silvernotch
Contributor
silvernotch, congratulations on your certification. I know you had problems at the beginning, and I can't remember whether anybody gave you the links on the ear video and other websites with information about equalizing techniques. If not, say so, and I will put them up.
A lot of people go directly into AOW, and in fact, the program is really pretty much designed for people to do either immediately or in very short order. The problem really is that deep dive, because new divers often really don't have the buoyancy skills to be diving that deep (although it is not the deep portion of the dive that causes problems, it's the ascent!) Hopefully, your instructor will execute that dive so that a) your bottom time at depth is brief, and b) you have some kind of visual reference on the way up, whether that's the bottom contour or an ascent line you can grab if you have to.
Jim, there are two ways to look at it: Teach an AOW class that is really advanced, and advise people to wait to take it until they have some experience (as NW Grateful Diver used to do) or teach an AOW class that's really OW2, and have people take it immediately. I don't have a problem with the second approach, but the deep dive is pushing it.
from what I've been told the deep dive will be about 80ft and will be along the back wall of the quarry and I believe there is an ascent line also.
as for the videos. I think I may have watched it years ago but if you wouldn't mind posting it up again i'd be grateful for the refresher!