I haven't posted a dive report here in a long time. But over the last two weeks, I've had six fantastic days of diving, that I thought merited a quick recap.
Gombessa posted about our Channel Islands trip, but I want to write a little bit about part of what made the weekend so wonderful. We had 22 divers on the boat, and they ranged from a year or so of diving, to several thousand dives, and entry level training to instructor, trimix, and cave exploration diving. We all dove with one another, sometimes almost at random; there was no drama, and there were no incidents, other than one group which got caught by current and driven too far from the boat to swim. They shot a bag, and everybody knew where they were, and the dinghy went and towed them back. It was a non-issue, because when things didn't go right, they had a strategy in place, and they used it.
This weekend, I did three days of diving off a friend's boat. I dove with people from out of town, with limited experience and training, and I dove with friends with lots of both. Again, no drama, no incidents, and even when things didn't go precisely as planned, we had the resources and the training to cope with the situation, remain relaxed, and know that everybody was going to end up safe and happy.
Training pays off. Practice pays off. Planning pays off. Prudence pays off. The time, and the money, and the effort invested in those things just makes diving smoother, less stressful, and more joyous. I happen to think that diving within a standardized system polishes all those things even further, but even if you don't elect to go that direction, getting more education, and practicing skills, and learning a template for dive planning (including gas planning) and buddy checks, will prevent a lot of issues and avoid discomfort. (For example, we did our head-to-toe equipment check on the boat today before a dive into known strong surface current . . . and I realized I'd forgotten to put on my weight belt, something which would have been a darned nuisance if the boat had had to chase me to pick me up, because I couldn't descend.)
It's like skiing. Put the time and the effort in to become graceful, and it's way more fun (and you're less likely to get hurt).
Gombessa posted about our Channel Islands trip, but I want to write a little bit about part of what made the weekend so wonderful. We had 22 divers on the boat, and they ranged from a year or so of diving, to several thousand dives, and entry level training to instructor, trimix, and cave exploration diving. We all dove with one another, sometimes almost at random; there was no drama, and there were no incidents, other than one group which got caught by current and driven too far from the boat to swim. They shot a bag, and everybody knew where they were, and the dinghy went and towed them back. It was a non-issue, because when things didn't go right, they had a strategy in place, and they used it.
This weekend, I did three days of diving off a friend's boat. I dove with people from out of town, with limited experience and training, and I dove with friends with lots of both. Again, no drama, no incidents, and even when things didn't go precisely as planned, we had the resources and the training to cope with the situation, remain relaxed, and know that everybody was going to end up safe and happy.
Training pays off. Practice pays off. Planning pays off. Prudence pays off. The time, and the money, and the effort invested in those things just makes diving smoother, less stressful, and more joyous. I happen to think that diving within a standardized system polishes all those things even further, but even if you don't elect to go that direction, getting more education, and practicing skills, and learning a template for dive planning (including gas planning) and buddy checks, will prevent a lot of issues and avoid discomfort. (For example, we did our head-to-toe equipment check on the boat today before a dive into known strong surface current . . . and I realized I'd forgotten to put on my weight belt, something which would have been a darned nuisance if the boat had had to chase me to pick me up, because I couldn't descend.)
It's like skiing. Put the time and the effort in to become graceful, and it's way more fun (and you're less likely to get hurt).