My first Open Water course (aka Baptism Of Fire!)
Well I’m over halfway through teaching my first PADI Open Water diving course, and I’ve not killed anyone as of yet! It has been pretty stressful though, both physically and mentally. You’ve got to be focused on the students constantly, whether you’re in confined water or doing the open water dives. My students for this first course were 5 people: 4 girls and 1 guy (the boyfriend of one of the girls).
We did the knowledge review sessions at the end of last week after work. The venue was the apartment of one of the dive student in Naha. It was a little more centrally located than my place, but in retrospect I’m gonna tell people to come to my place. Then all the equipment and training materials are on-hand and it’s just a little less stressful and time-consuming for me. I’ve really got to start making the students work for me rather than vice versa. I do what I can to try and help people but I’m sure a lot of the time I do too much. Otherwise I’m gonna drive myself to an early grave driiving around trying to please the world and his wife. But anyway… back to the plot. The Knowlegde Review sessions went pretty well, with only a few explanations and quick reviews of quizzes needed. The sessions were based over 2 nights but in the future I’d probably schedule it for a single full-day on a weekend, with the confined water dives on the next day. Continue reading this entry »
Bauer (bit of a personal plug)
Thought I’d give a bit of a plug to a great indie rock band from Manchester called Bauer. Fronted by Greg Matthews and his distinctive voice, they look like they’re finally starting to get the exposure they deserve. Their first EP has been released and they have a music video from their song “Connected” available to view here.
Do yourself a favour and give them a listen. You’ll be glad you did. You can also do me a favour and let me know what you think of them!
Controlling Diver Stress & Panic (mp3s)
Just thought I’d give a heads up to anyone who is interested in diver stress, and looking after themselves, their dive buddies and potential students. Dive Psych is offering a series of MP3 files to purchase on this subject. But, the first 2 of them are available for FREE for the next 10 days I believe from here. If you like them then let me know and consider purchasing the other MP3s in the set. This website also includes a lot of good Dive medicine reports and links, and is highly recommended.
Photos of the USS Emmons (photos fixed)
Well, as promised, here are a few photos of the USS Emmons that I took last weekend. I added a sepia effect to give a couple of shots a vintage look, and considering I’m still an amateur at photo editing, I’m very pleased with the results. If you have any thoughts on how I can improve things, leave me a comment.
Search for missing diver called off (Florida)
The Coast Guard on Sunday called off its search for a missing diver from New Smyrna Beach after officials said they were doubtful he’s still alive.
Robert Martin, 45, of New Smyrna Beach waved for help about 11 a.m. Saturday before sinking into the Atlantic Ocean about 22 miles east of Ponce de Leon Inlet, said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 1st Class Donnie Brzuska.
“We’ve saturated the area with assets (search vessels and aircraft) and we are confident that if we were going to find anybody alive in this case, that we would have found them by now,” Brzuska said shortly after the search was suspended.
The search, which lasted more than 30 hours and covered 240 square miles, ended at 7 p.m. Sunday, he said. The Coast Guard used two rescue boats from Coast Guard Station Ponce Inlet, a helicopter from Air Station Clearwater, the cutter “Shrike” from Port Canaveral and two helicopters from Patrick Air Force Base in Port Canaveral to search the area Saturday and Sunday. Several private boaters assisted, Brzuska said.
By Derek L. Kinner (Staff Writer)
Source: News Journal Online