GUE Fundies Class Report - Portofino, Italy - 14-17 Aug

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esears

Registered
Messages
53
Reaction score
5
Location
Lakeridge, VA
# of dives
50 - 99
Well, its been about a week since my Fundies class and I figured I'd post some impressions after the class. I started writing a day by day account, but I realized that the individual account of what we went through wasn't as nearly important as the impressions I had at the beginning, middle, and end of the class. So here we go..

The class was taught by Bruno Borelli at Portofino Divers in Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy. There was a total of 3 students in the class, two of us shooting for a tech pass and one going for a rec pass. One thing that really struck out in the beginning was the diversity of the students, we had myself (ex-pat from the US by way of the Army), a lady from Roma, and a gentlemen who flew in from Brazil via South Africa. I had two weeks off from work and I told everyone I was headed to the Italian Riveria for a weeks worth of a diving "vacation". One key part that I think really helped was everything was down in the open water (Ligurian Sea), to include the swim test.

The class started with some of the modules and a promise that it would all make sense as it went along (which it did). I was incredibly impressed with the class being taught in English (which was only my native language) as my Italian is so-so on a good day! The equipment portion of the class was pretty enlightening. As i was shooting for a tech pass, I was diving doubles with a 40lb Halycon wing/harness. I thought I had it pretty well adjusted prior to showing up, but even moving the straps a few inches really made a difference after dive one. I quickly learned that when a suggestion was made, it really was in my best interest to take it. A bunch of the land drills started the process of muscle memory.

I won't get too deep into the dives themselves, as ultimately they weren't the over-all highlight of the class. I remember trying to demo some of the skills and thinking I would have them right, only to see Bruno get my attention, and them demonstrate how I was doing it wrong. This along with the videos proved to be extremely helpful. One thing that really stuck with me after dive 1 was "What did I get myself into?" Here I was, in one of the premier diving spots in this part of Europe, and I had just spent 100 minutes in 5m worth of water, trying to stay about 6 inches off the bottom and keep my trim/buoyancy correct while I tried to learn propulsion techniques and the basic drills. Oddly enough, I picked up the heli-turn and the backwards kick long before I was able to demonstrate a proper frog/modified frog/flutter/modified flutter. We surfaced from dive one and I was already starting to feel it. Previous to the class I had only 42 dives and my longest was just at an hour.

Every dive was 90-100 minutes and I don't think we went deeper than 10m for anything. I seriously don't remember being that physically or mentally exhausted in a long time. I kept reading reports about other people taking the class and mentioning being tired and I thought to myself "They must be out of shape, I'm in the Army, I'll be good to go." How wrong I was for thinking this. The one saving grace for this part was that our team bonded extremely quickly and during our lunches/dinners we were able to keep each motivated and help each other out. It was easy to see when someone was having a hard time and when they needed a boost. I definitely appreciated when it was given to me.

As far as my overall impression of the class, this was HANDS-DOWN the BEST class/instruction I've ever been given, either related to diving or not. The format of the class, how it was taught, and the subtle way in which you improve was incredibly rewarding. Even the last day after the test when we were being briefed on the results, I was happy with where I was. Like most people say, go to the class with an intention just to learn, don't worry about the pass or provisional as you will get so much more out of it just learning the GUE system.

I ended up with a provisional tech which I was extremely happy with, especially with my experience prior to entering the class. I had been diving since day 1 in a dry suit, so that part was easy, but I only had about 12-15 dives in doubles, which definitely impacted how I did. However, I don't think I would have delayed the class, even knowing what I know now. I have a firm idea of what I need to work on in order to go back and get my tech pass. My main issue was the in-column buoyancy. On the bottom (or more accurately, hovering just off the bottom) I could demo any skill without a problem. However, I was not able to maintain the 1m variance in the column. My main challenge now is going to be finding a set of divers to practice with before I go back and redo the evaluation. Sometimes that pesky language thing gets in the way, but I'll find a way to make it happen.

If anyone has any specific questions about the experience, or doing it in Italy, please let me know. It definitely was nice at the end of the day to sit back on the harbor with a (only one!) glass of wine, some great pasta, and great company with to relax.
 
Well, its been about a week since my Fundies class and I figured I'd post some impressions after the class. I started writing a day by day account, but I realized that the individual account of what we went through wasn't as nearly important as the impressions I had at the beginning, middle, and end of the class. So here we go..

The class was taught by Bruno Borelli at Portofino Divers in Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy. There was a total of 3 students in the class, two of us shooting for a tech pass and one going for a rec pass. One thing that really struck out in the beginning was the diversity of the students, we had myself (ex-pat from the US by way of the Army), a lady from Roma, and a gentlemen who flew in from Brazil via South Africa. I had two weeks off from work and I told everyone I was headed to the Italian Riveria for a weeks worth of a diving "vacation". One key part that I think really helped was everything was down in the open water (Ligurian Sea), to include the swim test.

The class started with some of the modules and a promise that it would all make sense as it went along (which it did). I was incredibly impressed with the class being taught in English (which was only my native language) as my Italian is so-so on a good day! The equipment portion of the class was pretty enlightening. As i was shooting for a tech pass, I was diving doubles with a 40lb Halycon wing/harness. I thought I had it pretty well adjusted prior to showing up, but even moving the straps a few inches really made a difference after dive one. I quickly learned that when a suggestion was made, it really was in my best interest to take it. A bunch of the land drills started the process of muscle memory.

I won't get too deep into the dives themselves, as ultimately they weren't the over-all highlight of the class. I remember trying to demo some of the skills and thinking I would have them right, only to see Bruno get my attention, and them demonstrate how I was doing it wrong. This along with the videos proved to be extremely helpful. One thing that really stuck with me after dive 1 was "What did I get myself into?" Here I was, in one of the premier diving spots in this part of Europe, and I had just spent 100 minutes in 5m worth of water, trying to stay about 6 inches off the bottom and keep my trim/buoyancy correct while I tried to learn propulsion techniques and the basic drills. Oddly enough, I picked up the heli-turn and the backwards kick long before I was able to demonstrate a proper frog/modified frog/flutter/modified flutter. We surfaced from dive one and I was already starting to feel it. Previous to the class I had only 42 dives and my longest was just at an hour.

Every dive was 90-100 minutes and I don't think we went deeper than 10m for anything. I seriously don't remember being that physically or mentally exhausted in a long time. I kept reading reports about other people taking the class and mentioning being tired and I thought to myself "They must be out of shape, I'm in the Army, I'll be good to go." How wrong I was for thinking this. The one saving grace for this part was that our team bonded extremely quickly and during our lunches/dinners we were able to keep each motivated and help each other out. It was easy to see when someone was having a hard time and when they needed a boost. I definitely appreciated when it was given to me.

As far as my overall impression of the class, this was HANDS-DOWN the BEST class/instruction I've ever been given, either related to diving or not. The format of the class, how it was taught, and the subtle way in which you improve was incredibly rewarding. Even the last day after the test when we were being briefed on the results, I was happy with where I was. Like most people say, go to the class with an intention just to learn, don't worry about the pass or provisional as you will get so much more out of it just learning the GUE system.

I ended up with a provisional tech which I was extremely happy with, especially with my experience prior to entering the class. I had been diving since day 1 in a dry suit, so that part was easy, but I only had about 12-15 dives in doubles, which definitely impacted how I did. However, I don't think I would have delayed the class, even knowing what I know now. I have a firm idea of what I need to work on in order to go back and get my tech pass. My main issue was the in-column buoyancy. On the bottom (or more accurately, hovering just off the bottom) I could demo any skill without a problem. However, I was not able to maintain the 1m variance in the column. My main challenge now is going to be finding a set of divers to practice with before I go back and redo the evaluation. Sometimes that pesky language thing gets in the way, but I'll find a way to make it happen.

If anyone has any specific questions about the experience, or doing it in Italy, please let me know. It definitely was nice at the end of the day to sit back on the harbor with a (only one!) glass of wine, some great pasta, and great company with to relax.

Nice writeup! Glad you got a lot out of the class! Always good to hear about instructors from different areas, too. Thanks for taking the time.
 
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