Try Scuba December 2016

So here we are in December. At the Pool. Doing a Try Scuba.   I normally don't do Try Scuba, there are Dive Control Specialist and Training Specialist looking to cover this course. But for these two I could not resist the potential fun.  They did not disappoint.  

Chris is my boy and Steven is my son-in-law.  Spent some time in the shallow pool getting the basics down then hopped over to the deeper pool too - rinse-and-repeat the basics then let them loose to fin around to get used to the new environment.  

They had fun. Found the shark and played catch for a while.  We will need to work on neutral buoyancy when they get to their Open Water Class.  We had a great time and they will be naturals with some practice.  

The Bahamas are calling....

Full Face Mask Pool Training

Tige and Matt decided to add OTS Full Face Mask to their Dive kit.  Se we hit the pool this weekend to work on the skills and get use to their new hardware. It was fun to see them all confident prior to using the mask, the "we got this", I love the enthusiasm.  It is a new skill set and drills that initially can see to be a bit of a task load.

The challenge is bailing out of a Full Face Mask in the event of an issue.  Started in the shallow pool went through the drills  with a few pointers and and tips. As I had expected and they bragged "we got this" was petty much true. 

We had a great time,  it will be even more fun on Guys Dive in a few week where we will complete the open water dives.

Diving with John Kitchen at Millbrook

This past weekend John wanted to do a couple of dives, Neither one of our schedules had time to run down to Lake Phoenix, so we opted for Millbrook Quarry which is just around the corner.  This is where I leaned to dive year ago. Back then there where Zebra mussels in the water. While and invasive species they did a great job at filtering the water.  They were eradicated several years back. Since then the turbidity be come a near constant layer of almost ick.  The few time I have been there over the last few year I have found the layer which starts ta about 10 ft is dense enough the top layer of water is heating to near 80 degrees in the summer time, the bottom of the lay is between 25-35 ft and is about 50-60 degrees and you need lights to dive it.  

Needless to say this is why we stopped training here.   But John needed a couple of dives to help him on his way to dive master.  Top side it was late summer early fall day.  the dive well here  is the  video   we are round  30 ft deep.....

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After dive selfie  

Return to Deerfield Beach!

It has  been a while.  The shop had not been to Deerfield Beach to go diving since before the change in ownership.  They were looking for  a long weekend type trip that would not bust the bank.  I had mentioned the shop use to go  at least twice a year to Deerfield Beach to dive with Dixie Divers on the Lady Go Diver.    That mention made me the trip lead.

 Long drive there and back but the diving was excellent with a bit of current. One of the dives it was really moving  like 3-4 knots, Flying underwater, good thing it was a drift dive, actually it wasn't it was a wreck dive that turned into a drift dive.

We are planning to go again Spring of 2017 then again in the Fall if there are enough who want to go.  Come join us.

SSI ITS Training

ITS - Instructor Training Seminar
From SSI's Web Site for the ITS

The pinnacle of SSI’s dive professional training is the desirable Instructor Trainer rating. SSI Instructor Trainers are qualified to teach the Instructor Training Course (ITC) and prepare future SSI Instructors for their Instructor Evaluation(IE). This is one of the most rewarding and most challenging experiences an Instructor can perform.

The Instructor Trainer Seminar (ITS) is an international event where you will meet instructors from all over the world. You will experience intensive training and evaluations as well as the opportunity to build a personal network with people from other countries who share your passion. This is your chance to become “The Ultimate Dive Instructor.

A week in Charlotte NC at Open Water Adventures our ITS was conducted by Joe Guydeski.  A week of skills review, knowledge review, presentations  a lot like my Open Water Instructor Exam. The difference is a couple hundred diver certification I know the materiel really well. This week was about doing what other had done for me. Set those who are prepare up for success and how to council those who are not how to improve.  The main focus is to be able to prepare Dive Control Specialist ready their Instructor Examination. 

Skills where not problem, rescue was a breeze. Cramped badly during third lap of the 800 meter swim.  Struggled with 25 meter underwater snorkel.  I am use to doing it is 25 meter pool this was a 12 meter pool, the turn was killing me. I would get 3/4s of the way through and called it.  Worked on t,t where are there turns in the ocean anyway.  After some practice I got it. 

A great week at a great facility Looking forward to this new level of teaching.

People Pictures above are from Tige Pratt

SCUBA University 2016

SCUBA University is a 3 day event put on by Scuba Schools International (SSI) Tige and I wen to the first on last year in Charlotte NC.  This year it was in Raleigh NC. Same presentation by Doug McNeese  President of  SSI. The point is to show case successful shops by holding the event at local dive shop to see how they are implementing the presentation that Doug is giving.

The great thing about going a second time, is last May there was so much information that we could not absorb all of it.  We took what we could from last years event and implement, Our goal was to go back this year to refresh what we put in play then to see what we can expand on for 2017. 

A goo way to network with other shops in the region, meet new people and see how other shops are succeeding.

On the ride hope we sketch out a plan for the year, let's see how we do.