Class Report: GUE Primer 5/14 - 5/15 with Bob Sherwood

So as per Donna, Sam, Tim, and others who have requested, I have to write a class report. It's kinda long winded so if you manage to get through it all, thanks for putting up with my boring stream of consciousness writing and useless details. Here goes:

Having gone to bed late (after some unexpected visitors dropped by and chatted me up until 1am), I woke at 5:30 with a gusto only diving can bring. Luckily, I had the foresight to pack my car the night before and off I went complete with that nagging feeling I forgot something. Luckily, I didn't. Except for a thicker coat, but I digress.

Arriving at Dutch, I met with Bob with Henrik and Damien who quickly welcomed me as we waited for the other 2 students. Desi (tddfleming) was next to show and we said our greetings and discussed gear and the anticipation for the class. Bryce showed up and we all chit chat for a bit, gaining tidbits of info from whoever was willing to lend it (thanks again Henrik and Damien!) and got our gear all ready.

After the paperwork, we jumped into the very impressive dive trailer/mobile lounge/changing room/classroom for a lecture on everything we were supposed to do, but would naturally completely not do. Hands up, head back, chest and thighs flat, butt clenched (marshmallow!), knees bent, feet flat. OK, sure, I got it, now let's see if I can do it. Remembering the last time I worked on the platforms with Henrik and his very patient teaching and my very feeble capability to perform, I was very nervous and knew that I would not do well. Suited up, I was warmed up a bit and got down to the water. Bob went over GUE EDGE and off we went.

As soon as I tried to descend in a horizontal manner I knew I'd have issues. I have never descended as such in my previous 20something dives, and it showed as I kept going vertical. Keeping the wing bubble where I wanted it to go was not working very well, all the while getting more frustrated pulling hand over hand to get down to the platforms. Desi and Bryce didn't seem to be any more comfortable. After finally getting down, Bob tried and we failed to hover in delta position. Try as I may, I just couldn't get it, getting extremely frustrated all the while. Eventually, Bob started to go over the frog kick which I probably mangled into some semblance of one, but found at least I could kept myself somewhat level for a few seconds. At some point, I may have entered delta position but lost it pretty quickly. After a long 30 minutes, we ascended.

I was pretty disappointed in my performance even though I knew it would not come so easily. We got warmed up for a bit, and went for the video review, where our flaws were pointed out. I wouldn't say I was on the verge of giving up, but the thought definitely crossed my mind at some point for a split second. Meanwhile, Henrik, Karen, and others around were still giving us words of encouragement which lifted my spirits and I figured, hell, I already paid, might as well make the best of it. We tweaked our gear as per Bob's recommendations, suited up and got back in the water.

The second dive was a bit rough during the descent. I couldn't get down quick enough and Bob thumbed the dive from all of 3 ft under to give us a verbal kick in the butt. So down we get and practice some more hovering, which again, is a struggle especially after a small cramp. Bob shows us the modified flutter which apparently I do well even though I have no idea what I'm doing. Bob indicated to me I was still a bit heads-up and after I adjusted, I started to find I can keep a good horizontal position. Kicking around the platform, I felt a bit more comfortable. Bryce was also but he was the opposite of me, being feet-up, and Desi started to get it too after needing another 4 lbs of lead. I did still have a hard time hovering every time I slowed down. We ascended and felt at least a bit better about our skills with Bob quite happy at our improvement.

From the video we seemed to improve quite a bit, and I was pretty shocked at what I saw. Me? In delta? I still think my eyes were lying to me. I wish I could say I remember how exactly the muscle memory felt while in delta but truthfully, I can't remember. All I can say is that sometime during the dive where I kept telling myself, "arms up, head up, chest/thighs flat, knees bent, feet flat" I achieved it. That's it for day 1.

So day 2, Desi and I get there late (the GPS was getting us lost) but we get everything ready in a reasonable time. Bob had me change my weight belt to integrated weights on the harness then brought us back into that dive workshop and reinforced the basics. Back into the water, where I got to perform GUE EDGE. Down at the platform, I will still having trouble with my buoyancy with a heads up position, due to poor neck articulation and I still tended to drop my head and hands and extend my feet. Habits are hard to break... Bob then had us try modified flutter and frog both of which I was able to do somewhat but still found myself in a head down body tilted up position. I think I started to get delta for a second or two but realized it too late and was never able to hold it longer than so. Needs more practice. The ascent was still pretty wretched as we got separated and Bob was not too happy about that.

After the debrief, we got ready for dive 4. Bob tried to get us to descend freely as a team and although I tried my hardest, I did grab the rope once or twice. I even felt pretty good and horizontal until 10 ft off the platform where I lost it and went all over the place. Again, we tried to hover and again, I still had problems. Bob then got us to try the helicopter turn and while turning right I had no issue, turning left, I went completely out of whack. Guess I know which is my strong foot then. After we all got to try, Bob had us swim shoulder to shoulder and we finally left the platform for the 1st time, going to... another platform. Still, it felt good that we were able to do so keeping in delta for more than a few seconds. I started to understand how it felt and I definitely felt a slight pang of pride. Bob then got us around the line for an ascent, but made us do a free ascent. Now THAT was difficult. We kept bumping into each other and I know I was far from horizontal. Still, after much struggling, I don't think I grabbed the rope and neither did my teammates. It was an ugly ugly ascent, but I was definitely glad were able to not grab hold of it.

Bob congratulated us and said we had come a long way. I can't say I feel that way, but I can say I do feel like I've taken my first steps in a new and hopefully more rewarding direction, and not just into more frustration. A huge thanks to Bob, Damien, Chris, Henrik, Karen, and everyone else who was around to encourage or offer words of help along with Sam, Donna, and those in the DiveNY forum. A huge thanks to my teammates Bryce and Desi who this class would not have been the same without. And a huge thanks to those who read this.

Very nice write-up Eug. Congrats to you, Desi and Bryce.

You were on my mind all weekend as I wondered how your class was going. Great to read about your progress and look forward to diving with you in Bonaire.

Do you prefer the weighs on the cam band over the weight belt?

When everything is new and different it'll be a challenge and feel like a struggle - just no way around it. But you "felt" it, and as you work on it, you'll notice those "moments" get longer and longer. Good job.

Always happy to help.

Henrik

Its great to hear you made so much progress in such a short timeframe. Congrats; I look forward to reading about more of your classes in the future.

ScubaSam:

Very nice write-up Eug. Congrats to you, Desi and Bryce.

You were on my mind all weekend as I wondered how your class was going. Great to read about your progress and look forward to diving with you in Bonaire.

Do you prefer the weighs on the cam band over the weight belt?

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Yea, in the end, I had trim pockets on the waist and on the cam bands. Very glad to get rid of that weight belt, and not necessarily because of the color. I will still be fooling around with those to see how it levels out.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.....I get to do this in 2 weeks and now you got me worried! LOL Congrats on the great job and ty for sharing this :-D

This training is about simple things done precisely, and I think most people end up amazed at how hard it is to accomplish that. It isn't until someone tries to get you to do a nice ascent as a team, that you realize how much you haven't done that in the past! But it's such an amazing feeling, when it starts to come . . . and like anything else that's a physical skill, the more you practice, the better it gets.

I promise you that it is worth the work. These skills take the stress out of diving, and as Jarrod said, they also increase the fun.

Oh, and BTW, the "lying horizontal on the top of the water and descend that way" thing doesn't work for me, either. I hang vertical at the surface, talking to my buddies until we begin to descend, and then do a big back kick as my head goes underwater. I end up horizontal at 3 feet or so, and that's just fine with me.

Personally, I think taking this right after OW would be best. I got pretty comfortable in the non-DIR ways such as vertical ascents and descents over my initial dives. This was totally negated since GUE was focusing on horizontal everything. It's surprising how even as low as 20 dives can ingrain certain ideas into you that when you start to stress, you revert to what you know.

Pixie, if you're taking it with Bob, you're in good hands.

Thanks for the very nice report I always love to read class reports...
I wondered before what precisely the content of a Primer class was because I might schedule one with my buddy für July. Do I get this right that it is basically about gear configuration, ascent and descent procedures, frog and modified flutter kick and (last but NOT least) trim and buoyancy control?

While I am absolutely sure that this is a lot of stuff for two days and this will be a humbling experience in any case, I hoped that the basics of back kicking and some skills from the basic five (especially OOG procedures) might be covered to some extent as well. I will talk about my future instructor about that but I think I need to take fundies sooner that later

Anyway, congrats and thanks for sharing!

MarkHerm:

Thanks for the very nice report I always love to read class reports...
I wondered before what precisely the content of a Primer class was because I might schedule one with my buddy für July. Do I get this right that it is basically about gear configuration, ascent and descent procedures, frog and modified flutter kick and (last but NOT least) trim and buoyancy control?

While I am absolutely sure that this is a lot of stuff for two days and this will be a humbling experience in any case, I hoped that the basics of back kicking and some skills from the basic five (especially OOG procedures) might be covered to some extent as well. I will talk about my future instructor about that but I think I need to take fundies sooner that later

Anyway, congrats and thanks for sharing!

Click to expand...

Mark:

Our class was pretty much trying to show us and teach us trim and buoyancy along with showing us some kicks and us trying to do them. Key word here is try and teach us. I felt like a drunken sailor all weekend. I thought of was as 3 2 yr olds and Bob was our teacher. Eug and Bryce did much better than myself. The people there were great with all the help and pep talks. Like Eug, I had thought of throwing in the towel, but more because I was so darn cold. I pretty much had blue lips and shaking all weekend. Bob would ask me every dive if I wanted to thumb it because I was shaking while trying to do these things. But I would not have it. I drove 6 hours, I am not calling these dives due to cold. I laugh now thinking back to Sat and Sun. These people that I never met before, were helping to dress me in the bp/w, as I had no clue. This was the first time I had ever dove one and it was just ugly. I will become the platform queen trying to figure this out here in our local quarry. I wonder if I can rent a platform at Rawlings? While I pretty much sucked at everything, Bob did let me know I had good commuication UW. So if any of you want to have a talk UW, I am available. I am pretty much convinced that I can provide hours of entertainment for anyone that would like to practice with me All in all I learned a lot, met some great people and had some fun to boot.