I took a couple of them.
I had previously completed Cavern and Intro with Rose at Ginnie.
Then after moving up north I signed up for Cave 1 Nov 00
Ted,Tamara, Andrew and about 5 aspiring(sp?) Gue instructors were involved.
Later Apprentice with Rose.
Apr 01 Cave 2 with Tyler
July 01 Cave 2 with David Rhea (he let me come on 2 days of class with his group)
Nov 01 Cave 2 with Tamara (she let me tag along on 2 days of class)
Trained to do during CAVE 2:
Jumps- Verify team is ok to make the jump, place line arrow on line pointing accordingly. Tie off spool and tie to jump line. Team waits on the mainline until spool is secure and provides light. Once spool is secure. Signal team and then everyone crosses over and continues dive.
Recover jump. Team crosses over to main line and sets up on exit side except for diver who put in reel. Team provides light while diver removes spool and recovers line. Team pools on diver's "woody" (yeah baby!) to open up the spool line and remove spool. Diver verifies that line arrow and team are in agreement before removing it and gives ok to start exit. Put away spool and arrow on the Fly. If not in pocket then on butt ring. Nothing hangs out.
If we have a failure on the way out the line stays in place and we get it next time. That's on all except for Primary light failure. (A minor inconvinience).
GAPS were covered in CAVE 1:
Pretty much the same thing as running a Jump except that we do not put a line arrow. (There is no Decision necessary to find exit)
Gases:
Cave 1 EANX32 for all our dives.
We planned to use 500PSI, or half of NDL limits, 5 min Safety stop at 20'. Slow ascent.
Cave 2 EANX32 for all our dives, Stage EANX32, Deco Bottle OXYGEN
Back Gas Dives: We planned to use 1/3rds, Planed on using half of NDL limit.(ie peacock. EAD 50' 100 mins NDL)
Back Gas/ Deco Bottle: We planned to use 1/3rds and were limited by amount of gas in deco bottle to plan our deco.
Back Gas/Stage/Deco Bottle: 1/2 + 200 PSI on Stage, DROP, 1/3rds less 100 psi. on return, Pick up stage and Breathe it to exit. Again Deco limited by amount of gas in deco bottle.
The last dive was an orientation to Stage diving. They would rather train us on how to do it then try and learn from a buddy or even worse...THE INTERNET.
Penetration: Always think MAXIMUM PENETRATION!!! ok that's just my own thing. But it has nothing to do with Scuba.
Not sure what you mean by that.
Penetration limit???
There was none. The basic idea after cave 1 was to go out and dive and the distance will come the more comfortable that you get. The more efficient team will be able to get further. Practice.
Personally my distance was cut down by almost half. Then Again after intro the limit was single tank cave diving and a couple of us smart asses decided to get the biggest singles possible. LP 120's
I have done the rest of my diving since then on LP104s. There is more drag going from single to doubles, too.
ETC???
Sorry but this email has gotten long enough. If you would like specifics let me know.
ALL,
When I finished these courses I posted to E-DIVERS/E-CAVERS(most of my buddies are there) to anyone that wanted to dive with me and see some of the things I learned in class they were welcome to dive with me.
Me and my big mouth. After Cave 1, I did 106 cave dives and after Cave 2 so far I am 211 about 1/3 of those are single stage dives.
I have had a great time meeting buddies on the web from all over.
It's the superheroes in the parking lot I am afraid of
The Quality of all the course was better than any other training I have done and well worth every penny this divebum/college student was able to save up.
It changed alot of things from my diving to the way I conduct my dive training. I am more about quality, practice and safety than before. I can tell you the dives are alot more fun when you are diving with quality divers,regardless of their experience and type of dive. I had a great time with my girl friend 2 weeks ago in our pool. Love to play with new gear.
Overall the courses were excellent and varied very little from instructor to instructor.
It was nice to have their personal touch and approach to the class.
David Rhea. my kind of instructor. top in my book.
Tyler Moon. A more relaxed training atmosphere kept my buddies more comfortable.
Tamara and Ted. Excellent all around a very good balance.
Andrew. Just hearing the word "Chief" and his style was the best I've ever seen.
And best of all. Their diving skills don't suck, either.
