Misa
Guest
I`ve recently came back from Egypt after 2 weeks of diving where i`ve went to GUE Fundamentals course with Dorota Czerny and Bartek Cyperling and 1 week on South Safari. I`ve planned to do Fundies 1st and then right after liveaboard to practice what i`ve learned at the course. Before i start writing the review here is my introduction. I dont speak/write very well English but i know some, so i apologise for the mistakes i`ll make
I`m Misa (misha) i`m 32y old, i`m from Romania (Black Sea) and i`ve started to dive exactly 1 year ago. After the OWD certificate i went 1 week after in a diving trip made by LDS in Red Sea. The moment i dove there everything changed in my hobby`s list. I made room and time for scuba diving since then. So, right after i came from egypt i started to purchase normal diving gear. After few months i`ve started to love more and more the u/w world. I`ve managed to sort of some kind of propulsion tehnique, some type of buoyancy and that i was it. I was a scuba diver in my mind. Then i`ve started to register on scuba forums, watch scuba movies, etc. Some day i`ve discovered GUE academy and the website. After reading some articles i found the Fundamentals page and was shocked how hard must be to do this course. That was the moment i`ve started to set a goal into my mind without knowing it. After 1 month i read Doing it Right book. There was the moment when i`ve started to sell the gear i had and moved to DIR gear. In few months (middle of oct 2009) i almost had the DIR kit set. Almost all the gear i have now is from DirDirect which is my favourite online shop atm. I went in november to Red sea again to acomodate with the gear i had and some dives on my local dive sites in Black Sea. Everything was good but i had no idea if i know how to use properly the gear i have, if i know correctly the skills in order to be a better, confident and safe diver so i`ve started to read more and more. Reading on internet was done during the winter 2009, then watched some movies from Youtube about other guys doing Fundies course, then read on forums about reviews, new reviews, old reviews, i was so curios what fundies is about. Then the winter passed and i had in my mind with the aproaching of opening the diving season for me (april) to do Fundies in 2010. During my online chat sessions i found a very nice woman who`s on her way to a tech pass and she told me i really should do Fundies asap. I never understood why until she said "You`ll develop less bad habits after. If you avoid the moment you`ll have to get rid of bad habits". Her name is Katherine D aka Kathydee and she`s a very friendly and dedicated diver, also now after some time we`ve spent togheter on internet a good friend of mine. After few days i`ve thought when is the best period to do it and why not doing it now at the begining of the season to have fresh information for the duration of the season (april - november)...then another idea came, why not go on liveaboard after the course and practice the skills you`ll learn ?!?! 2 weeks of diving, that was what i had in mind, but had no idea where to go and do the course. Since my flight to Egypt is like 3h i`ve said is a good idea to start with Egypt. And there was the moment where i found Dorota and Bartek. I emailed them and they accepted to start a class and accepted me as their student. Right when i was so close to start packing the airports in Romania started to close because of that idiot volcano. My trainers were stuck also in Poland. My flight was on 20th and on 19th airports were closed, same on Poland. I usually dont have bad luck but i never thought a smoke cloud could ruin my Fundies course. Then somehow the smoke went to Russia instead of Romania (ty guys) and on 20th my flight flew after a 4h delay...but i was on my way to Hurghada. On 22th the trainers arrived also after 1 milions of fingers crossed and prayers in 48h. I never knew i can say prayers in many languages but i blessed all the gods when i met my GUE trainers! So here it is...the review.
I met D and B at Magawish Swiss Inn hotel right in the day they arrived. After 10 mins i started the course! WoW, thats fast, i`ve said. 1st at all, Bartek showed me the nearby area, the filling room, the class room, repair shop and told me where i need to go if i need anything. The course started with a GUE presentation. I thought i knew what`s GUE but right after he spoke i`ve realised i knew less then him Bartek is around 30y old, an extremly trained diver and he`s very, very good at teaching. I met some instructors in my life, dove with them but only some can train other people. Bartek is one of them. After GUE presentation i`ve opened the bag where all my gear was and told him, this is my gear, nothing is changed and this is how i dive. Now tear me apart, were my words. Somehow the gear was pretty much ok. He told me the benefits of not using a duck horn , he switched some d-rings, lift up some, lowered another, droped the pocket i had on bp/w and replaced with with a canister light and pretty much that was it. Ah, in that moment i had no idea how to make a knot and my bolts were cliped with zip ties. He gave me some time to make the knots on all the bolts i had on my gear. I was so excited!!! Ah, i forgot to say, we were 2 on the course. Buddy`s name was Martha and i found out that she was Advanced Nitrox and Deco procedures while i was AOWD with 60 dives in that day!!! Oh now, she`s more experienced then me, i`ll make fun of myself...those were the words in my mind. Then i`ve found out that we were pretty much on the same level only thing that she had were more dives then me. Pfew, i relaxed after So, the rest of the day it was theory: trim, buoy, lights presentation, lights signals. I didnt knew when the day ended. I`ve went to the hotel, eat, sleep and read what was going to happened on the next day. Next day we've started at 8:30. Then Bartek gave me the intro of the dive site, explained what we will do on the 1st dive and explained GUE EDGE and what we will do in the water before dive: bubble check, mod s drill, valve drill, etc. It was such a pleasure to listen Bartek speaking. Every now and then i had goose skin because all the things Bartek told me, all the tips, all the tricks, were amazing things a diver must know if he wants to become a safe diver. Dorota was all the time around us supervising the course and adding from time to time information to the course. We did the GUE Edge, went to prepare, Equipment match and started to move. So here it is, the 1st dive. 2 students, 2 gue trainers and Antonio who filmed us. We get into the water, Dorota and Antonio went 1st to start and prepare the dive site. We did the mod s drill, bubble check, valve drill. We`ve started to descend. Right after i descend i`ve turned my back to my buddy and the trainer, set my buoy and started to move in the direction we were suppose to go. After 2 meters i feel a light on my eye...it was Bartek. Hi Misha, he said, come up for a bit. I was at 3m. Went up and he told me: "From now on, you descend while looking at us, wait for us, wait for my signal and then we move". Oh, ok then, and i`ve smiled. I`ve did a proper descend and went to the dive site. Right there we were split by a line we had to wait there not move. The camera was recording. I was looking at Bartek, his trim, his buoy are heavenly...moved my eyes to Dorota same thing, her trim, her buoy perfect again....why thery are not moving and why are they staying in one place, how can they do that. This is what was going on trough my mind then and its all crystal clear now after 2 weeks since the course. I was so shocked because i never saw 2 divers standing at 9m without moving from left to right, up and down. Actually i only saw few guys that are able to keep the buoy perfectly without moving forward. While i was so impressed about my sights the camera was recording, the feet were droping the line appear into my face and realised i`ll touch the floor....and the camera was recording and then i`ve said its time to focus, relax...breath...inhale...exhale...and somehow i`ve managed to focus on the moment. Then was the moment the following signs appear into my face: "stretch the legs" after few seconds "head up" few more seconds other signs in order to make me gain a horizontal trim. It was so hard for me to keep the trim, never did that before and i gave all i had at that dive. The camera stoped recording and we finished the dive. Mostly all the dive, Bartek was correcting me and my buddy and Dorota took notes on the wetnotes. Then we did the propulsions tehniques. At the video evaluation when i saw myself in the water i was so close to yell: "Noooo, thats not me....the camera is lying....please, dont tell me thats me....". I never knew a video with me u/w would me cry. Usually i`m the guy carrying all the time camera and lights u/w, i`m the guy shooting clips with others and nobody filmed me so far...and i never new i suck that bad. Actually i was never forced to stay in one place for one hour with a line in my face....but i was so happy that i could see myself. From what i knew about me i pretty much had an idea how to back kick and i sucked so bad at frog kick. Somehow i realised at the 1st dive my fins (jetfins) are loose and i cant perform any kick easier. Bartek gave me a pair of Dive system fins size SM and i`ve changed my Jetfins L that matched my feet perfect until that day. With 3mm wetsuit and 15L AL i need like 2 kg of weight. Bartek proposed me to put the weight on my tank and to get rid of the belt. While in the water at the 2nd dive i felt more comfortable, way way more comfortable. I was like, damn...this guy knows everything!!! I hope i wont dissapoint him until the end cuz it will suck. I took this course very, very seriously. All the hours spent to read the courses, the moments i`ve spent while watching others at Fundies, hours spent reading reviews, everything was done with a purpose, i want to become a better diver. I care about training in any field of work, hobby and i really take diving very seriously. I never passed 40m, usually my dives are around 20-25m. The deepest dive i had so far was close to 40, at Rosalie Moller wreck in Red Sea and that was it. Diving and training has to work hand in hand in my oppinion. You cant be a good diver until you have the basic skills mastered...and that`s why i was here. My basic skills were from another galaxy. Thank god the videos were deleted because i dont want any1 to see how i performed at my 1st dive!!! Every night, when i arrived at the hotel i was so tired and happy in the same time. After each shower i went straight to sleep. I was 1st to sleep in Hurghada in that week. Usually at 20:00 - 20:15 i was sleeping...and 1st to wake up also... at 6 AM!!!
The next day i`ve started to improve a bit to trim, buoy, using the back kick to make safe ascents, hold the depth, etc. I was so so happy that after 2 days i already feel like improving a bit. Every day i was so impressed about Bartek`s teaching skills. He is so relaxed when he`s talking...he`s so comfortable in the water, damn i wish i can improve faster. But i was there to learn, train, practice and things cant be done over the night, right ? During the next days/dives, we did all the exercises in land and in the water required in order to finish the course. I really loved the valve drill for doubles but i never had the chance to do it because i dove so far with single and course was done on single tank also. Another thing worth to mention is that i`m a hasty guy. I get it fast, i usually dont miss steps on exercises but somehow i forgot 1 step. Bartek knew all the time that i`ll miss a step if i`m hasty and told me: "Slow is smooth...smooth is fast" and from time to time in the water he gave me the sign to start the exercise, followed by "slowly" and "think"! Guess what, slowly was better. While doing the exercises slowly i had chance to see what`s my buddy doing, after few moments what Bartek is doing, what Dorota is doing and still being able to do the exercises till the end. Each dive was finished with stops at 6m and 3m. I never thought i can hold a stop horizontaly but after the 3rd dive it was better. Then the video evaluation came, more tips, more tricks. The big problem that i had at begining was with my legs. I had legs on my back almost to close the tank and i always had the feeling i`m touching the floor. Dont ask me why...cuz i dont know. Seeing myself on tape helped me realise that i`m not touching at all the floor and then i`ve started to strech the legs more. Every sign of "streched the legs" helped me to focus in my mind how i should feel when i`m in the right position. I felt so, so happy that at one evaluation i was a movie "Misa nice trim" and i felt i`m more relaxed in a good trim then off trim and tensed! So, my legs started to strech after easier. Every now and then i started to see less the signs but still i was far away from being able to maintain permanently the correct position...but i was improving...and that made me so happy. Another exercise that i felt in love with was "unconscious diver". The demo was impressive. It was piece of cake for them. Then the moment came. I was 1st to do it. I had the steps in my mind but i actually never saw this exercise until that day. Bartek made sign i`m the rescuer, my buddy was the unsconscious diver. Right before i start i see the 2 fingers next to his head: "Think 1st" he said to me!!! I`ll never forget the seconds i`ve moved near the body, my buddy was pretty much unconscious with eyes not moving, sign with the light was something that she didnt react, not even when touching and for a second i forgot this is an exercise. Then went right above her, right hand on chin/reg, left hand on dry suit valve and then it was the moment to inflate her bp/w. I never ever thought how much air is needed to lift up 2 guys....and only inflated her wing for like 1 sec followed by breathing and inhaling. Damn, the body was not moving. Again...inflate...inhale...stop 1 sec...and...we...started...to...raise. I was "YEEESSSSS". I`ve manage to frog kick, a bit of a heli, stop, tried back kick but the movement was so slow and did ascent. Then we`ve switched...i was unconscious and i`ve pretty much acted more dead then she was In the following dive i`ve did this exercise 2 more and it was easier then before. At some point Dorotha and Martha were repeating some exercises and i had the chance to "rescue" Bartek. The course followed the right procedure. Description, explications, tips, tricks, practice on land, in water on each chapter, questions, answers, etc. Day by day, Bartek and Dorotha could talk about Fundamentals like forever without repeating one phrase. I was impressed by the informations i`ve received. I really love now the GUE EDGE.
I`m Misa (misha) i`m 32y old, i`m from Romania (Black Sea) and i`ve started to dive exactly 1 year ago. After the OWD certificate i went 1 week after in a diving trip made by LDS in Red Sea. The moment i dove there everything changed in my hobby`s list. I made room and time for scuba diving since then. So, right after i came from egypt i started to purchase normal diving gear. After few months i`ve started to love more and more the u/w world. I`ve managed to sort of some kind of propulsion tehnique, some type of buoyancy and that i was it. I was a scuba diver in my mind. Then i`ve started to register on scuba forums, watch scuba movies, etc. Some day i`ve discovered GUE academy and the website. After reading some articles i found the Fundamentals page and was shocked how hard must be to do this course. That was the moment i`ve started to set a goal into my mind without knowing it. After 1 month i read Doing it Right book. There was the moment when i`ve started to sell the gear i had and moved to DIR gear. In few months (middle of oct 2009) i almost had the DIR kit set. Almost all the gear i have now is from DirDirect which is my favourite online shop atm. I went in november to Red sea again to acomodate with the gear i had and some dives on my local dive sites in Black Sea. Everything was good but i had no idea if i know how to use properly the gear i have, if i know correctly the skills in order to be a better, confident and safe diver so i`ve started to read more and more. Reading on internet was done during the winter 2009, then watched some movies from Youtube about other guys doing Fundies course, then read on forums about reviews, new reviews, old reviews, i was so curios what fundies is about. Then the winter passed and i had in my mind with the aproaching of opening the diving season for me (april) to do Fundies in 2010. During my online chat sessions i found a very nice woman who`s on her way to a tech pass and she told me i really should do Fundies asap. I never understood why until she said "You`ll develop less bad habits after. If you avoid the moment you`ll have to get rid of bad habits". Her name is Katherine D aka Kathydee and she`s a very friendly and dedicated diver, also now after some time we`ve spent togheter on internet a good friend of mine. After few days i`ve thought when is the best period to do it and why not doing it now at the begining of the season to have fresh information for the duration of the season (april - november)...then another idea came, why not go on liveaboard after the course and practice the skills you`ll learn ?!?! 2 weeks of diving, that was what i had in mind, but had no idea where to go and do the course. Since my flight to Egypt is like 3h i`ve said is a good idea to start with Egypt. And there was the moment where i found Dorota and Bartek. I emailed them and they accepted to start a class and accepted me as their student. Right when i was so close to start packing the airports in Romania started to close because of that idiot volcano. My trainers were stuck also in Poland. My flight was on 20th and on 19th airports were closed, same on Poland. I usually dont have bad luck but i never thought a smoke cloud could ruin my Fundies course. Then somehow the smoke went to Russia instead of Romania (ty guys) and on 20th my flight flew after a 4h delay...but i was on my way to Hurghada. On 22th the trainers arrived also after 1 milions of fingers crossed and prayers in 48h. I never knew i can say prayers in many languages but i blessed all the gods when i met my GUE trainers! So here it is...the review.
I met D and B at Magawish Swiss Inn hotel right in the day they arrived. After 10 mins i started the course! WoW, thats fast, i`ve said. 1st at all, Bartek showed me the nearby area, the filling room, the class room, repair shop and told me where i need to go if i need anything. The course started with a GUE presentation. I thought i knew what`s GUE but right after he spoke i`ve realised i knew less then him Bartek is around 30y old, an extremly trained diver and he`s very, very good at teaching. I met some instructors in my life, dove with them but only some can train other people. Bartek is one of them. After GUE presentation i`ve opened the bag where all my gear was and told him, this is my gear, nothing is changed and this is how i dive. Now tear me apart, were my words. Somehow the gear was pretty much ok. He told me the benefits of not using a duck horn , he switched some d-rings, lift up some, lowered another, droped the pocket i had on bp/w and replaced with with a canister light and pretty much that was it. Ah, in that moment i had no idea how to make a knot and my bolts were cliped with zip ties. He gave me some time to make the knots on all the bolts i had on my gear. I was so excited!!! Ah, i forgot to say, we were 2 on the course. Buddy`s name was Martha and i found out that she was Advanced Nitrox and Deco procedures while i was AOWD with 60 dives in that day!!! Oh now, she`s more experienced then me, i`ll make fun of myself...those were the words in my mind. Then i`ve found out that we were pretty much on the same level only thing that she had were more dives then me. Pfew, i relaxed after So, the rest of the day it was theory: trim, buoy, lights presentation, lights signals. I didnt knew when the day ended. I`ve went to the hotel, eat, sleep and read what was going to happened on the next day. Next day we've started at 8:30. Then Bartek gave me the intro of the dive site, explained what we will do on the 1st dive and explained GUE EDGE and what we will do in the water before dive: bubble check, mod s drill, valve drill, etc. It was such a pleasure to listen Bartek speaking. Every now and then i had goose skin because all the things Bartek told me, all the tips, all the tricks, were amazing things a diver must know if he wants to become a safe diver. Dorota was all the time around us supervising the course and adding from time to time information to the course. We did the GUE Edge, went to prepare, Equipment match and started to move. So here it is, the 1st dive. 2 students, 2 gue trainers and Antonio who filmed us. We get into the water, Dorota and Antonio went 1st to start and prepare the dive site. We did the mod s drill, bubble check, valve drill. We`ve started to descend. Right after i descend i`ve turned my back to my buddy and the trainer, set my buoy and started to move in the direction we were suppose to go. After 2 meters i feel a light on my eye...it was Bartek. Hi Misha, he said, come up for a bit. I was at 3m. Went up and he told me: "From now on, you descend while looking at us, wait for us, wait for my signal and then we move". Oh, ok then, and i`ve smiled. I`ve did a proper descend and went to the dive site. Right there we were split by a line we had to wait there not move. The camera was recording. I was looking at Bartek, his trim, his buoy are heavenly...moved my eyes to Dorota same thing, her trim, her buoy perfect again....why thery are not moving and why are they staying in one place, how can they do that. This is what was going on trough my mind then and its all crystal clear now after 2 weeks since the course. I was so shocked because i never saw 2 divers standing at 9m without moving from left to right, up and down. Actually i only saw few guys that are able to keep the buoy perfectly without moving forward. While i was so impressed about my sights the camera was recording, the feet were droping the line appear into my face and realised i`ll touch the floor....and the camera was recording and then i`ve said its time to focus, relax...breath...inhale...exhale...and somehow i`ve managed to focus on the moment. Then was the moment the following signs appear into my face: "stretch the legs" after few seconds "head up" few more seconds other signs in order to make me gain a horizontal trim. It was so hard for me to keep the trim, never did that before and i gave all i had at that dive. The camera stoped recording and we finished the dive. Mostly all the dive, Bartek was correcting me and my buddy and Dorota took notes on the wetnotes. Then we did the propulsions tehniques. At the video evaluation when i saw myself in the water i was so close to yell: "Noooo, thats not me....the camera is lying....please, dont tell me thats me....". I never knew a video with me u/w would me cry. Usually i`m the guy carrying all the time camera and lights u/w, i`m the guy shooting clips with others and nobody filmed me so far...and i never new i suck that bad. Actually i was never forced to stay in one place for one hour with a line in my face....but i was so happy that i could see myself. From what i knew about me i pretty much had an idea how to back kick and i sucked so bad at frog kick. Somehow i realised at the 1st dive my fins (jetfins) are loose and i cant perform any kick easier. Bartek gave me a pair of Dive system fins size SM and i`ve changed my Jetfins L that matched my feet perfect until that day. With 3mm wetsuit and 15L AL i need like 2 kg of weight. Bartek proposed me to put the weight on my tank and to get rid of the belt. While in the water at the 2nd dive i felt more comfortable, way way more comfortable. I was like, damn...this guy knows everything!!! I hope i wont dissapoint him until the end cuz it will suck. I took this course very, very seriously. All the hours spent to read the courses, the moments i`ve spent while watching others at Fundies, hours spent reading reviews, everything was done with a purpose, i want to become a better diver. I care about training in any field of work, hobby and i really take diving very seriously. I never passed 40m, usually my dives are around 20-25m. The deepest dive i had so far was close to 40, at Rosalie Moller wreck in Red Sea and that was it. Diving and training has to work hand in hand in my oppinion. You cant be a good diver until you have the basic skills mastered...and that`s why i was here. My basic skills were from another galaxy. Thank god the videos were deleted because i dont want any1 to see how i performed at my 1st dive!!! Every night, when i arrived at the hotel i was so tired and happy in the same time. After each shower i went straight to sleep. I was 1st to sleep in Hurghada in that week. Usually at 20:00 - 20:15 i was sleeping...and 1st to wake up also... at 6 AM!!!
The next day i`ve started to improve a bit to trim, buoy, using the back kick to make safe ascents, hold the depth, etc. I was so so happy that after 2 days i already feel like improving a bit. Every day i was so impressed about Bartek`s teaching skills. He is so relaxed when he`s talking...he`s so comfortable in the water, damn i wish i can improve faster. But i was there to learn, train, practice and things cant be done over the night, right ? During the next days/dives, we did all the exercises in land and in the water required in order to finish the course. I really loved the valve drill for doubles but i never had the chance to do it because i dove so far with single and course was done on single tank also. Another thing worth to mention is that i`m a hasty guy. I get it fast, i usually dont miss steps on exercises but somehow i forgot 1 step. Bartek knew all the time that i`ll miss a step if i`m hasty and told me: "Slow is smooth...smooth is fast" and from time to time in the water he gave me the sign to start the exercise, followed by "slowly" and "think"! Guess what, slowly was better. While doing the exercises slowly i had chance to see what`s my buddy doing, after few moments what Bartek is doing, what Dorota is doing and still being able to do the exercises till the end. Each dive was finished with stops at 6m and 3m. I never thought i can hold a stop horizontaly but after the 3rd dive it was better. Then the video evaluation came, more tips, more tricks. The big problem that i had at begining was with my legs. I had legs on my back almost to close the tank and i always had the feeling i`m touching the floor. Dont ask me why...cuz i dont know. Seeing myself on tape helped me realise that i`m not touching at all the floor and then i`ve started to strech the legs more. Every sign of "streched the legs" helped me to focus in my mind how i should feel when i`m in the right position. I felt so, so happy that at one evaluation i was a movie "Misa nice trim" and i felt i`m more relaxed in a good trim then off trim and tensed! So, my legs started to strech after easier. Every now and then i started to see less the signs but still i was far away from being able to maintain permanently the correct position...but i was improving...and that made me so happy. Another exercise that i felt in love with was "unconscious diver". The demo was impressive. It was piece of cake for them. Then the moment came. I was 1st to do it. I had the steps in my mind but i actually never saw this exercise until that day. Bartek made sign i`m the rescuer, my buddy was the unsconscious diver. Right before i start i see the 2 fingers next to his head: "Think 1st" he said to me!!! I`ll never forget the seconds i`ve moved near the body, my buddy was pretty much unconscious with eyes not moving, sign with the light was something that she didnt react, not even when touching and for a second i forgot this is an exercise. Then went right above her, right hand on chin/reg, left hand on dry suit valve and then it was the moment to inflate her bp/w. I never ever thought how much air is needed to lift up 2 guys....and only inflated her wing for like 1 sec followed by breathing and inhaling. Damn, the body was not moving. Again...inflate...inhale...stop 1 sec...and...we...started...to...raise. I was "YEEESSSSS". I`ve manage to frog kick, a bit of a heli, stop, tried back kick but the movement was so slow and did ascent. Then we`ve switched...i was unconscious and i`ve pretty much acted more dead then she was In the following dive i`ve did this exercise 2 more and it was easier then before. At some point Dorotha and Martha were repeating some exercises and i had the chance to "rescue" Bartek. The course followed the right procedure. Description, explications, tips, tricks, practice on land, in water on each chapter, questions, answers, etc. Day by day, Bartek and Dorotha could talk about Fundamentals like forever without repeating one phrase. I was impressed by the informations i`ve received. I really love now the GUE EDGE.
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