I DID IT!

I DID IT!

I’m a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor. I couldn’t have done it without the support of Gerri (my terrific wife). Peter Wilcox and Jungle Jim McClendon were the course directors and they were absolutely essential to my success. They are truly experts and are willing and able to share their knowledge with instructor candidates. Rich attended most of the classes so you could earn his Staff Instructor rating. He did a lot of running around for all of us and was always available to help anyone anytime.

My fellow students were also helpful and I want to publicly thank all of them. Joe, Jack, Scott, Jose, and Dan – I’m grateful to all of you. Tyco also attended the classes but didn’t sit the exams. She was always willing to help at any time.

The actual practical exercises went well. We were well trained and confident. The people conducting the tests from PADI USA were very helpful and did their best to put everyone at ease even though we were all incredibly nervous. The entire experience was even better than I had expected. I’m glad I DID IT!

Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent & KNOTS

DEBRIEF: The picture shows Jack doing his debrief after and dive training session. He is being scored by 3 different instructors. As you can see our office often includes the picnic tables, the beach, the boat or the water. Its a tough job but someone has to do it. From left to right we have Rich, Jungle, Robert and Jack.

CESA: Today we practiced the CESA (controlled emergency swimming ascent). We went out with two course directors and they showed us some tips and then we practiced the procedures ourselves. The idea is to teach a student to safely ascend from 30 feet if he were out of air and couldn't find his buddy. Its a bit dangerous to do this several times in succession so our practice was limited to a few feet.

We also practiced tying knots underwater. We did the bowline and sheetbend. You have to go very slowly as if you are demontrating it to a student. It takes some practice to learn the knots and then even more to do them underwater.

We also took another practice test covering the various PADI standards. Its open book but the book is very long and complex so the answers aren't always easy to find. I got 38 out of 40 so that's pretty good.

Naked Diver

ANOTHER SUNDAY FUNDAY: Today I decided to go on the Sunday Funday even though I have a lot of work to do. We had about 40 people so we took two boats this time. When we got about 200 yards from the dock the boat decided it wouldn’t turn left. This was not going to work. The captain added a couple quarts of steering fluid to the mechanism but that didn’t help. They opened a hatch where the rudder assembly is attached and turn it manually. The rudder would turn to the right but not to the left. The other boat which was now a long way from us had to turn around to rescue us. They tied onto us and dragged us back to the dock. We took all of the equipment off the boat and put onto the lodge boat that you see on the lodge web site.

We were now an hour late so we stopped at a nearby dive site called Black Hills. Its hard to find because the buoy is submerged but we had a GPS this time so we located it without a problem. This is surely one of the best dive sites around the island. One of the guys decided to dive naked and that was pretty weird to see someone with scuba gear and no swim suit and his private parts hanging down. Our boat was all students and instructors so no guests saw the stunt – luckily.

We had a great dive. We moved onto the north side and decided to do a drift dive. They dropped us off at a nice wall and it seemed like a great place. However we started swimming in one direction (no current) and the dive turned out to be pretty boring. We only saw one giant grouper and a few small fish. The terrain was very flat and uninteresting after the first 5 minutes.

The boat picked us up about an hour later and we headed for the picnic area. Me and Jamie jumped out and had a quick lunch but then went diving again. Jamie was preparing his dive map and needed a dive buddy. Everyone else wanted to drink so I went with Jamie. We stayed very shallow and didn’t see much interesting but I had a good time anyway just looking around.

I headed back to the apartment for a good nights sleep before starting on all the assignments I have due. We only meet for a half day tomorrow and even less on Tuesday and then we take the “REAL IE” (instructor exam) given by PADI home office staff members.

MORE PRESENTATIONS

MORE PRESENTATIONS: We practice doing diving briefings for various skills again yesterday. You are given a specific task or two and then you have to prepare a briefing, decide what signals you'll use to convey those skills, plan logistics for the dive and the actual skills, plan how you'll use an assistant and most importantly watch for errors when the student does the skill. I had removing and replacing scuba equipment at the surface and efficient fin kicks. Both went okay but I was so quick with one of the students he was unable to make the mistake he was assigned. I lost some points for that. You have to let them make mistakes as long as they are not life threatening. I would have passed the test if this had been real.

Last night was pub quiz night again. We had 3 teams this week. We were never out of the race but we didn't win. This week they gave you a sheet with various countries highlighted and you had to guess the country. Many were easy but a few were a little tricky. They countries included Germany, Viet Nam, Norway, Greece, Mexico and at least one I never knew existed. Additional categories included sports, music and general knowledge.

One of our Doctor Intern frieds started working at the pub last night (not sure why a med student would need cash). They pay $10 a night plus tips. Anyway, we gave him a really hard time about bussing our table. This guy is almost a doctor so it was pretty funny to see him working in this place as a bus boy. Joe, the nurse, found it particularly amuzing that a doctor was waiting on him and cleaning up after him. GREAT FUN AGAIN.

PrescriptiveTeaching

Prescriptive Teaching: Yuk, this is another one of those unrealisted skills you have to master. It involves helping a class with particular questions they missed on a quiz or exam. That sounds easy enough but you have to address several key issues in every presentation. You need an Introduction, a Body and a Summary. Since you are only answering one questions these pieces occur only seconds apart. Each piece has specific requirements and at least one must be all threee parts. In other words you repeat the same thing 3 times in about 3 minutes. It difficult to do because its so boring and foreign. Doing this in a 1 hour lecture might be one thing but doing this in a few minutes makes it seem really strange. I had a really bad attitude about it anyway so I don't think I did very well when we did a group project. The homework for the night was preparing one of these presentations along with a couple of briefings for students doing various sections of various classes. Again these are not fluid since you aren't briefing in a real world senerio.

We went to the Mariposa again for dinner and I had my usual pretzel. One of the owners came up and asked my name because everyone is calling me the pretzel man since that's all I ever order.

Joe, Mario and I talked and argued politics and diving practices for several hours it seems. Joe is English and Mario is from Norway. Both are in their early 20's so we make a funny group but we have lots of fun.

RESCUE SKILLS

IDC DAY 5: Today we covered variuos PADI standards and procedures. We also discussed the law and various documents. THAT WAS FUN? We also reviewed some of the knowledge reviews we completed before the course started.

In the afternoon we practiced our briefings for a specific rescue skill. We had last night to prepare and find the appropriate material. You then just organize it into a specific method and present it to the students. Later you get into the water and actually demonstrate the skill and explain what you are doing. You then organize the students and an assistant and have the students practice the skill. They are told to make mistakes and you have to identify them. Today I was able to find the mistakes and get them corrected. I also did the mandatory congrats as each student succesfully performs the skill. POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT.

I received a pretty score on the evaluation and I was happy with my performance though there is always room for improvement. I really need to slow down for instance. Anyway it was an easy day and there is no HOMEWORK.

IDC DAY 4

DAY 4 IDC: In the morning we climbed into the pool and practiced our rescue techniques for unconscious divers on the surface. I’m finally getting better at this and feel pretty good about my progress. We took turns being victim and rescuer. The pool we use is small but functional. I’d guess its about 15 by 15.

Later we graded our tests from the day before covering various PADI standards and procedures. We reviewed all of the questions that anyone missed and I missed several though I did get a passing grade. This was just a practice test however. Some of the questions are really tricky and almost no one likes the choice of words sometimes used by PADI.

After lunch we went diving to practice a skill none of use have ever attempted. We had to brief students (ourselves really) on two different skills and then have them perform the skills in the water. The course director had the students make mistakes and we had to try and identify them. Sometimes its easy but other times especially when two students are working together, its extremely difficult to watch them, control them, and look for mistakes and dangerous situations. Some people did very poorly and I actually made a serious error. I misunderstood the skill and told my students to perform the wrong one. On the actual test, I would have failed. Luckily this was practice and I scored a 4 on the skills which is pretty good. On another, I scored a 3.7. They tried something on me that was not planned for or thought about by anyone. I had a student that tried the skill several times but just didn’t do it. I was stumped for a long time but then I decided to have my assistant demonstrate the skill to see if the student would learn from someone else. The instructor was elated that I figured out what to do. I was relieved.

More HOMEWORK.

Favorite Bakery

FAVORITE BAKERY: This is a picture of the bakery I visit almost daily. The place is about 6 by 6. The great lady that runs this place is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She talks to anyone that will listen. She has great stories. She is from Utila but went to NYC a long time ago and worked to send her kids to college. She just returned to retire in Utila but decided after 2 months that she needed to be active. Believe me, everyone is glad she started baking goodies for all of us on the Island.

CONFINED WATER SKILLS

BRIEF SKILLS TO STUDENTS: Today we had more classroom work and took an open book test. Its not as easy as it sounds. The Instructor manual is very large and has pertinent information in multiple places. The test was 40 questions and took me about 1.5 hours. We didn't grade it so I'm not sure how I did.

Later we went to the pool and practiced our presenation skills for Open Water Students explaining and demontrating various skills. The students then performed them and make mistakes and you have to identify them. Later you brief the student identifying the problem and letting them know how to correct or avoid it next time. You are scored on about 40 different things so they watch you very carefully. Some people did well and others need some improvement. The intructors are excellent at telling in what you did improperly in a very nice way. You never feel like an idiot even though you sometimes are.

I've got lots of homework again so its time to go.

FELLOW DM'S

FELLOW DM'S: This is another picture of myself, Lucy and Joe. A couple of the guys had a very nice cook out last night for about 25 people. The course director took the opportunity to give us all a certificate showing we had completed the Divemaster class. We all had various people that had helped or supported us in the class sign our certificates. This will help me remember all the experience and great people I've learned from and with. I'm really glad I did it.

The food was absolutely great and everyone had a great time. It was certainly a great get away from the classes.

INTENSE

INTENSE:

Well its been a hectic couple of days. The IDC (Instructor Development Course) has started. Its a well structured program that prepares you for the actual IE (Instructor Examination) conducted by PADI personnel.

The most difficult part has been learning to do something called Micro Presentations. You are given a specific topic to discuss. You look up information on that topic and there is always a slide available to help in your presentation. However, you must include several additional items in your presentation including the selling of another PADI course and the selling of an item from the Dive Shop. The presentation must also meet very specific goals designed by PADI. In a normal 1 hour lecture this might not be difficult but in a 3 or 4 minutes lecture its very difficult because everything is repeated so frequently. You have an introduction that says way you are going to say, a body where you say it, and a summary where you say what you've said. To make things more complex, the intro and summary include information from an entire lesson while the body contains only one specific item. It was extremely challenging but I got through two of them and I don't think we'll do that again.

We were suppose to have practiced some rescue skills and skills but we ran out of time so we are just a little behind. Today we'll be making presentation in the pool. We were given specific skills and we must present them to students just as if they were taking a class. You use erasable slates to help with this exercise. You get all of the required information in advance, mark it onto a slate and then use that slate to aid in your presenation to the students. You have to explain the skill, show various hand signals you'll use, demontrate the skill, have the student do the skill and then evaluate how they did. They will be told to do at least one part of it incorrectly and you have to figure out what they did wrong and correct it. Most of this is done underwater.

Because the class is so intense and I have homework every night, I may fall a little behind in updating the blog.

HYPERBARIC CHAMBER: These are some pictures of the chamber I was in today. First picture is the entire chamber, the second me climbing in and the third is me looking out the window while we are fully pressurized. It was very interesting if not a little scary. Jungle Jim explained the procedures to us and then Jose, Tyco and I climbed in and he took us to a pressure equal to 60 feet of sea water. Its much different than diving in the water. Its very loud from the air rushing in and it gets pretty warm. Basic diving laws state that as air compresses it gets hotter. We were pressurized very slowly - about 1/5 the speed you'd normally descend. You have to equilized your ears during the entire time which took 4 or 5 minutes. When it was fully pressurized we were all laughing because our voices sound like Donald Duck. Several people stood and watch and laughed at us. They have 2 way communications as well as video so the operator can monitor everyone. We stayed at depth for a few minutes and then did a very slow ascent or release of pressure. The air steams up because the temperature lowers pretty quickly. It makes it even more creepy.

Earlier in the day we went over the practice tests we did yesterday and I did very poorly. I'm no too worried however because I think I'll do much better on the next practice and final test. The official program actually starts tomorrow and its a very structured event. Everything is planned out. We'll learn the PADI (certifying agency) way to do things. We actually saw a sample presentation today from people taking a more advanced class. They were extremly nervous. Its very difficult to present material to your peers because they already know the material and they are just watching how you present it. It made us feel better that the higher level more experienced people were nervous too.

The presentations are very scripted and include an introduction, the body and the summary. The subjects are very small portions of material students may have trouble with. They are chosen by the examiners in advacne and you have a night to prepare for them. During the presentation however you must attempt to cross sell additional classes and equipment. Its sometimes hard to work those things in without being real obvious. Anyway its the way it will be done.

IDC PREP: Today was the first day of our instructor training. Its actually called a pre IDC for two days since its not really required. We took a sample test to start the day off. It took about 2 hours to complete. We didn't grade them yet so I don't know how I did. There are 6 people in the class and we have 2 instructors team teaching us. Jungle Jim and Peter Wilcox are both extremely professional, helpful and knowledgable. They may everything understandable so its just a matter of remembering everything.

In the afternoon we went and practiced our in water skills again. We removed our masks, scuba gear, weights and did bouyancy checks along with other scuba skills. Since we were actually demontrating the skills it took a really long time. The first thing you demo is putting all the equipment together. That took a while and with our wet suits on we were all about to pass out. Once we got into the water everyone cooled off quickly and we had a fun afternoon practicing the skills.

Later we listened to a presentation about the coral and coral reefs. It was an oustanding presentation and I learned a tremendous amount about the reef. It makes you appreciate everything and want to learn more.

FREE DAY: This is a picture of the 4 people that did the snorkel test. I went home about 11:30 but other kept on drinking and some didn't get to bed until 4:30am. There were a few hangovers as you might expect.

Today I just got some running around done. I got some beer delivered to the apartment and I got a haircut for $1.50. That seems pretty fair for my head.

I also visited one of the souvenir shops. It has a nice selection of hats and T-shirts and I'll probably buy a couple before leaving this place. I bought some more gelato (Ice Cream I think). Its home made and very good especially considering the lack of services in this place. One guy had to take the ferry to the mainland today just to get a banking transaction done even though there are two banks here.

SNORKEL TEST: Last Night was initiation night for the new DM's. I went out for pizza with a few people and we talked about what it was like for a couple of hours. The more I heard the more I was sure I wasn't going to do it. I had a camera and was going to watch the other candidates and take a few pictures. We went to the Tranquila bar that is a huge hangout for locals and students. The place was packed. I was shamed into participation and you can see the start in the picture. They are pooring rum and beer into a funnel attached to the snorkel. You are wearing a mask so you can't breathe until you drink everything they poor into it. I think mine had two beers and 2 shots of rum. You are able to get them to stop if you can anticipate quickly enough when you need to breathe. I was able to get it all down with one breath in between.

After this they fill your mask with another beer and you have do demontrate the proper technique for clearing a mask. Obviously all the beer goes all over yourself. Joe is pictured showing that skill (sort of).

I needed to pee shortly after this event. This is one of the places with only 1 toilet reserved for ladies. I hear its filthy but I couldn't use it anyway. I just stepped outside about 20 feet from the bar, stepped onto the seawall and did my thing. I've gone in the bushes before but going in front of 100 people is really strange. At least you have your back to them. My first thought was how many people must fall in after getting drunk.

I got most of my Knowledge Reviews for the IDC (Instructor Development Course) done yesterday. I finished them this morning and now I have an entire day to just hang out and do whatever I want. The real fun starts tomorrow with the pre-IDC training.

TROUBLE IN UTILA: Saturday night (Sunday morning) a 17 year old kid was murdered not for from the dive shop. There aren't many details but it appears there may have been a fight in the middle of the night. His neck was cut with a broken bottle. There are at least a couple of bars that are open almost all night and one caters mostly to locals. It was really strange that the interupted the TV cable last night to show films of the scene. It was nothing like we'd see in the US. They showed to body just lying on the ground with his neck cut open. It was extremely graphic. All the local people came running to watch the clip. It was really strange. The report said it was very unusual and particularly brutal. No tourist seem to be affected or frightened by the event.

I finished my Dive Master work and I'm just waiting for someone to process the papers. I've started studying for the Instructor class and I have a tremendous amount of reading to do.

Week End: Lucy, Marius and myself all went diving together today. We signed up to do our map project at the most visited site on Utila. We couldn't believe it when the boat went right on by the site. We screamed that we were desparate to do our map project and the captain finally agreed to drop us off at the pier at the site. We did our 2 dives and attempted to draw a map and measure various distances. We'll submit our map and data on Monday.

I had the fish special at the Barracuda for dinner as no one felt like going any where else. There was suppose to be a jam session but no one showed up by 9:30 so I went back to the aparment and had a couple of beers and went to bed.

Sunday was another funday for the dive shop but I did not participate. I started the Nitrox class in the morning. I'm already certified by another agency but I need the PADI class so I can teach it later. I got about half of the materal done by late morning. I went to the whale shark center which is next door to the dive shop and studied. The attendant had to leave but he just let me continue my studies and told me to lock up.

At the last minute I decided to go on the afternoon dive boat and we actually ended up taking the food, booze and beer to the picnic. Since I didn't pay, I didn't get any food or booze but I helped load the boat anyway.

Jamie and I did a couple of dives and saw many of the usual critters including a green moray eel. The picnic ended a little earlier than usual since the wind was really strong and blowing the boats around that were tied to the dock.

They had beer and rum left over so everyone went up to the rooftop of the Barracuda bar and drank the rest. Some people appears to be pretty hammered. I had one beer but decided to go get a shower. I went to the apartment, had a quick shower and then brought my computer back with me to call Gerri on Skype. The Internet was down so I wasn't able to call. I had dinner (fish again) and watched part of the weekly whale shark presentation. The Internet came back up finally and I made a quick call to Gerri on her Blackberry. It appears that her router failed so she has no phone and no Internet on the desktop at home. Her laptor works but the desktop firewall is creating some sort of problem.

Gerri ran out and got a new inexpensive router and she'll try to install it tomorrow. Hopefully we'll be able to use free Skype again next week. Right now I'm calling her cell phone. Its costing me $.02 a minute plus her cell phone fees.

I'll hopefully start preparing for the Instructor course tomorrow. There is a lot of prepatory reading to do and 16 knowledge reviews to complete before staring the course on Thursday.

PUB QUIZ: We did very poorly on the pub quiz this week. I think we only got about 2 or 3 songs out of ten. I'm provide absolutely no help in that area. There was also a movie Anagram and since I never go to movies I was useless.

The first picture shows one of the teams slurping down a huge drink to get extra points. They do a coin toss and ask people to stand up and put there hands on the tits or butts to indicate heads or tails. They keep eliminating people until only two are standing. If they are on different teams the give them this huge group drink and the first team to finish gets an extra 5 points.

The second picture is our team from last night. We had a smaller turnout this time but the pub had a huge turnout. The prize was about $50 if I did my currency conversion correctly.

In the middle of the contest a dog came in a pooped on one of the mats in the middle of the place. Everyone scrambled to remove the mat. Just another pleasant Utila experience.

WRECK PENETRATION: Today I spent the first dive practicing laying a line on the outside of the wreck. This is done so that if you get lost or visibility gets low you can find your way out of a wreck. Its done on the outside first so you get used to laying a line, tying it off and then having other divers follow it. You keep constant contact with the line switching hands every time you come to a tie off point.

We did an easy second dive at a shallow site just because another student needed to practice some other skills. We actually swam under water to another site where we saw a very small wreck. It looked like a small pleasure boat that was sunk as a dive site. Its in about 50 feet of water is really shallow for most wrecks.

We went back, had lunch and then went out to the Halliburton wreck again. This time we entered through a large vertical hatch on the main deck housing and I started laying our line. We went in about 15 feet and then up through a smaller hatch to the next level. There wasn’t room to turn around and no tie off point so we actually went back outside tied off and then went back inside. We went around a pillar and then up another level through and even smaller hatch. I got stuck on something several times. Its really hard to figure out what is getting caught and what its getting caught on. Its dark and there is little room to wiggle around. I finally freed myself and continued to the next level. I tied us off outside again on one of the deck rails. We then switched roles. The other diver took the reel of line and I turned around and started following the line to get back out. Getting out is much more difficult as you sometime go head first and sometime feet first. I got my fins all tangled in the line once. The other diver had problems getting the line reeled in too.

I think this is one of the most fun classes I’ve taken. It was challenging and very interesting.

Tonight is pub quiz night again. I’m hoping to get some pictures to post. Our dive shop should have a pretty good turnout again.

GETTING CLOSE: Today I assisted one of the divemaster with a small group of DISCOVER SCUBA DIVING students. He is new to the dive shop and really appreciated the help. He was very complementary of the help I provided and the students were very appreciative. It was probably the only time I've felt like anyone cared thus far. It made for a really nice morning. One of the students had a huge barracuda come right up to her face and stared her down. I've never seen anything like it. The lady just stood still and was shocked. Later she said she was pretty scared but really enjoyed the experience.

A group of us went out for lunch at a place called COCO LOCO. It only serves sandwiches a bit like a Utila version of a Subway. Its popular, not very expensive and pretty darn good. Its right out on the water which explains one thing. They only have one restroom and at night its for ladies only. Men go to the end of the pier and do there thing. Women use the really crude restroom that dumps directly below the pier. Pretty gross. I've been wondering about a sign on nearly every restroom that says don't throw paper into the toiler. I could never understand what they meant but they really mean used toilet paper. GROSS. I do it anyway and plan to continue to do it. This place can really be pretty crude. In addition many don't have working sinks or soap or anything to dry your hands with if you can wash them. Sometimes I wonder why I chose this place.

I took class this afternoon that showed us how to take apart and put together the regulators we use. Its all lot of trouble and a little complex but it was fun to see how they work. The class was fun for about 1 hour but it took us about 3 hours to get everything apart and back together. We all celebrated by going out for ice cream afterwords. We all love this little home made ice cream parlor. I had a huge banana split with peach yogurt and chocolate ice cream. It was yummy.

I was suppose to night dive but I"m too tired and lazy. I'm going to get to bed early I hope. I dive the wreck twice tomorrow to get my certificate in wreck diving.

I finally got a committment from one of the other trainees to work together on a map. Hopefully we'll work on it on Saturday. That's all I have left to do to become a Divemaster. I'm having second thoughts about becoming an instructor just because its not that much fun. You have to rush around too much and you rarely dive for fun. It does make you easier to employ however. I have another week or two to decide on that.