Saturday morning we did our first real deco dives, as per the dive plans we had worked out the night before, and practiced more skills, such as shooting bags (SMB's) , more valve drills, removing and replacing our stage bottles, valve drills, and removing and replacing our stage bottles. Plus, we did some valve drills.
Then it was back to the classroom for more tank filling, dive planning, and class. It was snowing a fair amount on Saturday- seems like I get all my dive training in the snow lately...... After going out for surf and turf for dinner, we all collapsed into our beds on Saturday night, tired and happy. Sunday, we started off with the dives we'd planned on Saturday, which involved running lines, shooting bags, valve drills, removing and replacing our stage bottles, valve drills.....I think you get the idea. I personally mastered the inverted valve drill at one point- a technique I may or may not have invented. Mel and the other instructors seemed to think it was pretty unique. Anyway, I can isolate my doubles while floating upside down with my head several inches off the bottom-
Who knew? After the dives, we headed back to the classroom for our exams, and a round of congratulations. Many thanks to Mel, Curt, and Randy for an excellent class. This is not an easy one, and it shouldn't be- the stakes are higher than recreational diving, when you can be sure you can't surface immediately, if you have a problem- "underwater problems have to be fixed underwater," as they say. It's going to take a while for everything I learned this weekend to really "sink in." But I'll never look at diving the same way again. If you're interested in Tech diving- this class comes highly reccomended. If you're a recreational diver who likes to "push" the NDL's on your computer- this class is pretty much a necessity. I am such a diver, and I see now how dicey diving like that can be.
