After your ow course, were you able to dive without Dm/instr?

[TMHeimer]

Thats about where I was after my OW, and I agree w/ Storker above that this is reasonable expectation of an OW course.

My OW (~15 yrs ago) was a couple of classroom days, two days in the pool, then in the ocean, with about a dozen students.

Was my buoyancy perfect, my weighting dialed in, perfect trim? Nope. But I could dive safely, and work on my skills.

I appreciate that my instructor told us honestly that we needed to continue to improve our skills. In the brief time we had in OW, he worked on our skills so that we could continue improving.

Sounds like a good instructor. When I read "needed to continue to improve our skills" I guess that would mean the standard that skills be "mastered" in a smooth and repeatable manner (not exact wording) may not have been met. Back to the old "what is Mastered?" thread.
EFX's "dove a lot......gradually improved my skills...." may be another example of skills not "mastered" in OW course.