A few months ago an interesting dive at 97' got me thinking that I should probably start seeking out some more serious training to be more comfortable in the 100' range. Somehow a perfectly timed email got me a spot to do a very intense boot camp with Mel Clarke covering TDIs Advanced Nitrox/Deco procedures and IANTDs Adv. Recreation Trimix courses.
To try and keep it short and sweet:
I had done all my previous dives on a single tank w/ pony and jacket BC and only one shallow dive prior to class on my new double 100s/long hose reg, backplate & wing set-up and that was only to try and get somewhat close in weight and get a quick feel for the gear….. So this was all new to me!
We started out most mornings at 0530 and was often up until 2200 (10 pm) or later doing homework, planning out deco dives or rigging up gear. We did two dives each day starting with a mellow 60'er at Muk and culminating in our play day dives out at Lake Crescent to a depth of 155' (actually 156'), yes I did break the cellar by 1' and had to do the longer/deeper deco schedule coming back up for that mistake!
Math, math and more math, haven't done that much math for many years, but by the time it was over, I was planning out dives with trimix (21% O2 min), calculating END, EAD, gas reserves, accelerated deco with anywhere from 50% to 100% O2 on paper and on the last day, was introduced to V-planner, which made all that math and planning so much easier.
As a bonus I was roomed with Etienne Rousseau from Quebec, Canada, a scuba shop owner who was down training for his Trimix instructor certification from Mel. Etienne was the perfect roomie for me as he took on the role of a mentor and we spent eves going over all the things I learned in class plus sharing much sage advice from his many years of tech and cave diving.
As far a getting the gear dialed in, they had me doing valve drills, air sharing, clipping and unclipping deco bottles and deploying reels and SMBs right from the get go and throughout each dive. And buoyancy? Yes, it was drilled and drilled and drilled and to be trying to set each deco stop with the other class mates whilst changing to my deco bottles at the correct depth, making the gas change on the computer and all the while hanging onto a reel with a deployed SMB? yep, def. challenging for this newbie tech diver.
All those drills drilled into me got me thinking about contingencies and emergency procedures during every dive since; what to do if this happens or if that happens to my partner etc. I really don't know if I will do much more serious tech diving or tech training beyond this point, but I do have to say that taking these classes took my skill set (especially buoyancy) to a much higher level and that has made me a much safer recreational diver. So huge props and thanks go out to Mel Clark (and Etienne Rousseau) for an incredible week that I will never forget the rest of my life.
Now I just need to continue to practise and get better at all the skills passed on to me!
BTW- Also got Mel to do a rebreather demo with both a MEG and a REVO rebreather on different days squeezed into the already packed week, so I got a taste of bubble-less diving too! Whoo-hoo!
BTW-btw- Mel was an absolute hoot to hang with. She was a task master in class and everything had to be done right, but she was also very fair and fun to be around.
