ScubaVP
Guest
Ok, here goes.
The setup:
My fiance and I are not DIR divers yet, but we are currently in the processess of "mixing up the kool-aid". We dive Halcyon BP/Wings with a 5' long hose on our primary second stages and a bungied backup second stage.
This equipment switch was a HUGE change for my fiance. She had previously used only jacket inflate bc's. The first couple of times she used the rig she was very nervous and her bouancy totally sucked. I deciced that for her to become more comfortable, maybe it would be good if she and I did some work in the pool during the next "Discover Scuba" night that our local dive shop offers.
"Discover Scuba" is in conjunction with their open water course, in which anyone can try out breathing under water (since you can't learn anything more than that).
So last night, we go to the pool. The minute we start gearing up, the divemasters start ripping us a little bit. We got comments on the crotch strap, hose length, etc. I decended a bit before my fiance and one divemaster swam over to her and said that "he was very concerned about our long hoses, as he had seen someone in the phillipines get a long hose caught on a wreck and get stuck".
So we shrug those off, and get to work. I must admit, I am not awesome with my bouyancy, but I can stay off of the bottom no problem. My fiance got MUCH more comfortable.
Now that she got her bouyancy down better, we start to work on S-drills and kicks. No problem here either.
BUT...about this time, the open water students come over to the deep end. As we are trying to avoid their crazy antics, one of the divemasters comes up to us under water, and is trying to straighten our legs out. We surface and explain that we are diving a somewhat different style that uses different kick styles, etc. and he says "you don't need that crap. you want to be more prone in the water with your legs extended out. that is where all of your power comes from. You won't ever be in a situation where you will need to kick like that, and if you are, you will need to get out of there as soon as possible so you can kick like normal".
By this time, I was pretty pi**ed off. All I wanted to do was work with my fiance without anybody messing with us. The bad thing about the whole situation is that we are very good friends with the diveshop owner. We really can't tell these guys to go get bent without damaging that relationship with our LDS.
My question is how would you have handled this situation? Any advice for further encounters?
Thanks!
The setup:
My fiance and I are not DIR divers yet, but we are currently in the processess of "mixing up the kool-aid". We dive Halcyon BP/Wings with a 5' long hose on our primary second stages and a bungied backup second stage.
This equipment switch was a HUGE change for my fiance. She had previously used only jacket inflate bc's. The first couple of times she used the rig she was very nervous and her bouancy totally sucked. I deciced that for her to become more comfortable, maybe it would be good if she and I did some work in the pool during the next "Discover Scuba" night that our local dive shop offers.
"Discover Scuba" is in conjunction with their open water course, in which anyone can try out breathing under water (since you can't learn anything more than that).
So last night, we go to the pool. The minute we start gearing up, the divemasters start ripping us a little bit. We got comments on the crotch strap, hose length, etc. I decended a bit before my fiance and one divemaster swam over to her and said that "he was very concerned about our long hoses, as he had seen someone in the phillipines get a long hose caught on a wreck and get stuck".
So we shrug those off, and get to work. I must admit, I am not awesome with my bouyancy, but I can stay off of the bottom no problem. My fiance got MUCH more comfortable.
Now that she got her bouyancy down better, we start to work on S-drills and kicks. No problem here either.
BUT...about this time, the open water students come over to the deep end. As we are trying to avoid their crazy antics, one of the divemasters comes up to us under water, and is trying to straighten our legs out. We surface and explain that we are diving a somewhat different style that uses different kick styles, etc. and he says "you don't need that crap. you want to be more prone in the water with your legs extended out. that is where all of your power comes from. You won't ever be in a situation where you will need to kick like that, and if you are, you will need to get out of there as soon as possible so you can kick like normal".
By this time, I was pretty pi**ed off. All I wanted to do was work with my fiance without anybody messing with us. The bad thing about the whole situation is that we are very good friends with the diveshop owner. We really can't tell these guys to go get bent without damaging that relationship with our LDS.
My question is how would you have handled this situation? Any advice for further encounters?
Thanks!
. Obviously this guy is strictly a pool monkey and sticks to less challenging diving since he not only had no idea what your equipment configuration was about but also had no knowledge of propulsion methods that are more appropriate for differing environments.
