pacificgal
Rest in Peace...
Essentials of Rec, class report
Day 1:
Don went over with us in the classroom the first part of our materials, specifically, gear stuff, why we do it, why it’s best to have consistent equipment, he arranged a bp/w for me to use for the class which was my first time trying a bp/w. We laid down in the classroom and practiced the kicks, then went to try out the gear and the kicks in the pool.
We wore swimsuits for the pool, boy that was a mistake. I guess they were having a problem heating the pool so we were pretty cold after a few hours. We went through the basic 6 skills and all the kicks, at about 9:30 I think we did some video review of our skills. Boy it’s tough to watch some of those skills, Don gave great tips on what he saw and what he thought we could do to be better.
Day 2:
We did a lot of we did on the previous night, perfecting our skills for the ocean. Due to some scheduling conflicts, we were trying to get the class done in 2 pool sessions and 2 ocean days, instead of the usual 1 pool session, 3 ocean days. We went over the kicks again in the classroom and then went down to the pool. This time not only was it heated, but we came better prepared, Daryle and I in full 7 mm wetsuits and Matt in his drysuit. Much more comfortable dive. We practiced kicks and the basic 6 in the pool, my hovering was getting much better, and I was able to perform a mod-frog adequately enough in my opinion.
Day 3, Breakwater at 8 am.
Went over the video from the last pool session, did some dry runs of mod-s, went through our equipment checks and away we went to try our skills in OW.
Descending the first time as a team was interesting, not as graceful as I expected. I was having problems trying to work through a cold, I was sure I was going to have ear clearing problems all weekend, which was a bummer because I really was trying to descend in trim, except I would get stopped due to ear clearing problems and have to kick to re-ascend vertically to clear them. I now know there’s a better way. Clear early and often, every 2 feet, in trim, and if you have to go up, don’t kick, add air to the wing (thanks Don, see, I do listen, even if I don’t act as you instruct). I hope that got better over the weekend. We finally all made it down and swam around a little bit, trying to get the hang of the low viz and surge, much different than the current we experienced in the pool. I swear there was current. Anyway, that dive was all about sorting ourselves out.
Second dive was just Matt and I with Don and Kathy, we went through and did some kicks down the line and were shown what it’s like to hover in one place, against a line. That was actually fun and a great challenge. We had dinner then back to my place for beer and video review, and we went over the online portion of the classroom, going through slides.
Day 4, Breakwater 7:30 am
We had breakfast and talked about our plan for the day. We went over gas planning, SADDDDD and the skills we would be doing that day. We did mod-S drills on land in preparation to do them in OW.
Into the water. Descent was better this time, ascents got better over the 4 dives too.
We did most of the basic 6 skills on the line, my worst one by far was the mask remove and replace. I removed not just my mask but my hood too, got an ice cream headache and floated away while trying to get sorted out. Must have ascended 15 ft with my eyes closed. I didn’t really recover well after that, my head ached, my hood was still skewed, not firm against my head, mask strap twisted, my eyes were burning. After those skills, it was time to hang out in the shallows, do a weight check and do a few more drills. Matt and I hung out in 9’ doing some skills with Don. 9’ was pretty comfortable for me, for the hover. We were trying to get down to 500 psi to do another weight check. That was good, it was fun, I felt successful.
In between dive 1 and 2 we did a dry run on how to shoot an SMB and the challenge we were going to face when trying to shoot it and reel it back in, while staying in trim.
Dive 2 was Matt and I again, trying to bang out all the skills we needed to complete for the class, specifically a 6 minute ascent and an SMB shoot, and an S-drill ascent.
The 6 minute drill was the one I was the most apprehensive about. This is a 1 minute stop at 20’, 1 minute at 19’, 1 minute at 18’, 1 minute at 17’, 1 minute at 16’ and 1 minute at 15’.
We got the s-drill ascents done (I think) and he gave us an OK for our 6 minute ascent drill, but we never got to the SMB shoot, the surge was going pretty strong by the afternoon and I was just plain worn out. Not too cold ever over the weekend, but definitely tired and my brain was full. Don said he was going to need another day with us to really complete the class, I am grateful for that offer. I want to practice what I learned this weekend, go back to Don to the ocean to complete those missing drills, and I hope to impress him with what I’ve been able to work out on my own since class.
It really is true with Essentials, the class gives you the tools you need to go out and practice it and perfect it on your own. I haven’t done that yet, but that’s the plan!
Day 1:
Don went over with us in the classroom the first part of our materials, specifically, gear stuff, why we do it, why it’s best to have consistent equipment, he arranged a bp/w for me to use for the class which was my first time trying a bp/w. We laid down in the classroom and practiced the kicks, then went to try out the gear and the kicks in the pool.
We wore swimsuits for the pool, boy that was a mistake. I guess they were having a problem heating the pool so we were pretty cold after a few hours. We went through the basic 6 skills and all the kicks, at about 9:30 I think we did some video review of our skills. Boy it’s tough to watch some of those skills, Don gave great tips on what he saw and what he thought we could do to be better.
Day 2:
We did a lot of we did on the previous night, perfecting our skills for the ocean. Due to some scheduling conflicts, we were trying to get the class done in 2 pool sessions and 2 ocean days, instead of the usual 1 pool session, 3 ocean days. We went over the kicks again in the classroom and then went down to the pool. This time not only was it heated, but we came better prepared, Daryle and I in full 7 mm wetsuits and Matt in his drysuit. Much more comfortable dive. We practiced kicks and the basic 6 in the pool, my hovering was getting much better, and I was able to perform a mod-frog adequately enough in my opinion.
Day 3, Breakwater at 8 am.
Went over the video from the last pool session, did some dry runs of mod-s, went through our equipment checks and away we went to try our skills in OW.
Descending the first time as a team was interesting, not as graceful as I expected. I was having problems trying to work through a cold, I was sure I was going to have ear clearing problems all weekend, which was a bummer because I really was trying to descend in trim, except I would get stopped due to ear clearing problems and have to kick to re-ascend vertically to clear them. I now know there’s a better way. Clear early and often, every 2 feet, in trim, and if you have to go up, don’t kick, add air to the wing (thanks Don, see, I do listen, even if I don’t act as you instruct). I hope that got better over the weekend. We finally all made it down and swam around a little bit, trying to get the hang of the low viz and surge, much different than the current we experienced in the pool. I swear there was current. Anyway, that dive was all about sorting ourselves out.
Second dive was just Matt and I with Don and Kathy, we went through and did some kicks down the line and were shown what it’s like to hover in one place, against a line. That was actually fun and a great challenge. We had dinner then back to my place for beer and video review, and we went over the online portion of the classroom, going through slides.
Day 4, Breakwater 7:30 am
We had breakfast and talked about our plan for the day. We went over gas planning, SADDDDD and the skills we would be doing that day. We did mod-S drills on land in preparation to do them in OW.
Into the water. Descent was better this time, ascents got better over the 4 dives too.
We did most of the basic 6 skills on the line, my worst one by far was the mask remove and replace. I removed not just my mask but my hood too, got an ice cream headache and floated away while trying to get sorted out. Must have ascended 15 ft with my eyes closed. I didn’t really recover well after that, my head ached, my hood was still skewed, not firm against my head, mask strap twisted, my eyes were burning. After those skills, it was time to hang out in the shallows, do a weight check and do a few more drills. Matt and I hung out in 9’ doing some skills with Don. 9’ was pretty comfortable for me, for the hover. We were trying to get down to 500 psi to do another weight check. That was good, it was fun, I felt successful.
In between dive 1 and 2 we did a dry run on how to shoot an SMB and the challenge we were going to face when trying to shoot it and reel it back in, while staying in trim.
Dive 2 was Matt and I again, trying to bang out all the skills we needed to complete for the class, specifically a 6 minute ascent and an SMB shoot, and an S-drill ascent.
The 6 minute drill was the one I was the most apprehensive about. This is a 1 minute stop at 20’, 1 minute at 19’, 1 minute at 18’, 1 minute at 17’, 1 minute at 16’ and 1 minute at 15’.
We got the s-drill ascents done (I think) and he gave us an OK for our 6 minute ascent drill, but we never got to the SMB shoot, the surge was going pretty strong by the afternoon and I was just plain worn out. Not too cold ever over the weekend, but definitely tired and my brain was full. Don said he was going to need another day with us to really complete the class, I am grateful for that offer. I want to practice what I learned this weekend, go back to Don to the ocean to complete those missing drills, and I hope to impress him with what I’ve been able to work out on my own since class.
It really is true with Essentials, the class gives you the tools you need to go out and practice it and perfect it on your own. I haven’t done that yet, but that’s the plan!
