Background:
So I have been wanting to do a cave class for the longest time but I do not want to just attend a class with the minimum prerequisite. It is no secret that I am with UTD and so I chose to hone my skills before taking that leap. Last year during DEMA in Orlando, I was with the UTD booth so I picked a good time to discuss with AG (training director of UTD) about possibly doing my cave training in 2014. As he has been one of my mentor since I started diving (lucky me right?), I felt he will be in a good position to tell me if I am ready or not. Imagine my pleasant surprised when he affirmed it but with a caveat - I have to ace OHP (Overhead Protocol, an exclusive UTD course that prepares divers for overhead environment). He asked if I have picked my instructor and recommended that I go with UTD Instructor Trainer Poh Chang Chew of Singapore because 1) He felt Poh would be a great mentor for me and 2) I was also from Singapore so we share a common background. Poh Chang was also my NAUI CD who did my ITC and subsequently NAUI IT, so accepting that recommendation was a no brainer.
Fast forward:
Date was arranged and before long, I arrived in Cebu, the Philippines 3 days prior to class start. My team mate whom I met for the first time, fellow UTD Instructor from Taiwan arrived the next day and we went for a dive together to acquaint ourselves with each other. Oh my god! Power to the Team as our integration into a cohesive team was seamless given that we were similarly trained. Poh arrived the next evening and wasted no time in conducting dry run for us starting with valve drills and valve failures.
The next morning, we starting with line laying, doing the various types of ties and zero vis protocol and lost line protocol after breakfast. We taught we nailed it during the dry run until we removed our masked and found that we returned back to where we started following the line! Somehow during our dry run, Poh has tied a temporary T leading the line back to the original point. He said "You may not be the only team in the cave, so you have to be very aware of the line and feel around it to make sure you are still following YOUR line". That was a very powerful lesson.
Lunch was next and after that we jumped into the ocean and practice line laying. Just when everything went well, I was given a left post non-fixable. No problem lets turn the dive and right at that instant, I lost my mask. Ok, my teammate was alert and initiated touch contact immediately and navigate us back to the upline when I felt 3 taps on my 2nd stage. Damn as I thought to myself and my 2nd stage was removed from my mouth. I cannot switch to my backup as I have a left post failure and I need to communicate with my buddy fast. I gave him the OOG signal and thank goodness that as a UTD instructor he had good situation awareness and remembered that my left post was broken. We proceed to buddy breathe as we ascend. We got out alive.
After a quick debrief, we descended again and start with our primary tie, secondary tie and started laying line to the simulated golden line again. Once we tie off the reel to the golden line, we were given light failure and we flip our mask so we have real zero-vis. No problem, we were just taught that protocol this morning and we proceed to fumble for our line. I was the 2nd diver so during exit, I lead the way out with touch contact throughout. We found our reel and navigate ourselves alone the line, this time careful that we won't navigate to another line by mistake. All was well when after another tie, there was no tension on the other side! I starting laughing into my regulator and communicated with my team mate that we had a broken/lost line. I can hear him laughing out loud too and it was funny. We proceed to perform our protocol but I fail to find the other line. i came back to my buddy and have him try while I waited at the last tie point. After what seems like an eternity, I felt a touch contact telling me to move forward while navigating the line and I did which lead me straight to the upline! During the debrief, I found out that my buddy too failed to find the broken line but somehow manage to find the upline that the primary tie was!
My buddy and I both agreed that even though it was funny when we found the broken line but it would have been a life and death matter if it happens for real in a cave. Another powerful lesson concludes that days training.
I will stop here for now, and if anyone is interested in what happened during the second day, I will be happy to continue my report.
So I have been wanting to do a cave class for the longest time but I do not want to just attend a class with the minimum prerequisite. It is no secret that I am with UTD and so I chose to hone my skills before taking that leap. Last year during DEMA in Orlando, I was with the UTD booth so I picked a good time to discuss with AG (training director of UTD) about possibly doing my cave training in 2014. As he has been one of my mentor since I started diving (lucky me right?), I felt he will be in a good position to tell me if I am ready or not. Imagine my pleasant surprised when he affirmed it but with a caveat - I have to ace OHP (Overhead Protocol, an exclusive UTD course that prepares divers for overhead environment). He asked if I have picked my instructor and recommended that I go with UTD Instructor Trainer Poh Chang Chew of Singapore because 1) He felt Poh would be a great mentor for me and 2) I was also from Singapore so we share a common background. Poh Chang was also my NAUI CD who did my ITC and subsequently NAUI IT, so accepting that recommendation was a no brainer.
Fast forward:
Date was arranged and before long, I arrived in Cebu, the Philippines 3 days prior to class start. My team mate whom I met for the first time, fellow UTD Instructor from Taiwan arrived the next day and we went for a dive together to acquaint ourselves with each other. Oh my god! Power to the Team as our integration into a cohesive team was seamless given that we were similarly trained. Poh arrived the next evening and wasted no time in conducting dry run for us starting with valve drills and valve failures.
The next morning, we starting with line laying, doing the various types of ties and zero vis protocol and lost line protocol after breakfast. We taught we nailed it during the dry run until we removed our masked and found that we returned back to where we started following the line! Somehow during our dry run, Poh has tied a temporary T leading the line back to the original point. He said "You may not be the only team in the cave, so you have to be very aware of the line and feel around it to make sure you are still following YOUR line". That was a very powerful lesson.
Lunch was next and after that we jumped into the ocean and practice line laying. Just when everything went well, I was given a left post non-fixable. No problem lets turn the dive and right at that instant, I lost my mask. Ok, my teammate was alert and initiated touch contact immediately and navigate us back to the upline when I felt 3 taps on my 2nd stage. Damn as I thought to myself and my 2nd stage was removed from my mouth. I cannot switch to my backup as I have a left post failure and I need to communicate with my buddy fast. I gave him the OOG signal and thank goodness that as a UTD instructor he had good situation awareness and remembered that my left post was broken. We proceed to buddy breathe as we ascend. We got out alive.
After a quick debrief, we descended again and start with our primary tie, secondary tie and started laying line to the simulated golden line again. Once we tie off the reel to the golden line, we were given light failure and we flip our mask so we have real zero-vis. No problem, we were just taught that protocol this morning and we proceed to fumble for our line. I was the 2nd diver so during exit, I lead the way out with touch contact throughout. We found our reel and navigate ourselves alone the line, this time careful that we won't navigate to another line by mistake. All was well when after another tie, there was no tension on the other side! I starting laughing into my regulator and communicated with my team mate that we had a broken/lost line. I can hear him laughing out loud too and it was funny. We proceed to perform our protocol but I fail to find the other line. i came back to my buddy and have him try while I waited at the last tie point. After what seems like an eternity, I felt a touch contact telling me to move forward while navigating the line and I did which lead me straight to the upline! During the debrief, I found out that my buddy too failed to find the broken line but somehow manage to find the upline that the primary tie was!
My buddy and I both agreed that even though it was funny when we found the broken line but it would have been a life and death matter if it happens for real in a cave. Another powerful lesson concludes that days training.
I will stop here for now, and if anyone is interested in what happened during the second day, I will be happy to continue my report.
