keyboard, which drove me NUTS), so all the posting I did was in a Mexican restaurant with free WiFi, and there was a limit to how many margaritas I could absorb (to keep them happy) before I couldn't type at all

 

[PerroneFord]

Congrats Lynn! Welcome to real dark side!

 

[Meng_Tze]

Nice one Lynne,

I know you have been working hard for this, congrats!

 

[Steve R]

Hmmm 1954 huh?



Congrats.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

Nice! I'm sure that you guys had a blast.

What cenotes did you do?

How was the physical part of it?

Did you face any monsters? Conquer some fears?

What did you think of the quality of training?

Tell us more...

 

[TSandM]

We started at Taj Mahal on the first day, then Chac Mool for the second day of cavern. The first day of Intro, we were at Carwash, and the second, at Grand Cenote.

I was VERY worried about the physical part of getting the gear to and from (and in and out of) the water. As it turned out, the only time I needed any assistance at all was managing the last step up to the platform from the ladder at Grand Cenote. Otherwise, I was slow but steady, and I was ridiculously pleased with myself to walk right up the stairs at Grand Cenote and reach the parking lot without even breathing hard! I've gotten so much stronger over the last two years.

My monster was disorientation without a visual reference, and I ran head-on into him on the second day. The story is in the first thread above. I ended up completely upside down without realizing it, trying to control my buoyancy but doing exactly the wrong things, because when I thought I was sinking, I was, of course, rising but upside down. Further, the reg I was breathing began to draw hard (duh) and I was getting both anxious and very distressed, because I knew what was happening to me but not how to fix it. This happened on both attempted lights-out exits that day, and I went home profoundly unhappy and unsure that there was going to be any way past this. Vertigo was a horrible problem for me in midwater when I started diving, and although I've developed a lot of coping skills, most of them have depended on having SOME kind of visual reference, even if it's only particulates in the water. Being in the complete darkness and having to orient myself was truly taking this particular issue down to bedrock.

But we did come up with coping strategies, and the following day, I did two blind exits without losing my orientation at all, at least as far as up and down went. I did make the error of letting go of the line with both hands for a moment, when I was tracing a tie-off and got shoved, and I got back on the line going the wrong way. It was a very good object lesson.

As far as the training went, I was expecting a much harsher class than we had. Maybe because of the prior classes I've taken, I expected to be picked apart for every tiny failure or lapse, and we weren't. German was primarily concerned that we get the big picture, that we remained calm and purposeful, and that we got better with each iteration. Of course, some of our experience was definitely colored by the fact that we had no problems with buoyancy, trim, propulsion, S-drills, or even really reel work. We were really well prepared for doing this -- My strategy of stepwise progress paid off handsomely. But we did make errors, and we didn't always get called on them, but I knew they were there.

German was quite clear that we were not signed off as perfect Intro to Cave divers, but as two people who had a good hold of the basics and were capable of practicing SAFELY at our level of training.

I liked him a lot. He's a very happy, encouraging man, and he was systematic in his presentation. That I feel a little uneasy that we didn't get beaten up more probably speaks more to my temperament and background than to German's teaching

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Good to hear about that...one of my biggest fears about getting more training is harsh teachers. I don't want to be yelled at if I do it wrong--I know I did it wrong, and I feel bad enough about it as it is, and don't need anyone to criticize me beyond teling me what I did wrong and maybe tips on how to do it right. Most of the stories you hear of people going through cavern and intro is of teachers who pushed them to the limits and about how ridiculously tough--physically and mentally--it was.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

...and I was ridiculously pleased with myself to walk right up the stairs at Grand Cenote and reach the parking lot without even breathing hard!

That's great, Lynne! Really! That's no small feat. I don't see how you tiny girls can do it. That's some serious weight you're humpin' up those steps.

I'm glad to hear that you liked German and that he did a good job for you all.

When's the next trip?

 

[TSandM]

Florida, the first few days of December. I'm going to dive with Rob and Jen, and Perrone, and maybe chickdiver. It'll be fun to see the difference in the caves.

Then probably not back to Mexico until April, and Cave 1.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Mind if I tag along for the JB dives?